New from the University of Nebraska Press: Searching for Tamsen Donner, by Gabrielle Burton.

One summer in the 1970s, Burton, her husband, and their five daughters piled into the family station wagon and meticulously traced the path of the Donner Party, stopping at places the ill-fated pioneers stopped, visiting their graves and trying to understand that long-ago journey. Burton, a fledgling writer, intended to write a novel about Tamsen Donner, the wife of party leader George Donner. Decades later, Burton wrote instead about her summer searching for Tamsen, and what that journey meant for her family, and for her development as a writer.

This week’s Tuesday Trivia is about the California Trail (which the Donner Party followed), as well as the Oregon and Mormon trails.

1. Parts of the Oregon/California/Mormon Trail route were discovered and first used in the late 1820s by which group of people?

2. The first settlers to make the journey to Oregon did so in the 1830s. During that decade, about how many total settlers followed the trail to Oregon?

3. Use of the trails remained relatively low through the 1840s. What event in the late 1840s cased traffic along the trail to spike?

4.  What natural geographic features did the Oregon, California and Mormon trails follow?

5. What Nebraska landmark is among the most famous of those along the trail?

6. Which spot in Nebraska was a California Trail hub, where several branches met?

7. About how many settlers are estimated to have traveled one of the three trails?

8. It is estimated that between 8,000 and 16,000 (and possibly far more) of those who attempted to cross the Oregon, California and Mormon trails died during the journey. What was the most common cause of death?

9. What 1869 occurrence caused traffic on the trails to all but disappear?

10. The trails were so well-used, and the wagons that traveled them so heavy, that ruts remain in several states, including Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, California, Idaho and Nevada. About how many miles of trail are still visible?

How did you do? Check back tomorrow for the answers. And for more information on this facet of American history, be sure to check out Searching for Tamsen Donner.