144 
The Colorado River 
captain, Wilcox, calmly took the helm himself, steered toward 
the bank and ordered his men to leap to the ground from the 
jib-boom, carrying the kedge anchor. By this means the mad 
rush of the vessel was stopped, and by the use of logs and 
cables she was kept a safe distance from the bank. When the 
A Cocopa Dwelling, near Mouth of the Colorado. 
Photograph by Delancy Gill. 
stores were finally landed they turned gratefully but apprehen¬ 
sively toward the sea, which they happily reached again with¬ 
out serious mishap. 
A little later this same year (1851) George A. Johnson came 
to the mouth of the river on the schooner Sierra Nevada with 
further supplies for the fort, including lumber for the construc¬ 
tion of flatboats with which to go up to the post. Johnson 
afterwards ran steamers on the river for a number of years, and 
