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slash guide. Yosemite National Park was once a wild land ruled by grit. In the 1870s and 80s only the heartiest of travelers

braved to the rumbling wagon road and the 20-mile trek into the valley on

mule or horseback.

These were folk acclimated to the wild,

people who had lived in mining towns

or mountain villages their entire lives.

Yet tucked away in the packs of some of these rugged hardened adventurers

was beautiful delicate china, artisan soaps, fragile full-length mirrors,

and fresh crisp towels. Across the treacherous terrain strapped to stubborn scratchy mules,

employees of the Cosmopolitan bathhouse and saloon

brought luxury to the valley in a juxtaposition that defined so much of this era.

I'm Jason Epperson and on this episode of America's National Parks, the Cosmopolitan Bathhouse

and Saloon and the Grand Register of the Yosemite Valley. The cosmopolitan bathhouse and saloon, which operated from 1871 to 1884, was just that, a bathhouse and a saloon.

While the majority of Yosemite's early visitors expected a rough and wild trip,

many couldn't turn down the familiar comforts and somewhat miraculous amenities offered by the cosmopolitan. It was luxury

where no luxury was to be expected. They also couldn't pass up the opportunity to sign a

...