The John M Osborn’s short career as a wooden steam barge lasted just two years. The Osborn sank with the loss of five lives when she was rammed by the larger, steel hulled Alberta which was called a “steel monster" and "terror of the lakes". The Osborn’s wreck was discovered 100 years after her sinking. The wreck was illegally salvaged in the 1980s. Many of the Osborn’s artifacts became the property of the State of Michigan after they were seized from Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The State allows the museum to display the artifacts as a loan.