supplies had to be brought in by packhorse, driving up food prices and making such luxuries as liquor hard to come by. To solve the problems caused by this isolation, the community decided to build its own sternwheeler, one that could run all year round, connecting with Bonners Ferry. That sternwheeler was the City of Ainsworth, launched on May 4, 1892. The ill-fated boat had an unlucky launch, sliding down the ways stern first and flipping over onto her starboard side. She was soon righted by the steamer Galena and went on her maiden voyage without further incident. Meanwhile, the town of Ainsworth continued to boom and the saloons and brothels prospered. One of the best known hotels in town was the Olson Hotel, built by Charles Olson, who had paddled up to the area on a raft in 1883. He built the hotel when he was 21 and kept it until his death in 1926. The Olson Hotel's most unusual feature was its two-story outhouse. The upper floor could be reached from the rooms in the second story of the hotel, while the ground floor was for patrons entering from the hotel's grounds. The toilets were bowls with lids on top, which the proprietor's wife kept from freezing in the winter by heating them with coal oil lamps. By 1893, Ainsworth began to fall into a decline, while Kaslo became the terminus for the Kaslo and Slocan Railway and thus was the supply center of Kootenay Lake. Fire was a constant hazard in these pioneer communities and on April 26, 1896, much of Ainsworth was destroyed. The fire brigade saved the Green Brothers store and several houses, but the fire burned down thirteen hotels including Olson's. Rebuilding started immediately and most of the hotels were rebuilt. The Deering even boasted a swimming pool in its basement. Still, Ainsworth suffered in its isolation, having no roads until 1914 and not having electrical service until 1928. For many years, there was no hospital and the town's medical needs were provided by the local veterinarian, Dr. Henry. The Olson Hotel was torn down in 1960, but the family name is honoured by Mount Olson in the Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. Another pioneer hotel, the Vancouver House, became the Silver Ledge. Converted into a museum in the 1960s, it burned down in 2010. In 1963, Ainsworth officially changed its name to Ainsworth Hot