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The opera is loosely based on the experiences of “Dame Shirley”, the nom de plume of an historical figure – a doctor’s wife who wrote 23 literary epistles describing her experiences in the gold fields of Northeastern California (although librettist Sellars has fictionalized much of her story). The part of Dame Shirley was stylishly sung by Missouri soprano Julia Bullock in her San Francisco Opera debut. The Girls: Julia Bullock, J’Nai Bridges and Hye Jung Lee

Their collaboration produced an opera that chronicles the impact of California’s Gold Rush on seven principal characters, as declining prospects for gold inflamed racial and ethnic tensions in their mining community. Sellars and Adams joined forces again for “Girls of the Golden West”, with Sellars as both director and librettist. Sellars's previous collaborations with Adams have included premiere productions of Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer and Doctor Atomic (for which Sellars also wrote the libretto).Three decades ago the team of composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars (with librettist Alice Goodman) created “Nixon in China”, one of the most durable operatic works of the late 20th century. According to Sellars, "These true stories of the Forty-Niners are overwhelming in their heroism, passion and cruelty, telling tales of racial conflicts, colorful and humorous exploits, political strife and struggles to build anew a life and to decide what it would mean to be American." Adams wrote, "To be able to set to music the authentic voices of these people, whether from their letters or their songs or from newspaper accounts from their time, is a great privilege for me." Sellars, who also directed the opera, conceived the libretto while doing research for a production of Giacomo Puccini's 1910 opera La fanciulla del West (based on David Belasco's 1905 play The Girl of the Golden West), which also deals with the gold rush period.

The libretto is also sourced from other literature of the period, including newspaper articles and the writings of Mark Twain. Clappe published the letters under the pen name Dame Shirley. The opera is inspired by the 1851/1852 letters of Louise Clappe, who lived for a year and a half in the mining settlement of Rich Bar (now Diamondville, California) during the California Gold Rush.