Ilwaco served in several areas of the Pacific Northwest, including the Columbia River, the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound.

Ilwaco was wrecked in 1918 at Green Island, in Chatham Sound, not far from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in the Inside Passage.

[6] Suomi was substituted for the General Canby on the Ilwaco route, and remained on the run, in charge of Captains William Starr,[7] Thomas Parker, and Engineer Charles Smith.

[10] In July 1895 Ilwaco made connections at Astoria with the large fast steamers Telephone and Bailey Gatzert, both owned by the White Collar Line, on the Portland-Astoria run.

[11] On November 24, 1894, when the British ship Kentmere went aground on the south side of the Columbia bar, Ilwaco carried the Fort Canby life-boat crew to Sand Island to stand by to effect a rescue.

Passengers are required to furnish themselves with life preservers, and to take their own risks, and also a pair of stilts in case of low water on the spit.

Notice--A spotter is employed on every train, to prevent beach visitors from being robbed by the Ilwaco Councilmen and attorney, while en route through the city.

[14] Up to that time Ilwaco had been the only vessel on the run, and it had then recently, on April 28, 1895, hauled out of the water for service, including replacement of the wheel and shaft and a new coat of paint.

In the fall of 1899 Ilwaco was engaged in towing work, bringing a barge laden with lumber into Goble, Oregon on September 15.

[22] The company had fish traps at Waldron Island and a canning plant at Port Townsend, which in the summer of 1905 had packed 24,000 cases of sockeye salmon.

[23] On September 4, 1901, Ilwaco towed to the Port Townsend cannery the scows and boats that had been used at the Waldron Island traps during the summer.

[24] The Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company was carrying an increased amount of logs, and the only existing log-towing steamer on the route, Jordan was reported to be unwilling to continue the tow work.

[28] Ilwaco continued to make runs to and from San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, and Pigeon Point until the first part of July, 1904.

[32] The life-saving crew at Point Reyes Lifeboat Station saw Ilwaco enter the bay in the fog, and concluded the steamer was in distress.

[36] On November 13, 1905, Simpson and Pike put Ilwaco on the Bellingham-Friday Harbor run, stopping at waypoints on Orcas Island.

[35] On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, Ilwaco left Blaine at 6:00 a.m., arrived in Bellingham at about 11:00 a.m., and then departed at noon for points in the San Juan Islands, reaching Friday Harbor at about 6:00 p.m.[35] On the Tuesday before November 18, 1905, Ilwaco was reported to have made the Bellingham-Friday Harbor run in five and a half hours, calling at all Orcas Island points along the route.

[35] The Friday Harbor newspaper, San Juan Islander, described Ilwaco as "considerably faster than either of the other steamers on the Bellingham route but her passenger accommodations at present are much inferior to those of the mail boats.

"[35] Perhaps in response to the newspaper comment as to the inferiority of its passenger accommodations, in early December or late November 1905, the owners of Ilwaco announced their intentions to convert the steamer, after the holidays, into an oil-burner, and also to install electric lighting.

[38] It was reported in January 1906 that Ilwaco's principal owner, Leonard D. Pike, sold the steamer to George & Barker Co., who were salmon canners in Point Roberts, for consideration paid of $6,000.

[40] In 1912, Captain T. Jones of Decatur, Washington bought Ilwaco, who converted it into a fish packer powered by a gasoline engine.

[44] Heavy seas forced Humboldt to stand by for thirteen hours before conditions improved enough to allow Ilwaco's crew to be taken off the reef.