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Quiz about Dead Mans Walk
Quiz about Dead Mans Walk

Dead Man's Walk Trivia Quiz


This book tells of the early adventures of Gus and Call from "Lonesome Dove". The movie version follows the book quite closely, so if you have only seen the movie, you could probably get most of the quiz.

A multiple-choice quiz by agony. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
agony
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
220,903
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
11 / 15
Plays
449
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. The book opens with a small troupe of Texas Rangers, trying to find a stage route from San Antonio to El Paso. One member of the troupe is an unusual person to have on such an expedition. Who is this person?
Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. The boys have their first encounter with Indians on this expedition. Gus is wounded by a lance in his hip; who throws it? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. After losing two men, their horses, pack mule, and prisoners to the Comanches, the Rangers retire in defeat.
Soon, though, a new expedition is started, to Santa Fe this time. Gus, Call, and their comrades set off from San Antonio to Austin to join up. On the way, they encounter their first setback. What is it?
Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. While in Austin, outfitting for the Santa Fe expedition, Gus meets someone who will have a strong and long lasting impact on his life. Who is it? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Caleb Cobb, the leader of the expedition, asks the Comanche Buffalo Hump to eat with him. When the meal is over, he tells Captain Falconer to give his fancy rifle to the Indian, as a gift. When Falconer refuses, what happens? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. It is when they reach the Palo Duro Canyon that things really start to go wrong with the expedition. First, the Indians steal most of their horses. What happens next? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Gus, Call and Bigfoot are sent on three of the remaining horses to ride ahead and find the settlements. After much tribulation, they find a New Mexican village. What happens to them there? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. What happens at Salazar's camp, on the night of the snow?
Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. When the expedition is finally surrounded by the Mexican Army, Caleb Cobb surrenders. One of the company is enraged by this, and attacks him. Who? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. How does Caleb Cobb die? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. When the Mexicans and their Texan prisoners reach the village of Las Palomas, after surviving the Dead Man's Walk, they are met by a cavalry troop from El Paso. What reaction does the cavalry colonel have to the tale Salazar has to tell? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. What nationality is the colonel of the cavalry troop who take the Texans on from Las Palomas? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. Which of the Texans picks the first bean? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. Why does Lady Carey veil her face? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. What is Lady Carey's unusual pet? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The book opens with a small troupe of Texas Rangers, trying to find a stage route from San Antonio to El Paso. One member of the troupe is an unusual person to have on such an expedition. Who is this person?

Answer: A whore

Matilda Roberts was "known throughout south Texas as the Great Western . . . almost as large as the skinny little Mexican mustang Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call were trying to saddle-break". We see, throughout the course of their journeys, that Matty's spirit is as large as her body.
2. The boys have their first encounter with Indians on this expedition. Gus is wounded by a lance in his hip; who throws it?

Answer: Buffalo Hump

This is their first encounter with the big Comanche, but not the last.
3. After losing two men, their horses, pack mule, and prisoners to the Comanches, the Rangers retire in defeat. Soon, though, a new expedition is started, to Santa Fe this time. Gus, Call, and their comrades set off from San Antonio to Austin to join up. On the way, they encounter their first setback. What is it?

Answer: A cyclone

The boys and Matty wait out the cyclone in a buffalo wallow.

Not far away, they come upon a small homestead that was destroyed by the storm: "'Where's my roof, dammit?' the young man said. 'It was here and now it's gone. I worked a week on my roof - now I guess it's blown plumb over into the woods.'
...'That's enough cussing, Roy,' the young woman said. 'We got visitors, and the children don't need to hear you cussing just because the cabin got blown away. We can build another cabin.'"
4. While in Austin, outfitting for the Santa Fe expedition, Gus meets someone who will have a strong and long lasting impact on his life. Who is it?

Answer: Clara

Gus meets Clara Forsythe, the love of his life, working in her father's store.

"...she thrust the wadded-up paper from the doctor's package into his hand.
'Here, dispose of this, sir,' she said, with a fetching smile.
'Do what?' Gus asked, paralyzed with anxiety lest he do something wrong and scare the girl away - though, he had to admit, she didn't look easily scared.
'Dispose of this paper - I can see that you're tall, but I don't know if you're useful,' the girl said. 'I'm Clara, who are you?'"

It looks like Clara set the tone for their whole relationship, right off the bat.
5. Caleb Cobb, the leader of the expedition, asks the Comanche Buffalo Hump to eat with him. When the meal is over, he tells Captain Falconer to give his fancy rifle to the Indian, as a gift. When Falconer refuses, what happens?

Answer: Cobb shoots him

"'I won't do it, Colonel - I'll resign first,' Captain Falconer said.
In a motion no one saw clearly, Caleb Cobb drew his pistol and fired point-blank at Captain Falconer. The bullet took him in the forehead, directly above his nose.
'You're resigned, Captain,' Caleb said."

This is one of our first indications that Cobb is not really interested in running things according to strict military procedure.
6. It is when they reach the Palo Duro Canyon that things really start to go wrong with the expedition. First, the Indians steal most of their horses. What happens next?

Answer: The Indians set fire to the prairie

They manage to hide from the fire in the canyon. However, when they crawl back out afterwards, more than twenty men are missing, including Black Sam, their cook and doctor. Their extra ammunition exploded in the fire, almost all of their horses are gone, and they have lost most of their supplies. They are in real trouble.
7. Gus, Call and Bigfoot are sent on three of the remaining horses to ride ahead and find the settlements. After much tribulation, they find a New Mexican village. What happens to them there?

Answer: They are put in chains

"They turned to see ten muskets pointed at them. A little group of militia had been hiding behind one of the adobe houses. The man who spoke stood somewhat to the side. He wore a military cap, and had a thin mustache.
...'I am Captain Salazar,' the man said. 'Lay down your weapons, and you will come to no harm.'"
8. What happens at Salazar's camp, on the night of the snow?

Answer: A bear attacks

In the confusion, the Rangers manage to escape. They stumble their way back to the main group, only to find that it is considerably smaller. There are only forty three men left - nearly two hundred left Austin.
9. When the expedition is finally surrounded by the Mexican Army, Caleb Cobb surrenders. One of the company is enraged by this, and attacks him. Who?

Answer: Call

"It was infuriating to have their own leader simply walk into a fancy tent with a fat general and surrender, without giving any of his men a chance to have their say.
...'We'll be prisoners, you mean?' Call asked. 'You mean we've marched all this way just to be prisoners?'"

I found it interesting to see how the character of Woodrow Call in this book foreshadows so closely the man he is to become. In his disgust and rage at the mismanagement of the expedition, we can see the careful Ranger, and conscientious leader, he will grow to be.
10. How does Caleb Cobb die?

Answer: Shot by Mexican soldiers

After the surrender, Cobb and the General leave in a buggy, off to Santa Fe to meet the Governor. The rest of the Texans follow, escorted by Salazar's troops.
Before long they come upon the burnt out buggy, and the body of the General - they had been attacked by Apaches. Cobb was not killed by the Indians; however, he was blinded, his eyes put out by cactus thorns.
Captain Salazar knows that he cannot take a wounded blind man with him on the terrible journey that lies ahead, across the Jornada del Muerto. He gives Cobb his pistol, so he can commit suicide.

"Caleb immediately turned the pistol on Salazaar and shot him - the Captain fell backward, clutching his throat.
'Rush 'em, boys - get their guns,' Caleb said. 'I'll take down a few.'
But in his blindness, Caleb Cobb fired toward the Texans, not the Mexicans. Two shots went wild, while the Texans ducked.
...Before Caleb could fire a fourth time, the Mexican soldiers recovered from their shock and cut him down."

Shadrach is killed by one of Cobb's stray bullets.
11. When the Mexicans and their Texan prisoners reach the village of Las Palomas, after surviving the Dead Man's Walk, they are met by a cavalry troop from El Paso. What reaction does the cavalry colonel have to the tale Salazar has to tell?

Answer: Sends him back to Santa Fe in disgrace

"'Major, I have no horses,' (Salazar) said. 'Am I to walk to Santa Fe? I am a captain in the army.'
'A disgraced captain,' Major Laroche said. "You walked here. Walk back.'
'Alone?' Salazar asked.
'No, you can take your soldiers,' Major Laroche said. 'I don't want them - they stink. If I were you I would take them to the river and bathe them before you leave.'
'We have little ammunition,' Salazar said. 'If we leave here without horses or bullets, Gomez will kill us all.'
The priest had come out of the little church. He stood with his hands folded into his habit, watching.
'Ask that priest to say a prayer for you, ' Major Laroche said. 'If he is a good priest his prayer might be better than bullets or horses.'
'Perhaps, but I would rather have bullets and horses,' Salazar said.
Major Laroche didn't answer. He had already turned his horse."
12. What nationality is the colonel of the cavalry troop who take the Texans on from Las Palomas?

Answer: French

"Gus was puzzled by the fact that a Frenchman was leading a company of Mexican cavalry.
'Why would a Frenchie fight with the Mexicans?' he asked. 'I know there's lots of Frenchies down in New Orleans, but I never knew they went as far as Mexico.'
'Money, I expect,' Bigfoot said. 'I never made much money fighting - I've mostly done it for the sport, but plenty do it for the pay.'"

Colonel Laroche is a nasty character, and a fool, too. It is his bad judgement, in drilling his troops while the Texans were bathing, that led to the misunderstanding that killed most of the Texans.

"Wesley Buttons, the youngest and most excitable of the three Buttons brothers, happened to glance ashore just as the cavalry was advancing with their muskets ready. Seeing the advancing Mexicans convinced Wesley that massacre was imminent.
...'Run, boys, they mean to shoot us all,' he yelled..."
13. Which of the Texans picks the first bean?

Answer: Call

"Call didn't trust the beans either, but he didn't intend to stay like a coward and wait for someone to move - so he stepped forward, in front of the table that held the bowl. A soldier with a black bandanna in his hand stood near the table.
'Ah, good - our first volunteer,' the Major said."

Call picks a white bean, meaning he will live. Bigfoot goes next and picks a black bean. Brognoli, Wesley Buttons, Long Bill and Gus also pick white beans. Now there are five men and Matty, all that is left of the expedition.
14. Why does Lady Carey veil her face?

Answer: Leprosy

"When the Texans entered Lady Carey's room they were shocked to see Matilda Roberts, pink-faced and with wet hair, in a clean white smock, sitting on a stool eating biscuits.
Beside her, in a chair, was the lady in black, the one who had sung so movingly over their fallen friends. Gus had hoped to get a glimpse of her face but he was disappointed. Lady Carey was triply veiled, and the veils were black. Nothing showed at all, not her hair, not her face, not her feet, which were in sharp-toed black boots."
15. What is Lady Carey's unusual pet?

Answer: A snake

Perhaps the strongest image of this strong and vivid novel is that of Lady Carey, her naked body ravaged by leprosy, singing Verdi as she rides past the Comanches, with her snake coiling over her shoulders.
Source: Author agony

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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