The Buckeye State was a new wooden bark having made but one trip to Chicago. She cost $15,000 to construct and was insured for $10,000 by the Astor Insurance Company.
On the day of her demise she was carrying apples and cider along with railroad iron for the Milwaukee-Mississippi Railroad.
November 5, 1852, 4 o'clock a.m. The new three masted bark Buckeye State, with a cargo of apples for Milwaukee and railroad iron for Chicago, missed the entrance when attempting to enter Milwaukee port and had her fore and main masts along with the jib boom carried away. The crew let go both anchors, yet she still went onto the beach. Days later, a gang of men using pumps managed to raise her, and got her around to the nearby government piers, where a gale beached her again and the vessel then went to pieces just north of the piers. The piers were located near the old river mouth at the south end of present day Jones Island in Milwaukee Bay. The Buckeye State was listed as a total loss of $14,000.
The remains of the Buckeye State have yet to be found.