Cocopah, was a stern-wheel paddle-steamer, the fifth steamboat on the Colorado River, first put on the river in August 1859. The Cocopah was built in 1859 for the George A. Johnson & Company in San Francisco for $35,000. It was the largest steamboat yet used on river being 140 feet long and 29 feet wide, with a powerful engine that could carry up to 100 tons of cargo upriver against strong currents in the river. Additionally it had a draft of a mere 19 inches, with a full cargo, making it ideal for dealing with the snags and sandbars of the river especially in the low water time of the year. Cocopah was built to replace Johnson's first steamboat, the side-wheeler General Jesup.