gave Johnson's wife the Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos as a wedding present. Johnson also built a home in Yuma for his wife for when they traveled there, that became the commanding officers quarters of the Yuma Quartermaster Depot in 1864. The Johnsons had nine children, but only two lived to adulthood. In 1863, Johnson became a Member of the California State Assembly for the 1st District, and again in 1866–67. Johnson had delegated operations to his senior steamboat captain Issac Polhamus, and distracted by his rancho and political career did not invest in more shipping to keep up with the growing traffic caused by the 1862 Colorado River gold rush. By 1864 it had created a large backlog of undelivered freight and caused competition of opposition lines to arrive on the Colorado River. This finally forced Johnson to expand his fleet of steamboats and to begin to use barges to increase their cargo carrying capacity. Following a price war that lasted until 1866, with the advantage of the contracts to supply the U. S. Army posts and his system of wood-yards, Johnson's company was again the only steamboat company on the river. In 1869 he incorporated his steamboat company as the Colorado Steam Navigation Company which he and his partners held until they sold its steamboats to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1877. Johnson acquired title to the Rancho Los Peñasquitos when the U.S. government granted a patent to the land in 1876. In 1880, the Johnsons lost their rancho to creditors and within several years moved to a building, now known as the Johnson House, which they owned on the plaza of San Diego where they remained until his death. He died in 1903 at the age of 79 and was buried in San Diego. References External links George Alonzo Johnson From Society of California Pioneers. Print from copy neg. loaned by Denis Casebier 1969, Nov. 07, in The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, Huntington Digital Library. American businesspeople in shipping Businesspeople from California Steamship captains 1824 births 1903 deaths People of the California Gold Rush Steamboat transport on the Colorado River History of the American West People from Palatine Bridge, New York People from San Diego 19th-century American businesspeople People in 19th-century California Members of the California State Assembly 19th-century American politicians