Navigating the treacherous waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound by sail was always a dangerous and unreliable undertaking. The advent of the steamship brought a means of transportation that was safer and steadier.

The Eliza Anderson was the most famous steamship that ever plowed the waters of Puget Sound. She answered the need for reliable transportation around the Sound for passengers and mail and became known as the "queen of the Sound." She was a big boat that looked like a fat duck about to dive. Her owners were John Scranton and Captain James Hunt. She ran steadily for 40 years, even though others before her had failed. She was 140 feet long, her beam was 24 feet, and she was not handsome. But she did her job well and she was spoken of as a beloved uncle. Passengers and crew shared a table for meals. If cattle were on board, the aroma crept into the galley. To know the captain personally gave a passenger special status.

The Eliza served the Port Townsend area through times of economic climb and extreme decline. There were times, when she traveled the lovely wooded Strait, that she would stop for a single rowboat and help the passengers aboard. Through the years, as towns began to sprout from the dense forest, she served faithfully and loyally. She continued to serve despite difficulties experienced by other vessels. Eventually her life ended when she sank at her moorings in Seattle, long after she had been replaced on her run by a newer ship.

Hunt and Scranton also had another ship, the Major Tomkins, a slow ship they had brought from the Sacramento River. Once the Tomkins ran aground on the rocks and her passengers were forced to walk to Victoria.

The Julia Barclay was a beautiful, slender sternwheeler, built to accommodate the gold rush trade. It was not able to negotiate the rough waters of the Strait, a fate shared by many other ships of the day.