Cemeteries are more than final resting places for the dead; they are gateways to an area's shared history. Every hand-carved granite or marble monument, every faded wooden marker, holds a clue. Western Sierra populations boomed with the discovery of gold and often dwindled as gold fever waned. Cemeteries of the Western Sierra uses the lens of the cemetery to glimpse a rich and disappearing history. Displaced indigenous populations, miners, dueling newspaper magnates, Chinese pioneers: all are part of the mosaic of history represented in a historical cemetery. From solitary graves in the forest to almost forgotten graveyards near the center of a town, cemeteries tell a story not just of who may have died but also of who lived and what was meaningful in their time.

Known as the "Gateway to the Goldfields," Marysville was once one of California's largest and most prosperous cities during the gold rush era; millions of dollars in gold were shipped from Marysville to the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. The community began in 1842 when Theodor Cordua purchased land for a livestock ranch near the junction of the Yuba River and the Feather River, the major waterway from Sacramento. By 1851, the city of 10,000 was incorporated and named after Mary Murphy, a survivor of the ill-fated Donner Party and wife of Charles Covillaud, one of the city founders. The citizens of Marysville prospered during those days and built magnificent homes in Gothic Victorian, Queen Anne, Greek Revival, Edwardian, Italianate, and Eastlake styles, as well as brick commercial buildings, mills, ironworks, machine shops, and factories. Although many have now been lost to fire, flood, and redevelopment, the city still retains much of its early charm.