Enid S. (Reeve) Benson (1883 - 1966)

Enid S. Reeve was born on May 27, 1883 in Gilroy, Santa Clara, California. She was a daughter of John Page Reeve and Emma Maria Strange.^[1][2]

In 1897 she moved to Los Angeles where she attended the State Normal School.

In 1907, she moved to Pasadena, California and worked as a 3rd grade teacher.

Around 1909, She met Charles Wilson Michael, the Yosemite assistant postmaster from Sierra Club outings she regularly attended.

Marriage

She married Charles Wilson Michael on August 18, 1919 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California.^[3] She soon after joined him in Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite National Park

Enid first volunteered at Yosemite National Park to create plant displays for the administrative building. She was a seasonal park ranger from 1921-1927. By early 1928, she was hired as a temporary ranger-naturalist and worked as a temporary-naturalist each summer until 1942, when the NPS eliminated many naturalist positions. She was considered Yosemite's first female Naturalist. She was one of the most prolific writers at Yosemite, submitting 195 articles to Yosemite's Nature Notes, 357 articles to the Stockton Record, and at least 19 other articles to different publications. By 1929, Enid had collected and mounted over 1,000 different plant specimens and recorded 120 different species of birds. She established and cultivated a large wildflower garden behind Yosemite's museum.

Both Enid and Charles were climbers and they climbed ropeless. There first climbing excursion was climbing the Minarets in 1923.

2nd Marriage

She married Herbert Herschel Benson around 1954 in California.

Death

Enid S. Reeve Michael Benson died on February 11, 1966 in Glendale, Los Angeles, California.

Sources

1. ↑ United States Census, 1900 [online database] Family Search. Enid S. Reeve in household of John P. Reeve. 1900; Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States.
2. ↑ United States Census, 1910 [online database] Family Search. Enid S Reese in household of Maria S Reese, Pasadena Ward 2, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 306, sheet 7B, family 219.
3. ↑ California, San Francisco County Records, 1824-1997 [online database] Family Search. Charles Wilson Michael and Enid Reeve, 18 Aug 1919; citing Marriage, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, San Francisco Public Library, California.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCDD-9Y3 : accessed 9 November 2022), Enid Michael in household of Charls W Michael, Township 6, Mariposa, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 12, sheet 4A, line 37, family 167.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9WQ-HNR Enid Michael, 1940; Pasadena, Los Angeles, California, United States

see also:

• https://www.adventure-journal.com/2020/02/enid-michael-yosemites-first-woman-naturalist-was-a-badass-climber-too/

• http://npshistory.com/brochures/trading-cards/women/enid-michael.pdf