Cochan (sternwheeler)

Cochan, (Quechan) last of the stern-wheel steamboats built for the Colorado Steam Navigation Company (CSNC).

In 1899 Issac Polhamus and Jack Mellon owners of the CSNC had to choose one of their remaining steamboats to rebuild to keep up with the competition.

Both the 23-year-old Mohave II and the Gila, with 35 years on the Colorado River, had worn hulls only kept going with a lot of maintenance.

In late 1899 the Gila's machinery was refurbished and its hull rebuilt for $25,000 in the shipyard at Yuma, Arizona.

[2]: 135–160 Just before the completion of the Laguna Dam, some 14 miles above Yuma, ended steam navigation on the lower Colorado River, the Colorado Steam Navigation Company sold its remaining boats including the Cochan to the United States Reclamation Service in 1909.

View showing steamboat Cochan on the Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona in 1900. [ 1 ] A photograph of the Cochan taken in 1900. Cochan was the last stern-wheel steamboat running on the Colorado River for the Colorado Steam Navigation Company , between 1899 and 1909. Cochan was sold to the U.S Reclamation Service in 1909. Not required by the Service, Cochan was dismantled in 1910.