Many of the settlers of Pettyville were buried in this cemetery. In 1873, George Petty led fifteen families from Manti to an area two miles west of Sterling, where they built a settlement and named it for him. Water was vital to the community, so homes were built along the Sanpitch River and near springs in the western mountains. Because the land lay within the Paiute Indian Reservation, the settlers held only squatters rights. A two-room schoolhouse was built because education was considered essential to the community's growth, and the first teacher was Mr. Riley. By July 11, 1877, records of the Pettyville Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints listed forty-nine members, and church services were held in various homes. In 1881, James C. Snow obtained from the government the right to survey the present site of Sterling. Within a few years, the people of Pettyville had moved to Sterling or Manti, leaving behind loved ones buried in the Pettyville Cemetery. Later, when a road connecting the area to the main highway was built through the old cemetery, some graves were opened and the remains moved to the Sterling Cemetery, though some unidentified graves are believed to remain at the Pettyville site.