Moses’ Cleveland
What did NEO look like in the 1790s?
By Robert Carillio, with help from Jim Bissell of Cleveland Museum of Natural History
It is difficult to imagine the sprawling Greater Cleveland metropolis as a pristine wilderness. But, that is exactly what it was circa mid-1790s when Moses Cleaveland and his band of surveyors set out to scope the land for what came to be known as the Connecticut Western Reserve. Let’s look upon the land as Moses and company might have witnessed it, prior to much Euro-settlement. Let’s explore the plants, trees, landscapes and wildlife that the river valley and lake flats teemed with in what we will call “Moses’s Cleveland”
In what we commonly refer to today as downtown, the Flats, and surrounding neighborhoods, try to imagine a peaceful yet maybe foreboding mix of forest and swamp sprawling over a topography of lake and river plains, with surrounding bluffs. Imagine the air filled with the sounds of a myriad of birds. It was not uncommon to see flocks of Passenger Pigeons (extinct more than 100 years ago) so large they could darken the sky! The river, as we know it today, looked completely different around 1796. Such a scene was what greeted early American explorers and land surveyors. Well, not all was pleasant… there were lots of tiny little Draculas called Mosquitoes!
What is now the Flats in Moses’ Cleaveland was actually both swamp forests, shrub swamps and some marshlands. Marshes are usually open, herbaceous wetlands. In Moses’ time, the mouth of the Cuyahoga River would have supported the same lush marshes that still grow in the western edge of Mentor Marsh and Arcola Creek Marsh in Lake County.
The open marshes at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River would have been dominated by plants such as greater bur-reed, soft-stem bulrush, tussock sedges and hard-stem bulrush. The scene was so lush, thick and green that it virtually looked like solid land.
The swamp forests in downtown Cleveland probably were dominated by large trees such as American elm, pumpkin ash, green ash, red maple, swamp white oak, bur oak, beech, yellow birch and black gum. Common understory shrubs below the forest canopy would have been spicebush, witch hazel, northern arrow-wood, buttonbush, winterberry and black chokeberry.
Common herbaceous plants in the swamp forests would have been lizard’s tail, marsh marigold, sedges, cardinal flower, tufted loosestrife, wild geranium, red trillium, white trillium, royal fern, cinnamon fern, sensitive fern, and skunk cabbage.
Further upstream in the river itself, trees were so large that sycamores often stretched their branches to the middle of the river from each side, forming a sort of tunnel over the river, making some parts of it virtually invisible from the sky. It was not uncommon to see cottonwood and sycamore trees ranging from 8′ to 15′ in diameter hugging the river banks and along lakeshore bluffs.
Mammals we do not see today such as elk, moose, timber wolf, panther and woodland buffalo were all a part of the landscape and fauna that is now disguised as Metro-Cleveland and probably, though recluse, were well aware of the alien trespassers.
Underwater, if Moses and friends actually took time to fish watch, they may have discovered a myriad of aquatic life. Some of the native fishes underwater in the the lake and inflowing tributaries teemed with gar and sturgeon — thin in population today, though common at that time. In smaller streams, colorful darters such as greensides and rainbows flourished in the crystal clear riffles and runs.
Indeed, the landscape was a different world during pre-European settlement and around the time Moses Cleaveland experienced the area. Nature has also yielded and sacrificed plenty so that an emerging city could prosper. You can witness remnants of these types of habitats in area parks and preserves and gain a better appreciation for Cleveland’s natural heritage and biodiversity.
Please do your best to respect and preserve these bio-gems. Don’t litter, recycle any trash, use reusable containers on picnics and respect the quiet that offers today’s urban dwellers a break of solace from the concrete forest that has replaced so much of what Moses Cleaveland and early area explorers might have witnessed.
[Photo from the Cleveland State University Library via the Cleveland Memory Collection]
Robert Carillio is a former Ohio Regional Contact for The North American Native Fishes Association, avid self-taught naturalist, native fish enthusiast/advocate of 23 years, and volunteer for Gardens Under Glass in downtown Cleveland. For information on field trips to local streams, please contact Robert at riverlover33@yahoo.com. Visit his blog at http://QualityChatter.com.
One Response to “Moses’ Cleveland: What did NEO look like in the 1790s?”
Anda Cook
A good reminder of what we have lost, and a warning to be mindful not to destroy what still remains.