William Brown Ide, the first and only "President" of the California Republic, was born on March 28, 1796 in Rutland, Massachusetts. His early years were spent moving around New England with his family. He had very little formal education and apprenticed with his father at the trades of carpenter and joiner.

    He married Susan Haskell at Northborough, Massachusetts in 1820 and continued working as a carpenter. Guided by his father's example, Ide followed the frontier as it gradually moved westward.

    Over the years, the Ides "settled" in Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. Susan gave birth to nine children, but as was common in those days, four of them died before reaching the age of ten.

    On April 1, 1845, the family left Illinois bound for Oregon. Ide was 49 at the time. At Fort Hall, after hearing tales of Indian troubles in Oregon and cheap land in California, Ide decided to go to California instead of Oregon. Following a laborious journey over the mountains, they arrived at Sutter's Fort on October 25, 1845.

    After making arrangements for housing with Peter Lassen, the Ides traveled north and settled near present-day Vina, California. Two weeks later, they found themselves evicted in favor of Lassen's nephew. In desperation, they joined with three single men and spent a miserable winter in a hastily constructed log cabin.

    During that winter, a rumor spread that the Mexican government planned to evict all illegal American settlers. In June, 1846, Ide joined a band of Americans who advanced on the pueblo of Sonoma and captured Mariano Vallejo, the Mexican Comandante of Northern California. Sonoma was taken without a shot, and on June 14, 1846, the Bear Flag was raised and Ide was chosen to lead the new California Republic. After 24 days, the Bear Flaggers learned that the United States had declared war on Mexico. On July 9th, they raised the American flag and joined with the U.S. forces to capture the rest of California.
    After the war, Ide returned to his Rancho de la Bar

    This photo is labeled "William Ide" in an Ide family photo album. However, due to other proven errors of  identity in the album, we can't say if it really is or isn't Ide.

ranca Colorada near present-day Red Bluff, California. He made a fortune in the Northern Mines in the lull between the discovery of gold in 1848 and the Gold Rush of 1849.

    At the time of his death in Monroeville, California in December, 1852, he held several elective and appointive offices in the government of Colusi county in Northern California.