Henry Bailey was built at Tacoma, Washington as the first vessel for the Pacific Navigation Company. The vessel was placed on a route which ran from Seattle to Snohomish, via Edmonds, Marysville, Mukilteo, Lowell. At some point in the 1890s the name of the vessel was later changed to City of Champaigne. In 1898, at West Seattle, the upper works and the machinery were removed and reinstalled in a new vessel, the Skagit Queen.
In 1888, the officers of the Henry Bailey included Capt. Sam Denny, mate Peter Falk, Engineer Frank Zikmund, and purser Joshua Green. Green induced the other three men to join together in business, and they eventually formed, with the participation of George J. Willey, a hay in grain merchant, to form the successful shipping concern known as the La Conner Trading and Transportation Company.