Time Traveling Back to 1898 Story by Greg Kristapovich/photos by Floyd Oydegaard
Sonora Students Take a Fantastic Journey! 
The Cavalry was in charge of the National Parks from the time that Abraham Lincoln set aside the Yosemite grant in 1864. (There was no National Park Service until 1916.) Here, Capt. A. E. Wood of the 4th Cavalry (Browen Manning) revises his plans for restricting the use of the meadow in Yosemite.
Last fall, the pupils in Danette Oydegaards’s combined 4th and 5th grade class at Curtis Creek Elementary (in Sonora) started a long and winding road, back to the year 1898! Many of the 25 students probably had no idea what fantastic experiences lay ahead. “Last October, they received their ‘character assignments’” explained Teacher Danette. “First of all, they had to decide what ‘role group’ they could identify with. Then I assigned them their specific characters, based on research! Then I put them in role groups. There were the ‘early people’ (the Indians and the mountain men); the ‘artisans,’ or the media of the time. They would paint the pictures, do the sketches, write the poetry. They showed the rest of the world what Yosemite was like! There was the ‘transportation group” which built the first roads into Yosemite. Eventually, those were the three main stage roads: Coulterville Road, Big Oak Flat Road and the Wawona Road, coming from the South! There was the ‘living services group.’ They built the hotels, provided laundry service, food services. The last group was the ‘guardians’, those responsible for preserving Yosemite. The kids all portrayed these characters! By January 1st, We used only ‘Yosemite names’ in class!” she revealed. Then, in May, Teacher Danette’s class embarked on their fantastic journey into Yosemite, circa 1898! The field trip lasted about 48 hours and was part of the Yosemite Environmental Living Program (ELP). “The children had a great time! And once you participate in this, you don’t forget!” Danette exclaimed. By the way,In Yosemite today, you can get pizza, fried chicken and deli sandwiches at Degnan’s. “The Degnan Family goes way back in Yosemite history! Bridget and John Degnan were immigrants from Ireland. She baked breads and sold them to miners.” revealed Danette. The working parts of the original oven have been reconstructed and it is still used! 
Getting water the old-fashioned way is Kate Crippen, played by Emily Brewer.
The students, with their gear and provisions, approach the covered bridge, which will take them from 2009 to 1898! The group is led by John Muir (with beard, and played by Ben Jorge); to his right is George Anderson, (the first to climb Half Dome in 1875), played by Aren Jarvis; and behind Muir is Jeremiah Hodgdon, a rancher from Knights Ferry, who took his cattle all the time up to Aspen Meadows to graze, played by Wesley Sveum. Teacher Oydegaard (farleft) plays Florantha Sproat.
