Death Valley Quiz

THE OFFICIAL DVJ KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT

Perhaps an inquisitive exercise to test one’s current familiarity with a few of the Death Valley territory’s informational tidbits may prove entertaining. The questions below are an eclectic mixture of the popular and obscure. Good luck – and enjoy the challenge! Oh, by the way, the grading scale follows the quiz …

Hunter Mountain Cabin

THE RECKONING BEGINS:

1) Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the lowest walkable land in the western hemisphere of planet Earth.  True or False?

2) The highest point in Death Valley National Park is: A) Dante’s View. B) Aguereberry Point. C) Telescope Peak. D) Hunter Mountain. E) Wildrose Peak.

3) Death Valley National Park is the largest National Park in the entire United States.  True or False?

4) The twenty mule team that hauled borax to Mojave was pulled by: A) twenty mules. B) twenty horses. C) ten mules and ten horses. D) eighteen mules and two horses. E) sixteen mules and four horses.

5) Flash floods are a known danger in Death Valley.  True or False?

6) The leading cause of death in Death Valley is: A) sixgun shootouts. B) lack of drinking water. C) extreme heat exposure. D) rattlesnake bites. E) vehicle rollover. F) cougar attacks. G) getting lost. H) head-on collisions in cars. I) toxic drinking water.

7) Ammonites can be found in select locations in this national park. True or False?

8) Who was Stanley Andrzejewski? A) the first person to successfully walk the length of Death Valley in summer. B) the Old Ranger, host of TV’s Death Valley Days. C) founder and president of the Pacific Coast Borax Company. D) Death Valley National Park’s first superintendent. E) the only man to have died during the original wagon train crossing in 1849. F) original owner of Panamint Springs Resort. G) none of above.

9) Someday, Death Valley may be submerged under ocean water. True or False?

10) Who were Stewart and Jones? A) Nevada senators who tried to get rich with silver in the Panamint Mountains. B) partners in Furnace Creek’s first legal practice. C) two doctors who ran a small clinic in Rhyolite’s heyday. D) founders of the Badwater Ultramarathon. E) petty thieves, known for their blunders in Death Valley gold heists.

11) Colonel John Jewks made early exploration of Death Valley possible through his bravery when he cleared the valley of its lethal gases.  True or False?

12) Which tribal culture still lives on their original homelands within the borders of Death Valley National Park? A) Apache. B) Anasazi. C) Sioux. D) Siuslaw. E) Mohave. F) Aleut. G) Navajo. H) Cherokee. I) Timbisha Shoshone. J) Nez Perce.

13) Creosote and greasewood are two names for the same plant. True or False?

14) Johnny Cyty was also known as: A) Pickle Eyed Pete. B) Johnny behind the gun. C) Cyty Slicker John. D) Rattlesnake Johnny. E) Johnny Jumpup. F) One Eyed Joe.

15) Darwin Falls are named after evolution theorist Charles Darwin. True or False?

16) The elevation differential between the lowest point in Death Valley National Park to the highest point is how many vertical feet? A) 11,331. B) 10,357. C) 12,229. D) 11,049. E) the same as the depth of the Grand Canyon. F) ten times greater than the height of Niagara Falls. G) it has never been measured accurately.

17) Scotty’s Castle is most accurately referred to as: A) Death Valley Homestead. B) Grapevine Canyon Casa. C) Ubehebe Ranch Company. D) Walter Scott Goldmine Inc. E) Death Valley Ranch.

18) The Devil’s Golf Course is rated as America’s #13 golfing destination.  True or False?

19) How many unpaved dirt roads enter Death Valley National Park? A) none, they are all paved. B) somewhere in the neighborhood of 28. C) all of Death Valley’s roads are still dirt. D) there are too many to count. E) eleven, unless you count the eastern 3 that deadend at the boundary line.

20) Getting married in Death Valley has been illegal since 1994.  True or False?

21) The hottest temperature ever officially recorded in Death Valley on the Fahrenheit scale was: A) 136 degrees in 1922. B) 139 degrees in 1947. C) 132 degrees in 1934. D) 143 degrees in 1987. E) 134 degrees in 1913. F) no thermometer reads high enough.

22) Death Valley National Park spans four counties. True or False?

23) Ancient regional cultures, such as the Shoshone, Paiute, and Kawaiisu, devised an item sometimes referred to as Kahni. What was this? A) a temporary shelter in which to live. B) a container to store water for later use. C) a framework on which to hang meat to dry. D) a string of beads used for barter. E) a thick soled shoe for walking on extremely hot ground.

24) A colossal lake, up to 100 miles long, 12 miles wide, and over 600 feet deep used to cover Death Valley.  True or False?

25) Infamous criminal Charles Manson used to hide out in which Death Valley regional canyon vicinity? A) Monarch. B) Dedeckera. C) Goler. D) Titus. E) Grapevine. F) Golden. G) none of the above. H) all of the above.

26) Metal detectors are legal to use in Death Valley.  True or False?

27) Which of the following brought in the most overall profit for mining entrepreneurs of the Death Valley territory? A) gold. B) silver. C) lead. D) copper. E) talc. F) borax.

28) Oh Be Joyful was the name for hard liquor during mining days.  True or False?

29) Which mountains are not in Death Valley National Park? A) Panamint. B) Cottonwood. C) Last Chance. D) Amargosa. E) Funeral. F) Black. G) Grapevine. H) Greenwater. I) Owlshead. J) Saline. K) San Juan.

30) Some religious believers have claimed that the Death Valley salt flat is the roof of hell, and that the wails of the damned can be heard just below.  True or False?

31) Seldom Seen Slim’s real name was: A) Bob Montgomery. B) Herman Eichbaum. C) Jacob Herzig. D) Charles Ferge. E) George Rice. F) Johnny Cyty. G) Walter Scott. H) Charles Wade.

32) The head of Joseph Simpson was placed on an anthill.  True or False?

33) In which canyon is the Eye of the Needle formation found? A) Hole in the Wall. B) Echo. C) Desolation. D) The Corridor. E) Galena. F) Wood. G) Titus.

34) Jonathan Newhouse froze to death in Badwater Basin in summer.  True or False?

35) Teakettle Junction is located in which area? A) Mahogany Flat. B) Steel Pass. C) Saline Valley. D) Racetrack Valley. E) Chloride Cliff. F) Sarcobatus Flat. G) Eureka Valley. H) Gold Valley.

36) The most lawless mining town of Death Valley’s gold and silver era was Panamint City in Surprise Canyon.  True or False?

37) What in the world is a GPS Ranger? A) a rookie employee who answers tourist questions about where attractions are located. B) a ranger who advises tourists about General Park Sanitation. C) park volunteers who conduct Goodwill People Surveys. D) a small  hand held device for tourists that gives a guided tour on a small screen. E) a National Park Service satellite in space that scans Death Valley for climatic permutations.

38) The highest yearly visitor count for Death Valley National Park was in 1999, with roughly 1,227,583 tourists who traveled here.  True or False?

39) On The Racetrack Playa, which of the following will you not experience? A) a desiccated lake bed. B) boulders with long surface trails behind them. C) a large rock outcropping called The Grandstand. D) utter solitude. E) military fighter jets. F) you are likely to witness them all.

40) The paved Wingate Highway was completed in 1962, linking Bakersfield to Las Vegas.  True or False?

41) Death Valley ROCKS is a program that: A) presents music concerts for young people to entice visitation. B) provides a museum experience for geologically minded people. C) reveals the region’s earthquake history in movie form. D) offers unique outdoor learning experiences to low income inner city youth.

42) The Aeolian Process was a means of refining ores at the mine prior to commercial shipment. True or False?

43) How many members of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe continue to reside at Furnace Creek in Death Valley year round? A) none. B) less than 50. C) 125-150. D) 275-300. E) about 700. F) no Shoshone have ever lived anywhere near Furnace Creek.

Extra Credit: What is par on the world’s lowest golf course? Elevation?

Grading Scale:

You should write a book = all correct 100%

Excellent knowledge = 35 or more correct

Good Job = 30 to 34 correct

Not Bad = 25 to 29 correct

Try Again after study = 20 to 24 correct

Oh Well, better read a few DV books = 19 or less correct

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ANSWERS:

1) false. 2) C. 3) false. 4) D. 5) true. 6) E. 7) true. 8) B. 9) true. 10) A. 11) false. 12) I. 13) false. 14) B. 15) false. 16) A. 17) E. 18) false. 19) B. 20) false. 21) E. 22) true. 23) A. 24) true. 25) C. 26) false. 27) F. 28) true. 29) K. 30) true. 31) D. 32) true. 33) B. 34) false. 35) D. 36) true. 37) D. 38) true. 39) F. 40) false. 41) D. 42) false. 43) B. Extra Credit) 70 and -214.