Following two years servicing this route, the Goodrich Line lost the contract to new steamers purchased by the Flint and Pere Marquette Railway. With no other profitable routes available for the expensive vessels, Goodrich sold his three iron vessels to the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Company and recouped the entire construction cost. The Wisconsin began running between Grand Haven and Milwaukee in a year-round, cross-lake service.

In March 1885, while attempting to enter the harbor at Grand Haven, Mich., the Wisconsin became locked in a large ice field. Immobilized for over two weeks, her iron hull was squeezed by the pressure of the ice. The crew tried to protect her with heavy oak timbers, but she suffered severe hull damage and required extensive shipyard repairs that cost more than $40,000. The Michigan was less fortunate. She sank after losing a four-week battle with the ice.