[ Inscribed on the monument: ]
Side A:
To the Memory of the Pioneers who were buried here between the years
1844 – 1856
Side B:
Erected
1911
By the Grand Parlor
Native Sons of the
Golden West
[ . . . — — Map (db m40633) HM
Chinese Pyre was used by the Wheatland Chinese Community during the 1870s – 1890s for funeral ceremonies. The pyre was used to burn precious paper believed to release the spirit to go on .
Rebuilt in 1978 by the Wheatland Historical . . . — — Map (db m17715) HM
The Graham Hotel was built in 1853 by Williamson Graham on the Bear River north of Wire Bridge. It was strategically located on the stage route from Sacramento to Nevada City by way of Johnsons Crossing and Round Tent.
A store was soon built . . . — — Map (db m40813) HM
The first settlement reached in California by emigrant trains using the Emigrant (“Donner”) Trail. It was an original part of the 1844 Don Pablo Gutierrez Land Grant. It was sold at auction to William Johnson in 1854. In 1849 part of the . . . — — Map (db m10528) HM
Approximately 1 ¼ miles east of this site is the historic Johnson’s Crossing. This was the first settlement reached west of the Sierra and the last stop on the Overland Emigrant Trail. Used as a camping spot for the pioneers, departure spot for the . . . — — Map (db m149192) HM
”with practically no food for man or beast, and by bringing all the energy and courage which both men and beast possessed,…we succeeded in…reaching the first, or Johnston’s settlement.”
-Benjamin Hoffman, Sep 1, 1849 — — Map (db m40842) HM
