As commerce on the west coast grew in the wake of the California gold rush, the United States needed basic aids to navigation, starting with charts. The Coast Survey dispatched the steamer USRC "Jefferson" from Philadelphia in March 1861 to meet this need. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked in a storm off the east coast of Patagonia in May, 1851. Rather than send another ship from the east coast to replace "Jefferson", the Coast Survey purchased "Gold Hunter" in February 1852 and renamed her "Active". Lieutenant James Alden, Jr., was her first commanding officer in Coast Survey service. He remained her captain for most of the ship's time with the government. "Active's" primary mission was to produce nautical charts of the West Coast of America. Her initial tasks in 1852 were to survey Cape Flattery and the south shore of the Strait of Juan De Fuca, and to resurvey the mouth of the Columbia River. In 1854 "Active" surveyed the new port of Seattle, which had been settled by the Denny party only three years before. In 1855 she surveyed San Francisco Bay. In 1856 she surveyed San Diego Bay, San Clemente Island, and the Monterey Peninsula. In 1857 the ship carried the U.S. survey corps which established the boundary between Washington Territory and the British possessions which later became Canada. In 1858 she surveyed Grays Harbor and Shoalwater Bay in Washington Territory. A new chart of San Pedro Harbor was produced in 1859 and "Active" surveyed Humboldt Bay.