James McClatchy was an American newspaper editor.

Although he is thought of as founder of The Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...

, which grew into The McClatchy Company

The McClatchy Company

The McClatchy Company is a publicly traded American publishing company based in Sacramento, California. It operates 30 daily newspapers in 15 states and has an average weekday circulation of 2.2 million and Sunday circulation of 2.8 million...

, James McClatchy was actually the newspaper's second editor, taking over just days after the newspaper began publication as The Daily Bee in February 1857.
Born in 1824 in Ireland, McClatchy was a young journalist on the editorial staff of Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...

’s New York Tribune in 1848, when news of a gold strike on Northern California's American River

American River

The American River is a California watercourse noted as the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...

 reached the East.