The Independence was a propeller-driven steamboat that was the first steam-driven vessel to run on Lake Superior in October 1845, initiating the era of steam navigation on that lake. During her career, she saw service shipping passengers and supplies to the mining settlements along the south shores of the lake and often returning with copper ore or was commissioned to carry other goods. Her eight-year career on Lake Superior ended when her boilers exploded, killing several aboard, and ultimately sending the steamboat to the bottom in pieces.