In 1904 an intrepid young married couple, Robert and Alice Jennings, drove a covered wagon from the city of Los Angeles to Yosemite. They had taken the trip at least one time before, and on that earlier Yosemite trip, they rode by train to Fresno then traveled by stagecoach to Yosemite.
Robert and Alice Jennings both graduated from Pomona College in 1900 and were married soon after. Their grandson, Robert A. Jennings, and his family recently gave to Pomona College two accounts of their 1904 Yosemite trip: a diary and a photo album. While the photo album records views of the trek to Yosemite that no longer exist–a dirt track created by wagons through Tejon Pass; the gargantuan grapevine that gave its name to that area, the “Grapevine”; unpopulated canyons–the diary tells of the extremes of the landscape and of the weather but also of the fun that the couple had on their journey.
Alice Jennings in the covered wagon, drawn by “Samanthy” and “Jim”:
At Wawona Point:
Monday July 18th, diary entry for the Wawona visit:
The Jennings’ photo album and diary of their trip to Yosemite in 1904 can be viewed in person at Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library.