The river was one of the features along which the "Greenville Treaty Line" ran beginning in 1795, per the
Treaty of Greenville that ended the
Northwest Indian War in the
Ohio Country, effectively becoming the western boundary of the United States and remaining so briefly. On July 22, 1796,
Moses Cleaveland, a
surveyor charged with exploring the
Connecticut Western Reserve, arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga and subsequently located a settlement there, which became the city of Cleveland.
Native Americans It appears that, in more ancient times, the river was inhabited by some branch of Mound Building culture related to the
Hopewell during the
Woodland Period. The only mound formally excavated was Towner's Mound outside of Kent, which appears identical in construction to two other mounds excavated in North Benton, OH and Warren, PA that are related to the New York Hopewell offshoot. The Iroquois say that, when the Erie first moved into western Pennsylvania, they pushed out a mound building people, which may show a continuity of such people for a few hundred years after the Hopewell Culture collapsed. Many other suspected mounds are also known and several other suspected mounds have been destroyed by industry since the 1790s. The Hopewell Culture began to decline as early as the fourth century A.D. After an intermediate period, it was replaced by the
Mississippian era
Fort Ancient Culture in Ohio, whose extreme northeast included the upper Cuyahoga River. When the French first began exploring and mapping the Great Lakes region in the 17th century, it comes across that the entire area of northern Ohio belonged to the Erie, but archaeology has since shown that the French, who only saw abandoned villages on the lake shore and never met any of the inhabitants, were mistaken. The entire Cuyahoga River Valley and last west of it actually belonged to a presumably Algonquian people never encountered by whites which we call the
Whittlesey culture. They were destroyed during the Beaver Wars (1630–1701). Afterwards, the Iroquois stationed a group of captured Hurons in this areas, who later broke free after the French aided several Native groups from the Mississippi River in pushing the Iroquois all the way back to what is now Pittsburg, and established themselves as their own tribe- the Wyandot. The Wyandot chose to set aside the entire region from the Cuyahoga River to the PA border and the Mahoning River to Lake Erie as a communal hunting ground, to be enjoyed by all tribes in the region, causing it to be regularly frequented by themselves, the Lenape, Shawnee and Seneca. The Ottawa, who lived clear at the western end of Lake Erie and who, themselves, had formed out of a similar circumstance to the Wyandot- captured Anishinaabeg stationed in the vicinity of what is now Detroit by the Iroquois- were apparently allowed to establish communities in the area, given the tribe's distance from it, with one noted in what is now Conneaut and several others noted along the Cuyahoga. But, it is historically established that not all the villages along the Cuyahoga at this time were Ottawa, with a Seneca community noted around Streetsboro under a chief named Big John and possibly some Wyandots nearby. During the Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), all the tribes in Ohio were ordered to give up most of Ohio for settlement, leading to a mass military revolt of all tribes in the Great Lakes region under a war chief named Little Turtle, with most of the fighting occurring along the Ohio-Indiana border. At this time, some Moravian missionaries who had been looking to establish a mission amongst the Ottawa were warned away due to the conflict, so they appear to have chosen to settle amongst the Ottawa in northeast Ohio at a site called Pilgeruh, but mistakenly noted all the villages in the area were Ottawa. After the war, the military ordered the Natives to evict the region, but most of them stayed during the early decades of settlement, with the last of the local natives concentrating in the Cuyahoga River Valley before leaving between 1811 and 1813. While there is a chance some may have gone to southern Ohio and joined Tecumseh's brother's pan-Indian cult at his Prophetstown compound, as the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811 was interpreted as a sign in his favor by many tribes across the eastern US, it appears the last of them in 1813 were leaving to migrate west, into the Great Black Swamp region – the last of Ohio's guaranteed Indian Territory – to live amongst the bulk of the Ottawa and Wyandot who were settled there.
Environmental cleanup The Cuyahoga River, at times during the 20th century, was one of the most
polluted rivers in the United States. The
reach from Akron to Cleveland was devoid of fish. A 1968
Kent State University symposium described one section of the river: At least 13 fires have been reported on the Cuyahoga River, the first occurring in 1868. The largest river fire, in 1952, caused over $1 million in damage Things began to change in the late 1960s, when new mayor
Carl Stokes and his utilities director rallied voters to approve a $100 million bond to rehabilitate Cleveland's rivers. Then, the mayor seized the opportunity of a June 22, 1969 river fire triggered by a spark from a passing rail car igniting an oil slick to bring reporters to the river to raise attention to the issue. However, the incident did soon garner the attention of
Time magazine, which used a dramatic photo of the even larger 1952 blaze and listed other badly-polluted rivers across the nation. The Act followed some strict goals: eliminating discharge of all pollutants into navigable waters by 1985, making all water safe for fishing and swimming by 1983, and prohibiting all discharge of toxic amounts of toxic pollutants. The Clean Water Act avoided all agricultural pollution, one of the worst surface water quality problems at the time. The Attorney General of the United States, John N. Mitchell, gave a Press Conference December 18, 1970 referencing new pollution control litigation, with particular reference to work with the new Environmental Protection Agency, and announcing the filing of a lawsuit that morning against the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation for discharging substantial quantities of cyanide into the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland. U.S. Attorney Jones filed the misdemeanor charges in District Court, alleging violations of the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act. There were multiple other suits filed by U.S. Attorney Jones. on the Cuyahoga in Cleveland
Water quality has improved and, partially in recognition of this improvement, the Cuyahoga was designated one of 14
American Heritage Rivers in 1998. Despite these efforts, pollution continues to exist in the Cuyahoga River due to other sources of pollution, including
urban runoff,
nonpoint source problems,
combined sewer overflows, and
stagnation due to water impounded by dams. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency classified portions of the Cuyahoga River
watershed as one of 43
Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The most polluted portions of the river now generally meet established
aquatic life water quality standards except near dam impoundments. The reasons for not meeting standards near the dam pools are habitat and fish passage issues rather than water quality. River reaches that were once devoid of fish now support 44 species. A survey in 2008 revealed the two most common species in the river were
hogsuckers and
spotfin shiners, both moderately sensitive to water quality. Habitat issues within the navigation
channel still preclude a robust fishery in that reach. Recreation water quality standards (using bacteria as indicators) are generally met during dry weather conditions, but are often exceeded during significant rains due to nonpoint sources and combined sewer overflows. In March 2019 the OEPA declared fish caught in the river safe to eat. Consequently, in 2024 the first ever
steelhead trout
stocking in the river occurred. in Cleveland, c. 1920
Modifications The lower Cuyahoga River, just west of present-day
downtown Cleveland, has been subjected to numerous changes. Originally, the Cuyahoga river met
Lake Erie approximately west of its current mouth, forming a shallow marsh. The current mouth is human-made, created in 1827, The fire was extinguished by the Akron Fire Department and the river section and surrounding area were promptly cleaned up. However, as scholar Anne Jefferson notes: == Wildlife ==