The Cosmopolitan

On the other side of the road, from the Hotel towards the Grocery Store, were the New Saloon and the Cosmopolitan Saloon. Next down towards us was the Pavilion, set back from the road on its own walkway that curved gently in the middle. Community activities took place in the Pavilion.
In 1896 Uncle had arranged to go in with a friend of his, Daniel Boysen. This did not work out because the young lady Uncle had just then married left him when he told her he wanted to spend part of the year in the wilderness. Uncle was devastated and took the panorama camera he had just then built as his senior project at Stanford and went to the Yukon to chronicle the Gold Rush. But he never forgot Yosemite and he and the Boysens, Daniel and wife Mabel, remained good friends. Their two daughters adventured with us during the summer. The Boysen Studio was right next to the Grocery Store.

You can look over the map and see how things were. There were several photographic studios in the Village and Uncle worked hard to provide goods and services that would keep tourists coming in to buy photos and cards. Each concessionaire tended to focus on a specialty. For instance, the Best Studio, run by Harry Best and his wife, really concentrated on paintings with photography as a sideline. D.J. Foley produced the Yosemite Souvenir Guide that gave tourists insights into what, when, where and how to enjoy Yosemite. His small booklets also gave concessionaires, like us, a chance at advertising to tourists.