"On the authority of Morgan L. Martin, who had much to do with the early development of the Fox-Wisconsin waterway, the first steamboat that passed over the continuous water route from the Mississippi River to Green Bay was the Aquila, and the date was 1856. Charles Green of Green Bay bought the boat in Pittsburgh and brought it down the Ohio and up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wisconsin, whence it proceeded across the state on the historical old waterway. Later the Aquila and the Pioneer, both owned in Green Bay, made regular trips between that town and Fond du Lac."
In the fall of 1858, the Aquila was purchased by William B. Ogden of Pestigo, who planned to take the machinery out of her and remodel the hull into a barge (along with the Ajax and Buffalo). However, in the spring of 1859, R. Schettler was advertising her for sale along with the other two vessels (Ajax and Buffalo). By April 1860, the Green Bay Advocate reported the Aquila as lying at dock in Depere, where she was having her machinery taken out to be placed inside the steamer Elwood.