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Suisunes

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The Suisunes (also called the Suisun and the "People of the West Wind") were a tribe of Native Americans that lived in Northern California's Suisun Marsh regions of Solano County, California between what is now Suisun, Vacaville and Putah Creek around 200 years ago.

The Suisune's main village, Yulyul, was believed to be where Rockville, California is located today. Father Abella, vistor to the tribe in 1811, indicated they resided in the present location of Fairfield, north of the Suisun Bay.<ref>Milliken, p. 255.</ref> One of the Suisunes' primary food sources was acorns. Their diet also included fish as well as Miner's Lettuce. Their huts (as recorded by the Spaniards in 1817) were conical wikiups made of rushes or tule thatch.

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[edit] History

The Suisunes were one tribe of the Patwin Indians, who were the southern branch of the Wintun group, who had lived in the region for up to 4000 years. Few records have been handed down; approximately 2500-5000 Patwins existed in all.

[edit] Mission Era

By 1800, Spain had taken control of most of the Bay Area, having erected seven missions in the Ohlone region south and west of the Suisunes region. The closest mission to the Suisunes was across the San Francisco Bay, Mission San Francisco de Asís. Franciscan missionaries wanted to bring all tribes into the Spanish-controlled missions, pueblos and presidios, however the Spanish had not yet reached north of the present-day Carquinez Strait to the Suisunes. The Suisunes lived sufficiently far away from the first missions to rebel from the incoming Spaniards, and over time they joined with the other Patwin tribes in the central valley region to resist the incursion on their lands and maintain their freedom. They acquired horses from mission runaways and mission outposts.

The Suisunes might have avoided contact for several more decades with the missionaries, however in the early 1800s, Indian runaways from the missions began to seek shelter with the Suisunes. The missions would send Mission Indians to round up "Christian" runaways. The interaction set in motion a chain of Indian battles and growing distrust:

[edit] Battles

  • In 1804, 14 Mission Indians identified as Saclan and Jalquin ventured into the Suisunes homeland to recapture mission runaways, and were either killed or died in an unfortunate drowning accident. The facts are unclear. The mission statement of their deaths included this note: "It is not possible to affirm whether they died by drowning or at the hands of the pagans (i.e., the Suisunes)... I am inclined to believe they they died by drowning. If the pagans (Suisunes) had killed them, their relatives would have told me about it."<ref>Milliken, page 181.</ref>
  • By the year 1807, 62 runaways from the missions lived in the regions of Suisunes. In February 1807, 40 Mission Indians ventured in Suisunes territory looking for January runaways, particularly to reclaim one man's wife. The runaways faught for their freedom, the Suisunes defending them. 12 of the attacking Mission Indians died, the rest retreated.
  • In May 1810, three more traveling Mission Indians were killed by Suisunes. In retribution, the Spaniard Gabriel Moraga led an attack on 125 Suisunes and "a fierce battle took place". 125 Suisunes men in this battle were driven into three huts and killed. Two huts of men died in battle, one hut was consumed by fire. The soldiers returned to San Francisco with "6 boys and 6 girls of Suisuns and Chupcans."<ref>Milliken, page 210.</ref>

[edit] Migration

The next year in 1811, perhaps due to the loss of 125 men, a large group of Suisunes gave up the resistance and moved into Mission San Francisco de Asís in present-day San Francisco. A total of 326 Suisunes were baptized at this mission between 1810 and 1816.

[edit] Village Perishes

In 1817, Jose DeArguello, the commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco sent his lieutenant Jose Sanchez to lead another attack against the Suisunes tribe, believed to have taken place in the hills behind Benicia. The Spaniards subsequently gained ground in present-day Fairfield and Suisun today, reaching the Suisunes' village of Chief Malica, sachem of the tribe. At this village, probably with imminent defeat of his people, Chief Malica and the majority of the tribe chose to end their lives in a tragic mass suicide. The Spaniards witnessed the village's brushy huts burst into flames. The chief chanting and singing, leapt into the flames, followed by the people of the village, including the women with children and babies. The Spaniards tried to save some while several Indians fled into the hills. The remaining tribe survived in the hills or through assimilation, reemerging under the leadership of Chief Sem-Yeto, also known as Chief Solano.

[edit] Chief (Sem-Yeto) Francisco Solano

Sem-Yeto (later known as Chief Solano), born about 1800, emerged as the next in line to be the Suisunes chief. Sem-Yeto was described as tall, 6 feet 7 inches, handsome and brave. Sem-Yeto was baptized in the San Francisco Mission on July 1810 at roughly age 10 and lived there until adulthood. He became known as Chief Solano. His baptism took place 2 months after the tragedy of 1810.<ref>Milliken, page 255.</ref> Sem-Yeto was possibly captured as a child in Moraga's raid of 1810 or his family brought him within two months of the battle.

(Another legend that has been handed down is that Sem-Yeto was one of the children who fled from the tribe's suicide of 1817 at the dying request of Chief Malica.<ref>"Tragic Demise of People of the West Wind"</ref> In this version of Sem-Yeto's childhood, Chief Solano was convinced by Chief Malica to flee the battleground suicide as the rightful leader of the remaining people of the tribe in 1817 with the few that fled into the hills. For 6 years until 1823, Sem-Yeto's whereabouts are not recorded, possibly he lived freely in the hills, or lived with another tribe, or was captured and was Christianized, then he turned up to bring the people to the Mission of Sonoma. The battle of 1810 and 1817 have several similarities, the legend of a childhood leader being saved from a fiery battleground death to become the leader of his people. It sounds like the second legend simplified two battles into one battle and placed Sem-Yeto at the scene with Malica.)

In 1823, Sem-Yeto moved into the new mission in the town of Sonoma, California, the Mission San Francisco de Solano. By the first account, Sem-Yeto was transferred from the Mission in San Francisco to help build and populate this final Franciscan mission built north of the San Francisco Bay. Chief Solano came with the tribe of Suisunes, their young leader now. Mission records show a "Francisco Solano" was one of the first Natives baptized in the mission. By all accounts he did move to the mission in its founding years with his people although if he came from San Francisco he would not need to be baptized again. (Was the Chief baptized twice? There is an entry in the ledger but is it him, or another Indian? Perhaps Sem-Yeto went through baptism at Sonoma as a sign to all his people to come be baptized and join him. They were much 'closer' to their homeland here.)

In the 1834, General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo of Sonoma, as the comandante of the new pueblo projects in the region, became a very valuable patron and friend to Chief Solano. The mission system was closing down, and Chief Solano and the Suisunes became allies of Vallejo. Chief Solano and the Suisunes led many expeditions with the object of quelling the other tribes of the region, the Wappo, Cainameros (aka the Indians of Cainama in the region toward Santa Rosa) and Satisyomis (aka Sotoyomes)<ref>Lewis & Co., 1891. source mentions the Satisyomis were generally known as the Guapo. This would be the Wappo.</ref> who were attempting to throw off Mexican domination. Sources differ whether Chief Solano led military expeditions against the other tribes, or peacemaking missions, but his reputation was a man of peace. Chief Solano eventually helped to secure peace between the region's Native Americans and the Mexicans. A peace treaty was signed in 1836.

In 1846, at the end of the Bear Flag Revolt when California became part of the United States, General Vallejo was taken prisoner by Americans at Sutter's Fort and presumed dead. Chief Solano thought he had lost his closest ally so fled north and found refuge with tribes as far north as Oregon, Washington and possibly Alaska. He returned to California in 1850 and died soon after of pneumonia at the old Yulyul village site in Rockville.<ref>In addition to the references listed, mission records and mission registers will show genealogical details of his family, and Solano's life was witnessed and described by his widow in her old age</ref>

Solano County is named after Chief (Sem-Yeto) Francisco Solano.

Suisun Marsh is named after the Suisunes tribe.

[edit] Notes

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[edit] Sources

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