Scavenger Hunt Winner & Answers

Congratulations, ABIGAIL S. I emailed, and you have 48 hours to claim your prize.

I received a ton of entries (I hope you are all enjoying the “Andi’s Orphan Calf” audio book that you received free just for playing). Originally I thought, Wow, these are such easy questions for anyone who spends a few minutes looking at the Family Tree and Timelines. I honestly thought I would receive 50-100 submissions with 100%. I figured everyone would get everything right because you didn’t need to even know about the Circle C characters in order to win this Scavenger Hunt. You just needed to know how to read a Family Tree and a Timeline. (The character quizzes are much harder, since you need to be familiar with the books.)

However, in the end only 19 entries found the correct answers to every question. I think some of you just figured you knew the answer without double checking the timeline and/or family tree. Perhaps, after reading some of these most-often “missed” answers, you will learn how important the word “hunt” is in a Scavenger Hunt. The answer to every single question was standing out in full view on the timelines and family tree.

If you would like another Scavenger Hunt someday, let me know in the comments.

The Most Commonly Missed Questions

The number 1 most-often missed question was #13: Which of Andi’s siblings married first? So many of you answered “Justin,” but it is actually Kate, who ran away and married Troy when she was 15. If you had read the timeline you would have seen it right here.

The other most-often missed question was #14 – How many years are there between Mother and her youngest sibling? This was pretty straight-forward. Just look at the Family Tree, subtract Mother’s date of birth from her youngest sibling’s date of birth and you have the answer: 12 years. Many wrote “7” without checking to see if Aaron was her second sibling or her youngest sibling. I can only assume those who chose that answer either didn’t think it through or do not know how to use a Family Tree, or were in a hurry.

A couple of answers came in as “Mother has no siblings.” I’m not sure how anyone who took the time to look at the Family Tree could come up with that answer, especially when question #1 asks you to name Elizabeth’s siblings. (Unless they did not know that Mother’s name is Elizabeth, but that is what the Family Tree is all about).

Other entries forgot to include the month when asked for both “month and year,” or wrote that Troy was released from prison in 1880. (I have no idea how they came up with that one. 1880 is the setting of Family Secret. Troy is in that book, but he had not yet gone to prison.) The timeline clearly showed when he was released.

A few missed the Carter Cousins answer, but you just need to count the squares to come up with 11. Believe me, I was not trying to make this hard. It was easy if you just took the questions at face value and did not try to read anything extra into them. 👌

Answers to the Scavenger Hunt

I did not save any of the entries that had the wrong answers (or I never would have been able to keep track of those who had the right answers. There were too many entries.) You can see if you were one of the 19 finalists who got 100% of the questions right, or if you missed any. Most who missed only missed 1.

1. What are the names of Elizabeth’s three siblings?  Mark, Rose, Aaron
2. Who are Andi’s Grandparents on her father’s side? Paul and Rose
3. In what year did James Carter arrive in the gold fields? 1848
4. Who was born in 1853? Chad
5. What happened in 1859? a scarlet fever epidemic
6. In what year did James Carter die? 1874
7. What two major events occurred in 1870? Kate ran away; Justin went to Harvard Law School
8. In what month and year was Troy Swanson released from prison? January 1890
9. How old was Riley when he first came to stay on the Circle C ranch? 7
10. How many of Cousin Daniel’s siblings did not survive? 3
11. What are the names of Mother’s (Elizabeth’s) parents? Carl and Andrea
12. As of 1890, how many “Carter Cousins” (Elizabeth’s grandchildren) are there? 11 (The phrase “as of” assumes all of 1890.)
13. Which of Andi’s siblings married first? Katherine
14. How many years are there between Mother and her YOUNGEST sibling? 12
15. What month and year did Andi begin school for the first time? September 1874

By special request, Maddie G. asked to see the list of the 19 finalists (from whom I randomly drew the winner). Random.org chose “16,” so that is how Abigail S. won.

1. Katie M.
2. RuthAnn F.
3. Lillian
4. Abby B.
5. Lucy S.
6. Naomi F.
7. Anne L.
8. Victoria A.
9. Kate D.
10. Emily C.
11. Alexis P.
12. Amanda C.
13. Charity C.
14. Lilyanna J.
15. Anna P.
16. Abigail S.
17. Grace
18. Kinsey R.
19. Natalie

The Prize