Black Hawk was one of three small iron-propeller driven steamboats manufactured in Philadelphia in about 1850 and shipped to the west coast of United States to be placed in river service.

[2] The boats had to be small to make the run to Oregon City, which passed through the Clackamas rapids a short distance downriver from the town.

[3] In the first year that steamers ran on the Columbia and the Willamette, the strip from Portland to the Falls became infested with boats, all competing for the trade between those places.

As it is doubtful whether the two towns together could muster over a couple of thousand inhabitants, pickings for the steamers were slim, and the fight raged furiously between the little propellers Eagle, Black Hawk, and Major Redding, which were joined the next year by the Allan, the Washington, and the pioneer Columbia.

[10] On Saturday, May 31, 1851, Black Hawk had to carry the freight and passengers of the new sidewheeler Lot Whitcomb, when the Whitcomb, a much larger vessel, broke a few paddle buckets on one wheel during an excursion to the Cascades Rapids, and as a result had to stop at the foot of the Clackamas Rapids rather than proceeding on to Oregon City.

Clark & Co., were advertising more specific departure times, 8:00 a.m. from Oregon City, and 2:00 p.m. from Portland, with towing "attended to on short notice.