The "Chief Wawatam" was owned by the Mackinac Transportation Company. The steel ship, built in 1911 by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company, was used year-round to ferry railcars between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, Michigan. A bow propeller enabled the ship to break through ice on the Straits of Mackinac, which separates Lake Michigan from Lake Huron and joins Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The "Chief Wawatam" was in use until 1986.