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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. How did James Reed revive Patty?

2. What lured emigrants to California in 1849 in 1850?

3. How did Mary Murphy's first husband treat her?

4. How did Virginia feel about losing the Pioneer Palace Car?

5. How did they stay warm at night?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to the members of the Reed family?

2. What tragedy struck once the first group of survivors made it safely to Johnson's Ranch?

3. What was the Reed reunion like?

4. How did Virginia inadvertently help the world hear about what happened to the Donner Party?

5. Why didn't Tamsen Donner allow herself to be rescued for a second time?

6. What did William Eddy and William Foster find when they went to rescue their families? Who did they rescue?

7. Why couldn't all the survivors get rescued at once?

8. Why didn't the starving people hunt for food?

9. How did they go about deciding who should be cannibalized?

10. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe in detail why James Reed was banished and what the team promised to his family. Then comment on how they treated the family in actuality.

Essay Topic 2

How did the group feel about the Native Americans? How did Luis and Salvador help the team? What happened to them? How did the team members react? How did the Miwok Indians help them?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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