She linked the transportation hubs at both the north and south ends of Okanagan Lake (Vernon and Penticton, respectively, aiding the development of interior British Columbia with other steamships of the 1900s.

A similar ship named Kuskanook was built in 1906 for Kootenay Lake to aid Moyie with increasing passenger demand.

The low strength of the lighter wood was remedied through the use of haug posts, large cross-laminate timber beams essential in maintaining the structural integrity of the ship, anchored in the steel hull.

The hull was formed into a deep lake boat pattern, allowing the ship to reach speeds not possible for a riverboat of similar proportions.

The ship was designed with an eye for elegance, resulting in a graceful silhouette that lacked the boxy or top-heavy look privy to many other vessels.

Okanagan boasted five dining room tables, with seating for up to thirty guests at a time, along with thirty-two staterooms and a total passenger capacity of four hundred.

She provided daily passenger service with stops at Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland and Penticton while Aberdeen took care of freight and smaller communities three times a week.

There were only $15 in the store at the time, with which he fled to the city of Penticton, two days to the south on foot, meeting up with an accomplice named Frank Wilson on the way.

They were arrested in a hotel by Chief Roche and Constable Aston, who found and confiscated several weapons and 200 rounds of ammunition on James.

However, the police had not found a pistol during the initial search, with which James shot Constable Aston before Okanagan arrived at Peachland.

With the construction of highways and railways, passenger service by boat was no longer needed and Okanagan spent her last years transporting freight and pushing barges.