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speculation that the river Smith referred to was the Huron River. Its Native-American name was phonetically interpreted by other
European explorers as "Guahadahuri." The only original source for the word "Canesadooharie" was Col. James Smith (captured by Native-Americans and brought to live among them near Sandusky Bay), who had written about his visit to the "falls" on the river "Canesadooharie." Historians have guessed that the falls of which Smith spoke might have been the same falls in the (now) city of Elyria. Subsequently, other historians surmised that the very word "Canesadooharie" might translate to "black pearl," or even more romantically to "string of black pearls," apparently giving further credence to the notion that the "Canesadooharie" referred to the Black River. Inconsistencies in Smith's account raise some questions. The single "falls" Smith describes were "12 to 15 feet high, and nearly perpendicular". However, both of the individual falls near the City of Elyria are much larger—about 40 feet in height and absolutely perpendicular. These two Black River falls are very near one another, within easy walking distance, and any person spending several weeks fishing and hunting in the area, as Smith did, would not likely have overlooked the other falls here. The single falls which Smith experienced over a period of many weeks may have been merely very steep rapids somewhere in the vicinity of (now) Milan, Ohio, but time and nature could have altered them beyond recognition, even by the mid-1800s. Nevertheless, in the original edition of Smith's account, he notes that the "Canesadooharie" was "about 8 miles east of Sandusky or betwixt Sandusky and Cayahaga (the Cuyahoga River); the Black River is approximately midway between the Sandusky and the Cuyahoga. Smith also notes that the Canesadooharie "interlocks with the West Branch of the Muskingum." Potentially, this could refer to the relatively short portage between the Huron River and the Black Fork of the Mohican River, which connects into the Muskingum. Just as likely, Smith could be referring to the even shorter portage between the Black River and Killbuck Creek.
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areas about 1760. This river became well known by the early
European explorers, as being the safest harboring spot at the western end of "the cliffs" which extended many miles along the southern Lake Erie shore from this river almost to the Cuyahoga River's mouth, and in the 1700s these cliffs had almost no beach areas for landing even a small boat, and were too high and steep to climb.
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group was prevented from settling here due to warnings by a local Native-American tribe ( about potential dangers from the inevitable "white" settlers), and so the group instead relocated to the Huron River, in (now) Milan, Ohio. (*-Zeisberger did not specifically record the name of the river of their brief stay, but merely that it was "halfway between" the
Cuyahoga and Huron Rivers.)
548:
Indian
Captivities (pp. 191–201) by Drake (publ.1852, Derby and Miller); James Smith, An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Travels of Colonel James Smith, during his Captivity with the Indians, in the years 1755, ‘56, ‘57, ‘58, and ’59 (Lexington, KY: John Bradford, 1799);
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In 1787, the
Moravian missionary, David Zeisberger, led a group of Christian-converted Native-Americans from their settlement on the Cuyahoga River, to a new intended settlement probably on the Black River*, about 5 or 6 miles upstream from Lake Erie. However, after remaining only twelve days, the
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In the 1700s, the Black River was known as the "Reneshoua River", and was also referred to as "la
Riviere de la Cuiliere" by early French and British explorers. The origin of those names is uncertain, although "Cuilliere" was also the name of a French fur-trader who frequented the Lake Erie shore
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The Black River has two impressive falls in the city of Elyria Ohio, these falls having been the reason that nineteenth-century historians concluded that the Black River was the "Canesadooharie," the river upon which James Smith encamped with Native
Americans, in 1755 and 1756. There exists some
549:
The
Wilderness Trail (p. 338) by Hanna (publ.1911 by Knickerbocker, NY); Diary(1787–1791) of David Zeisberger, (publ.1885 by Robert Clarke and Co., Cinti.); History of Lorain County, Williams 1879
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and flows generally eastwardly into Medina County; the two join about 1 mi (2 km) northwest of Lodi, and the East Branch then flows generally northwardly into
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349:"Riviere en Grys" (another GNIS name for the Black River) was instead originally the name of now Beaver Creek, several miles west of the Black River.
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River" and "Riviere en Grys." (These two historical names were actually originally intended to refer to nearby rivers, instead of the Black River.)
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From the confluence of the branches in Elyria, the Black River flows generally northwardly past
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U.S. Geological Survey
Geographic Names Information System: West Fork East Branch Black River
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cliffs along the Black River in the Lorain County
Metroparks' Black River Reservation in
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before turning northwestwardly, and the West Fork rises in northeastern
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The Wilderness Trail; Hanna (publ.1911 by Knickerbocker, NY)
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East Fork of the Black River flowing through Lodi, Ohio.
86:, at confluence of East and West Branches, or northern
274:. It drains an area of 174 mi² (451 km²).
263:. It drains an area of 222 mi² (575 km²).
176:, about 12 mi (19 km) long, in northern
227:by the confluence of its east and west branches:
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239:by the confluence of two short tributaries, the
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211:, the Black River was formerly named "
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398:Hydrological Unit Code: 04-11-00-01-
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209:Geographic Names Information System
136:470 sq mi (1,200 km)
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245:West Fork East Branch Black River
16:River in United States of America
33:The Black River at its mouth at
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396:United States Geological Survey
286:, where it enters Lake Erie at
580:Rivers of Ashland County, Ohio
521:. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme.
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590:Rivers of Medina County, Ohio
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61:Physical characteristics
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110: • location
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558:Hutchins, Thos.; map, 1778
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383:August 13, 2006, at the
55:United States of America
441:March 11, 2007, at the
418:March 12, 2007, at the
333:Reneshoua River in 1778
305:41.472131°N 82.182886°W
268:West Branch Black River
233:East Branch Black River
436:Map of Ohio watersheds
359:List of rivers of Ohio
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184:. Via Lake Erie, the
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310:41.472131; -82.182886
241:East Fork Black River
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202:Atlantic Ocean
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190:Lake Ontario
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84:Elyria, Ohio
321:of Lorain.
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166:Black River
22:Black River
569:Categories
365:References
296:82°10′58″W
293:41°28′20″N
133:Basin size
517:(1991).
280:Sheffield
272:Rochester
194:watershed
174:Lake Erie
170:tributary
115:Lake Erie
35:Lake Erie
439:Archived
416:Archived
381:Archived
353:See also
243:and the
46:Location
515:DeLorme
261:Grafton
259:, past
196:of the
180:in the
51:Country
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319:harbor
284:Lorain
225:Elyria
219:Course
151:Elyria
125:Length
104:
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70:Source
39:Lorain
168:is a
147:Shale
100:Mouth
523:ISBN
266:The
249:Lodi
231:The
188:and
178:Ohio
164:The
172:of
117:in
37:in
571::
505:^
449:^
426:^
403:^
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
