Now a fast-growing city of over 100,000, Fairfield was once the home of the Patwin Suisuni Indians, whose famous Chief Solano became one of the few native landowners in California in the 1830s. Halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento on the route to the gold fields, the town was founded by clipper ship captain Robert Waterman. A shrewd trader, Waterman offered the new Solano County government free land and cash to relocate to his new city, making it the county seat. Soon the railroad, and later the state highway, chose a route through Fairfield, creating an urban center for the beautiful agricultural valleys that surround it.