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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. What was in the middle of the desert?

2. Who helped with the chores?

3. How fast was the Donner Party moving as they blazed through the Wasatch?

4. What did the families do in the evening?

5. What did Hastings promise the Donner Party in his letter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What would they have to do in order to cross a river?

2. What happened with Edward Breen?

3. What type of obstacles did people on wagon trains frequently have to face?

4. What did the note that Hastings left tell the travelers? Was his statement valid?

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

6. What did the families do in the evenings?

7. What did the Donner party find when they emerged from the Cutoff?

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

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

10. Even though Hastings didn't meet them at the Fort, why did they continue to go on to take the Cutoff?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Was Lansford Warren Hastings qualified to write his book? Why or why not? What did the man do for a living and what was he like?

Essay Topic 2

What happened at the campfire that led to Patrick Dolan's death?

Essay Topic 3

How were the members of the Donner Party betrayed by people along the way? Cite at least two examples.

(see the answer keys)

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