Built by John Cantwell in 1867 for merchant A.F. Barker, extreme canaller Frank D. Barker was after A.F. Barker's third child Frank D. Barker. The Frank D. Barker participated in the Great Lakes grain trade, as well as shipping iron, coal, foodstuffs, crops, and lumber throughout the period of its use. The vessel often traveled between Chicago and Oswego, making heavy use of the Welland Canal to access almost all of the Great Lakes frequently. An extreme canaller is the largest class of ship capable of passing through the Welland Canal. The vessel sailed its first few years without incident until November 28, 1870, when the schooner Governor collided with the Frank D. Barker. The Frank D. Barker suffered only minor damage, however. The ship lost its head gear while being towed when it was swung into the schooner Cornelia Amsden on the night of June 8, 1871. On October 13, 1873, the ship went ashore during a gale east of the piers at Port Colborne, Ontario, near the Welland Canal; a large portion of its wheat cargo sustained water damage. This accident and others in 1873 led to the Frank D. Barker's insurance rating dropping in 1874. During the 1875 season, Frank D. Barker was forced to wait in Chicago for two weeks in June due to a worker's strike. One of the vessel's centerboards were removed in 1878 at the Wolf & Davidson shipyard at Milwaukee and remaining centerboard was enlarged. On September 12, 1879, the Canadian tug Wales collided with Frank D. Barker, doing nominal damage. The tug's captain refused to pay for the damages done to the canaller, leading to the owners of Frank D. Barker to libel for damages. The ship was trapped in Chicago again on April 24, 1880, when the current of the Chicago River caused the vessel to lose control and was jammed into the Wells Street Bridge. On September 11, 1886 the schooner Niagara, through some mismanagement, sailed under the bow of the Frank D. Barker and had its mainsail speared by the canaller's jibboom, carrying away the Niagara's mainboom and mainsail.
On September 30, 1887, the Frank D. Barker was sailing empty bound from Manistee for Escanaba when the captain misjudged the entrance to Deaths Door Passage due to dense fog. Without cargo, the ship ran high on a reef of flat rocks east of Spider Island. The tug Jesse Spalding came to the canaller's aid but was unable to move the ship and left on October 4. The tug returned to the wreck on October 21, joined by the tugs George Nelson and John Evenson, but conditions were too rough to rescue the Frank D. Barker. Despite the vessel's reportedly good condition, the canaller was abandoned to the elements.

A year later discussion began again on recovering the Frank D. Barker. The George Nelson returned to the site with Sturgeon Bay's John Leathem, Charles Scofield, Samuel Leathem, and John Murray. After inspection, the ship was purchased by Leathem & Smith and became the next project of the company. Despite bringing a full recovery outfit, the patched vessel simply would not stop taking water, and unfavorable conditions only led to the Frank D. Barker becoming increasingly stuck in the reef. The recovery expedition was shut down on October 25, 1888. Shortly after a gale tore the ship to pieces, and it was permanently abandoned.
Over recent years the Frank D. Barker has been the subject of several unsuccessful search efforts until on July 29, 2025. Captain Matt Olson of Door County Adventure Rafting located the wreck while looking at the Door County Land Information Resources GIS website in an area south of Spider Island. Olson snorkeled the site with his six-year-old son, taking photos of the wreckage before notifying Wisconsin Historical Society. Archaeologists and volunteers documented and surveyed the shipwreck in August 2025.