[1] The Cumberland was constructed in 1871 by Melanchthan & Simpson of Port Robinson, Ontario[3] for Perry & Company, a Toronto steamship line.

[5] The Cumberland's design was typical of the sidewheel steamers built for Great Lakes travel in the 1840s-1880s.

[5] The ship was powered by a 400HP walking beam engine with a single boiler and possessed paddlewheels 30 feet in diameter.

[3][5] The Cumberland was built for Northern Railway of Canada, the parent company of the Toronto and Lake Superior Navigation Company, to run between Duluth, Minnesota and Collingwood or Owen Sound, Ontario,[3] and was named For Fred W. Cumberland, Northern Railway's general manager.

[5] Luckily, there was little damage from this incident, and cargo and passengers soon arrived safely in Thunder Bay.

[3] Large portions of the ship remain in 20 to 80 feet of water, including the wooden hull, side-wheel, and boiler.

[5] The wreckage of the Cumberland is intermingled with some portions of the hull of the Henry Chisholm, which sank later in 1898,[8] and not far from the remains of the George M.