Chief Solano

Sem-Yeto, "Chief Solano"
Born	about 1798 Suisun Bay Area, California, USA
Died	about 1851 Yulyul village, California, USA
Occupation	Chief
Parent(s)	(father) Sulapy

Chief Solano, original native name Sem-Yeto, meaning "brave or fierce hand", and christianed at about age ten with the Spanish name Francisco Solano, was born about 1798-1800 near Suisun Bay, California in California. Sem-Yeto was a famous chief and leader of the Suisunes tribe, a Patwin people of the Suisun Bay region of California. Chief Solano was a charismatic, tall and notable Native American leader in Alta California, because of his alliance, friendship and eventually the support of his entire tribe to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo of Sonoma, in military and political excursions around Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sem-Yeto was described as tall, 6 feet 7 inches (200 cm), handsome and brave.

Sem-Yeto was born in the Suisunes Bay region of California, and lived there the first years of his life. He was baptized at the San Francisco Mission on July 24, 1810, and there given Spanish name of Francisco Solano. The recorder noted he was a Suisun, about 10 to 12 years old ("como de 10 a 12") with native name Sina, and that his father's native name was Sulapy, and his mother was deceased. It also records both his parents as gentiles (meaning not recruited nor baptized). He presumably grew to adulthood at the mission.

Notably, this baptism took place two months after the tragedy of his tribe losing their men in Moraga's raid of 1810 of the Suisunes. Sem-Yeto was possibly captured as a child in Moraga's raid of 1810, or else because of losing so many adults in the raid, his tribe brought him within two months of the battle to the mission to live. The raid of 1810 had demoralized the tribe, and instead of fighting or moving inland, many that year chose to join the mission and stop fighting. Others believe it was more the next year that the move to the mission occurred, giving support to the view that Solano was among the approximately twelve children taken hostage in the battle.

For seven years he lived at the San Francisco Mission, where he learned Spanish. In the 1820s he reached manhood and became known as the leader of his people, as Chief Solano.

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