Robert Baylor Semple (1806–1854) was a 19th-century California newspaperman and politician.

Biography

A newspaperman in Kentucky, he came west over the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

with

Lansford Hastings Lansford Warren Hastings (1819–1870) was an American explorer and Confederate soldier. He is best remembered as the developer of Hastings Cutoff, a claimed shortcut to California across what is now the state of Utah, a factor in the ill-fated ...

in 1845, before the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

. During the 1846

Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic, or Bear Flag Republic, was an List of historical unrecognized states#Americas, unrecognized breakaway state from Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico, that existed from June 14, 1846 to July 9, 1846. It milita ...

, he led the Americans around

Sutter's Fort Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called New Helvetia (''New Switzerland'') ...

in the

Sacramento valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

. With

Walter Colton Reverend Walter Colton (May 7, 1797 – January 22, 1851) was an American clergyman and writer from Vermont who served as the first American Alcalde (mayor) of Monterey, California. He worked as an editor for newspapers in Washington, D.C., and P ...

, he published the

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

-based '' Californian'' on August 15, 1846, the first newspaper ever published in California.Dramov, Alissandra. ''Carmel-By-The-Sea, The Early Years (1903-1913)''. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2012: 39–40. Semple moved the newspaper to San Francisco in 1847. In late 1848 it was merged with the ''California Star'', founded by Samuel Brannan, and became the ''

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

''. In 1849, he was joined in California by his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and was elected to and presided over California's state constitutional convention — California's first two Senate seats. In 1847, with Thomas O. Larkin, he received a grant of land from

Mariano Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (July 4, 1807 – January 18, 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the trans ...

along the

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain int ...

near the mouth of the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

provided that a new town be erected there named for Vallejo's wife Francisca Benicia. "Francisca" was objected to by the citizens of

Yerba Buena Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. ''Yerba buena'' translates as "good herb". The specific plant species regarded as ''yerba buena'' varies from region to reg ...

, which had recently been renamed San Francisco by its occupying American ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

Washington Allon Bartlett Washington Allon Bartlett (''c.'' 1816 – February 6, 1865) was the first U.S. citizen to serve as alcalde of Yerba Buena/San Francisco, appointed by the military government during the Mexican-American War and serving from August 14, 1846, to ...

: The city became

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. ...

instead. During the gold rush of 1849 he operated a ferry service from San Francisco to the East Bay. Falling out with Larkin after Benicia was named California's territorial capital, Semple retired in 1851 to the northern tract of the Rancho Jimeno, which abutted his brother's

Rancho Colus Rancho Colus was a Mexican land grant in present-day Colusa County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to John Bidwell. The name is derived from the name of a Native American tribe living on the west side of the Sacramento River. ...

. He later died from injuries received falling from a horse.

References

* Taylor, Bayard & al.
Eldorado: Adventures in the Path of Empire
'. Heyday Books, 2000. Retrieved 6 Mar 2010. * Hague, Harlan & al.
Thomas O. Larkin: A Life of Patriotism and Profit in Old California
'. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. Retrieved 6 Mar 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Robert B. 1806 births 1854 deaths American people of the Bear Flag Revolt People of the California Gold Rush Landowners from California 19th-century California politicians Publishers (people) from California Accidental deaths in California Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States 19th-century American businesspeople