Between 1844 and 1857, palace steamers dominated Great Lakes transportation, carrying many European immigrants bound for Wisconsin as they traveled between major ports and stopped at Wisconsin coastal towns. Built in 1846, the 245-foot Niagara represented leading maritime engineering, reaching speeds up to 15 miles per hour while carrying several hundred passengers and large cargos. As larger and faster steamers surpassed it, the Niagara was reassigned to less prestigious routes and spent its final season running between Collingwood, Ontario and Chicago. At 2:30 pm on September 23, 1856, it left Sheboygan for Port Washington, but at 4:00 pm a fire broke out and the engine soon stopped, leaving the ship stranded. As smoke and flames spread, passengers panicked, and despite rescue efforts at least 60 people died, most by drowning while trying to board lifeboats. The disaster remains one of Wisconsin’s worst transportation tragedies, and the wreck now preserves an underwater record of mid-19th-century maritime technology, including its iron engine, boilers, and hull.