The portrait at the left was taken some years after Captain Robert Waterman's famous 1851 voyage in the clipper Challenge, but
his face still shows much of the resolution and force that made him in
his prime one of the greatest master mariners in our history.
He
had already left the sea and settled near what is today the town of
Fairfield, California, when the Griswolds of New York asked him to take
command of the Challenge. (She is shown below, in W. H. Webb's New York yard, where she was built) .
Her
maiden voyage to San Francisco has been described as "a classic
instance of a voyage in an American 'Hell Ship.' " Nine members of the
crew died; the chief mate narrowly escaped being murdered; Captain
Waterman stood trial for murder on the high seas; and all in an
unsuccessful attempt to set a record.
