Fairfield is the seat of Solano County. The city is located in the northern part of the state. It is about 40 miles northeast of San Francisco where it straddles Interstate 80. The history of Fairfield stretches back five to six thousand years. That is the age of artifacts of native people which have been excavated here. The first European contact came in 1810 when the Spanish army was ordered to attack the Suisin Indians. In 1835 the Mexican General Vallejo was so magnanimous in victory over the Indian Chief Sem Yeto that the chief later became his ally in conflicts against other tribes. In 1837 the Indian Chief Solano received a land grant from Mexico named Suisun Rancho. This grant eventually came into the hands of a clipper ship captain from Connecticut named Robert H. Waterman. He not only parceled out the town in 1856 but also, in a commercially shrewd move, arranged to have the county seat moved here in 1858 from Benicia. As an inducement he granted sixteen acres of land for the construction of county buildings. In 1903 Fairfield was incorporated as a city.