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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. How did Rumsey verify that the tin can of potatoes the men found near Hellman's marker was the same one left there after the fire?
(a) He had used his knife to make holes through which Hellman could drink the liquid.
(b) He had put a slit in the side of the can to allow Hellman to drink the liquid.
(c) He had used his knife to take off the top of the can for Hellman to have food and water.
(d) He had not opened the can because it was dented on the bottom.

2. Who was Arthur P. Brackebush?
(a) A former Forest Service ranger.
(b) A former pilot of a Smokejumper's plane.
(c) A former foreman for the Smokejumpers.
(d) A former student of Gisborne's.

3. What did Mike Mansfield accomplish for the families of the fallen Smokejumpers?
(a) He tried to delay the Mann Gulch Report.
(b) He appointed a special advisor to assess the situation.
(c) He raised the burial allowance from $200 to $400 dollars.
(d) He added funds to the Forest Service.

4. How did Maclean see the change in our point of view when studying the Mann Gulch fires, now that we know more about the fire?
(a) We should be careful while trying to summarize that fire and its effects on the gulch.
(b) We should be very careful not to put too much value in the trees growing now.
(c) We should stay attuned to the possibily of fire in lightning storms.
(d) We should stay close to the ground and have compassion for the young men who died.

5. What did Maclean call the "North Star that guides all arguments?"
(a) The location of Dodge's fire.
(b) The crevice in the ridge.
(c) Hellman's cross.
(d) The top of the ridge.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani" mean?

2. What began to happen at Mann Gulch forty years later?

3. What did Maclean and the others decide was one key point on the hillside they needed to locate?

4. What was one of many reasons Maclean thought Henry Thol, Sr. should be proud of his son?

5. Where did Maclean place the ashes of his wife Jessie when she died?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to the men when they left the foreman, Dodge, at the site of the escape fire? What name did the author give to the point at which the men left? From what perspective did the author tell the story of their assent?

2. To what did the author compare the cloud of smoke atop the Mann Gulch fire when the blowup rose out of the gulch?

3. 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?

4. 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?

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. Who is the firsthand source of information Maclean and his investigative partner Laird Robinson set out to find before they did anything else? Why? Who were they looking for?

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

8. What was the movie released in 1952 about the Mann Gulch fire? What does Maclean note about the film and its historic accuracy?

9. What did Maclean mean when he said, "viewing total conflagration is literally blinding, as sight becomes sound."

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

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