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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Independence, Missouri known for all of these except what?

2. Why did the travelers journey south after the desert?

3. What was Reed going on to do?

4. What did the first group find that pioneers had left the winter before?

5. How did Virginia spend her days after leaving Missouri?

Short Essay Questions

1. How were tasks divvied up on the wagon train?

2. What happened with Edward Breen?

3. How did the Reed wagons do on the journey?

4. What happened to the oxen during the six days it took to get through the desert?

5. Why did some of the people in Springfield question James Reed's ideas?

6. How did the women feel about the decision, and how was their opinion factored in?

7. What happened to the group as they reached near the summit of Sierra Nevada?

8. What was the Forty Mile Desert like?

9. Why did each family have three wagons?

10. What did Clyman talk to Reed about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What obstacles did the rescue parties have to overcome to save the members of the Donner Party?

Essay Topic 2

Several people in the party died between the Great Salt Lake Desert and the Sierra Nevada. Name some of these people and explain how they died and how the group dealt with their deaths.

Essay Topic 3

How did the descendants of the Donner Party feel about their relatives? What reputations did they have to live down?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 610 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample