Against the backdrop of this western town, a number of dramatic historic events took place. While California was still Mexican territory, William Johnson purchased at auction the Mexican land grant formerly belonging to Pablo Gutierrez. Johnsons Rancho, as it came to be called, was the last stop on the Emigrant Trail to Sutters Fort in Sacramento. Seven members of the ill-fated Donner Party staggered into this ranch in 1847, seeking help for those left in the snowbound Sierra Nevada Mountains. Camp Far West was established here in 1849 as a military outpost to protect wagon trains heading into California, and when the state entered the Union in 1850, the area had become the logistic gateway to the Sierra foothill gold mines. Ultimately carved from Johnsons Rancho and incorporated in 1874, Wheatland became known for its agriculture and as a supply center to the mines, as well as being the site of the bloody 1913 Hop Riot, the first major migrant-worker labor confrontation in California.

The town of Wheatland lies along the west bank of the Genesee River in the southwest corner of Monroe County. In 1786, the adventurous frontiersman Ebenezer Indian Allan built a log cabin near the river. The Allan family soon moved on, but the settlement of the entire area west of the Genesee River had begun. The name given to the town in 1821 recognized the successful wheat crops already yielded by its fertile soil. Oatka Creek, which winds its way across town to the river, once powered flour and plaster mills that made the villages and hamlets of Wheatland thriving communities. Today Wheatland remains a rural area known for its picturesque countryside and its recreational opportunities.