| Existing comment:
Boatswain Mate Charles W. Riggin of USS Baltimore was killed on 16 October 1891 in an attack on American sailors in the streets of Valpariaso, Chile. This attack was sparked by anti-American feelings arising from the US decision to grant political asylum to former Chilean leaders who had been overthrown in a recent revolution. Responding to a suggestion in the New York Recorder, the public contributed over 26,000 silver dimes for three memorial statues of Boatswain Riggin. Cast from a model by Alexander J. Doyle of New York City, the statues were presented to President Benjamin Harrison, the Secretary of State James G. Blaine, and this one to the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy. |