WHAT LIES BENEATH:

CALIFORNIA PIONEER CEMETERIES AND GRAVEYARDS

“Burying grounds” are found in neighborhoods, pastures and fields, in downtowns, backyards or deep in the woods. The lives still buried beneath the soil, pavement and rocks, or under the waters of this state are revealed through stories about these western graveyards, features on headstones, symbols, and burial traditions used by pioneers or early settlers, as well as the stories of those who claimed California as their own — including stories of early Spanish and Mexican and Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, plus settlers and pioneers. 

What Lies Beneath features stories of pioneer cemeteries in the western states, revealing the tales behind the intriguing, lost, abandoned, forgotten, and earliest graveyards in the Sunshine State. Some of the stories include the tragedies facing those individuals as well as their triumphs. Along with dozens of black and white photos, there is also a series of color photos. 

Unearth the Mysteries of Those Who Lie Beneath the Oldest Graveyards in the Golden State

In each of California’s 58 counties there are hundreds (and hundreds) of cemeteries, burial sites, and abandoned graveyards, some tucked away behind storefronts or under paved streets. “Burying grounds” are found in neighborhoods, pastures, fields, downtowns, backyards, or deep in the woods. In What Lies Beneath: California Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards, author Gail L. Jenner exhumes the stories of these pioneers buried beneath the soil, pavement, and rocks, or under the waters of this state. This guide also provides descriptions of headstone features and symbols, and demystifies the burial traditions used by the Native Americans, Spanish, Chinese immigrants, and early California pioneers and settlers.