[3] Originally, the vessel was operated by the Engelman Line and carried cargo and passengers between her home port of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and her namesake city, Manistee, Michigan.

In 1872, the ship came to Duluth, Minnesota, and she eventually was put in service for the Leopold and Austrian Line, her final owners.

[3] The long and interesting career of Manistee came to an end on an autumn Saturday in 1883, when the ship left Duluth for Ontonagon, Michigan.

Shortly after she left Duluth, a violent northwest gale developed on the western portion of Lake Superior.

Different theories as to the ship′s fate were discussed in an article in the Bayfield County Press on November 24, 1883, when the story was first reported by the local media.