The Chief Justice Marshall became the favorite packet of the Troy Line between New York and Albany after her launch in 1826, and was known as "The Race Horse of the North River." She was later relocated to the Connecticut River and was stranded in a storm off the coast of New Haven in 1835.

To save time on busy routes, passenger steamships such as this one merely slowed down their paddle wheel and released a small launch tethered to a rope. The launch would ferry passengers and luggage to the shore and pick up new ones before the steamer cranked it back in. This plate depicts this activity, with some recently disembarked passengers on the bank in the foreground. An almost identical composition, featuring a Union Line steamboat was also produced by Wood (inv. no. 1930.3139). The view was most likely taken from an advertisement. The transfer-printed shell border was one of the firm’s stock designs and could be reused to decorate many different pieces.