The Antelope was built initially by Master Shipbuilder Jacob L. Wolverton as a propeller, and was launched from his shipyard at Newport, Michigan in early August of 1861. The vessel was constructed for Eber Owens as a passenger packet between Milwaukee and Buffalo. It was considered a beautiful and superbly constructed boat with the most modern appointments; the ship was described by the Detroit Free Press:

The Antelope's initial enrollment was entered at the Port of Detroit on August 17, 1861, by Eber Owens. Captain Thomas G. Butlin of Milwaukee was listed as its first Master, with Newport listed as the ship's homeport. It departed on its maiden voyage to Chicago on August 24, 1861. It then took on with 19,400 bushels of wheat and 450 barrels of flour, as well as a deck load of "rolling stock" for delivery at Buffalo. The Antelope continued on the Buffalo-Chicago-Milwaukee route through November of 1861. It emerged the following April, adding Toronto and Collingwood, Ontario to Buffalo, Chicago, and Milwaukee as ports of call. Through 1864 and 1865, contemporary news sources showed Antelope making regular calls between Sarnia, Milwaukee, and Chicago.

On November 17, 1867, while laden with 17,000 bushels of wheat and six hundred barrels of flour, the Antelope caught fire and burned to its waterline. The fire damaged all of the cargo; the flour continued to burn into the following day. The vessel was insured for $44,000 and its cargo, valued at $100,000, was insured for $50,000. In August 1868, the Antelope was towed to Clark's Dry Dock in Detroit by the tug Winslow, and construction started to convert the damaged vessel to a steam lumber barge. It returned to service on May 10, 1869, after a change of ownership, Master, and homeport. Throughout the 1870s, the Antelope would primarily carry cargo of lumber and grain between Detroit, Chicago, and ports on Lake Huron, seeing multiple changes in ownership during these years.

The early 1880s proved difficult for the Antelope, sprouting multiple leaks and running aground. While hung up on Colchester Reef in Lake Champlain in September of 1881, the Antelope was reported to be pounding and straining so heavily that Captain Buie gave the order to scuttle the ship. All of the coal outside the bunkers was collected by tugs of The Canada Wrecking Company, but the ship needed to be pumped to retrieve the coal inside. The Antelope was finally released the afternoon of September 29, after eighty tons of coal was lightered. Repairs were made to the ship at Springwells' Dry Dock in Detroit. As a result of further damage, the following season, owner Charles B. Curtis decided the ship would be converted to a tow-barge.

The seasons of the late 1880s and early 1890s remained uneventful for the Antelope, and little information is known about the arrivals and clearings of the vessel during this time. Moreover, in 1883, there are five vessels on the Great Lakes listed under the name "Antelope." The Antelope's enrollment was surrendered on April 11, 1893, at Port Huron for change in ownership, with Bay City listed as the ship's homeport. In the 1890s, the Antelope continued to transport cargo, primarily coal, between Buffalo and ports in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois.
On October 7, 1897, the Antelope was bound up with a cargo of coal to be dropped off at the Ashland Coal Company dock in Ashland, Wisconsin. It was in tow of the steamer Hiram W. Sibley, whose captain was towing the schooner at 11 miles per hour, too fast in the choppy waves. The thirty-six-year-old Antelope's seams opened; pumps were started, but water rushed in faster than it could be pumped out, and it was soon realized that the ship could not be saved. The Antelope's crew transferred to the Hiram W. Sibley and was taken to safety in Duluth.

Wreckage of the Antelope, including the cabin and other loose material, was sighted by the crew of the schooner Gawn off Michigan Island. A period account reports the loss in about 360 feet of water. The vessel and cargo were valued at $13,5000. The ship's enrollment was surrendered at Port Huron on November 17, 1897.
Located 7.5 miles southeast of Michigan Island in Lake Superior, the wreck site of the Antelope lays imbedded in the lakebed in 300 feet of water. The vessel remains almost entirely intact, with only its stern cabin structure missing. Despite multiple conversions throughout its service history, the original hull, keelson structure, stern, and ship lines maintain their original integrity from when the Antelope was built in 1861. The remains of the vessel lie upright on a heading of 93 degrees. A debris field lies off the stern of the vessel, and includes a broken ceramic jug, a white porcelain bowl, a stove base and bottom with broken glass near it, and an intact ceramic jug with a single handle. Various artifacts remained scattered on deck.