The wooden steamer Alice E. Wilds was considered a first-class lumber carrier. It was built by John Oades enrolled at Detroit, Michigan, on June 14, 1883. It had one mast and a high-pressure engine from Dry Dock Engine Works in Detroit. In 1892, ownership was transferred to Barney Wilds of Detroit. Throughout its service, the Alice E. Wilds was also chartered for the ice trade. The vessel was only in operation for under ten years before its demise.
On June 12, 1892, the steamer Alice E. Wilds was struck by the small passenger steamer Douglas, which was bound from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan. The Douglas had twenty people on board at the time of the incident. Despite the fact that there was a heavy fog at the time the collision occurred, both vessels were traveling at a high speed. The lookouts of neither steamer saw the approaching danger until the vessels were within a few rods of each other, when it was too late to avert the collision. Although the Wilds sank extremely rapidly, no lives were lost. It went down in over 300 feet of water, and therefore could not be recovered. The crew was rescued by the Douglas who made it back to port despite its stem being badly damaged. The Wilds was traveling light at the time of the collision, bound for Escanaba, Michigan, from Chicago. One source says it had a cargo of coal. The final enrollment document was surrendered at Detroit on June 20, listed as a total loss of vessel.

The Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean reported on October 19, 1892: "The action of the Milwaukee Steamboat Inspectors in revoking the licenses of Captain Barney Wilds, of the A.E. Wilds and C.B. Coates, of the steamer Douglas was generally approved by marine men. The two boats were in collision off Milwaukee, and the Wilds went to the bottom. The testimony showed that both boats were running at full speed, and although they sighted each other twenty minutes before the crash, neither changed course. Not even a whistle was sounded."
The wreck of the Alice E. Wilds was reportedly relocated in 1996. However, it was definitively identified in June of 2015. Diver Jitka Hanakova investigated the intended transport route and reported location of the Alice E. Wilds's collision and visited the wreck that summer. It sits upright eighteen miles off of Milwaukee, in over 300 feet of water. Further archaeological investigation must be conducted to determine the current location and condition of the Alice E. Wilds.