Chief Solano

Sem-Yeto (c. 1798 – c. 1851) was a leader of the Suisunes, a Patwin people of the Suisun Bay region of northern California. Baptized as Francisco Solano and also known as Chief Solano, he was a 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. By allying with Vallejo and assisting him in quelling Native American uprisings north and west of Sonoma between 1836 and 1843, Sem-Yeto is regarded as a controversial historical figure. The California county of Solano is named for him.