Cemeteries of the Western Sierra

Download or read book Cemeteries of the Western Sierra written by Christopher A. Ward and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2016 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.