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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Sallee and Rumsey, toward the end of their run, how many times did the smoke part in order for them to see the top of the ridge?
(a) Four or five times.
(b) Once.
(c) Many times.
(d) Two or three times.

2. Where did Maclean finally locate Walter Rumsey?
(a) In Lincoln, Nebraska.
(b) In Boise, Idaho.
(c) In Chicago, Illinois.
(d) In Seattle, Washington.

3. What did Sallee and Rumsey say as they went up the last hillside?
(a) "My God, why did this happen to me?"
(b) "My God, do not let me die this way!"
(c) "My God, please let me live!"
(d) "My God, how could you do this to me?"

4. What common portrayal of death did Maclean believe did not occur for the Smokejumpers?
(a) To see the people waiting for them in Heaven.
(b) To see the people they love.
(c) To see the future.
(d) To see their whole lives in review.

5. To what does a woodsman look for both the questions and their answers?
(a) The sky.
(b) The grasses.
(c) The ground.
(d) The trees.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened to the Smokejumpers once they left Dodge and his escape fire?

2. Where did Maclean finally find Robert Sallee?

3. Where did Maclean and his party land their boat to begin their trip to Mann Gulch?

4. Where did Maclean and his brother-in-law first go to view Mann Gulch?

5. What effect did Dodge's escape fire have on the Mann Gulch fire, according to Maclean?

Short Essay Questions

1. Maclean believed that the Smokejumpers did not see their lives in review as they died. What did he believe their final thoughts to be? How was he able to confirm his idea?

2. Who was Henry Thol, Sr.? What was his role in the Mann Gulch fire?

3. How did Jansson's explanation of why the non-flammable objects such as wallets and watches were found uphill from the men's bodies? How did his explanation differ from that of the Forest Service?

4. Why did both parents and the Forest Service hope for silence after the court judgments concerning suits filed against the Forest Service?

5. How did the perspective shift as the author continued his discussion of the fire from looking at the mushroom cloud in the sky? What did he hope to learn by changing perspective?

6. What two emotions governed the analysis of the tragedy at Mann Gulch? How did Maclean describe the first emotion among the men in Mann Gulch?

7. How did the Forest Service receive Maclean when he began searching for the documentation on the Mann Gulch fire? Why?

8. What did Sallee and Rumsey explain to Maclean that answered one of his most important questions? What was the question? What was the answer?

9. What does Maclean believe has become the symbol of fear in the late twentieth century? What artist does he site as support for this claim?

10. What was it like when the fire reached its height and totally covered the landscape? To what did Maclean compare the fire at this point?

(see the answer keys)

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