June 26, 1834
Dark sky, a little windy. In the morning we were still 5 miles distant from Cleveland. During the night we crossed the Cuyahoga River; [it] was now on our left. [We saw] beautiful forest with poplars and Platanus. In the lowlands these trees are mixed everywhere. The canal goes around the hills. At about nine or ten o’clock, we reached Cleveland, an important town, scattered on the outskirts [but laid out] in the interior with regular streets. It was built below and on an elevation of the shore of beautiful Lake Erie [and was] bustling with people, life, and food. It is located in Cayahoga—or, as some call it, Cuyahoga—County and has several thousand inhabitants. Numerous churches, a school building or academy, [and] a jail, as well as many handsome buildings, including inns, catch the eye. There is a great number of shops and stores, and the trade here is extremely lively, due to the Erie Canal and to shipping on the beautiful lake. Many canal boats and very nice schooners ply the lake, as well as steamboats departing daily, of which none was present at the moment of our arrival here. The beautiful oceanlike view of the imposing Lake Erie pleased us and [made us think of] our imminently approaching return to our native shores. The [expanse of] dark blue water was limited only by the sky, which appeared now in its utmost purity.
The Cuyahoga flows through the lower part of town into Lake Erie. Its mouth was lined with [wooden piers], and at the right bank [there was] a long pier [with] a lighthouse built at the [end]. A second one stood a little to the right on top of the bank. On the right we saw the coast disappear in the haze at a far distance, and to the left it vanished [into] dark forests. The view of the lake resembles exactly that of the ocean; during storms, the large inland lakes of North America are often very dangerous, and many a ship has [met] its demise on them.
![Figure 24.3. Cuyahoga River at Lake Erie: “‘a’ mouth of the river; ‘b’ left pier; ‘c’ right [pier], 522 paces long, at the end ‘d,’ [a] lighthouse; ‘e’ beginning of the city.”](https://maximilian-bodmer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/figure24-03.png)
The broad-leafed Asclepias grows in the sand on the lakeshore near Cleveland. Yellow-blooming Nymphaea and the like grow in marshy places on the river. Numerous blackbirds inhabit the reeds, and on the lake we saw blackish terns flying (Sterna).
We saw many German emigrants in the streets [and] found a helpful fellowcountryman, whom I had met earlier in Pittsburgh and who had found good employment in a store here; his name escapes me. While I was at the lighthouse, several nice schooners came into the Cuyahoga. A steamboat from Buffalo came and, after about ten minutes, sailed on to Detroit. The [steamer] Oliver Newberry, scheduled to sail to Buffalo, soon entered [the harbor]. We went aboard immediately, and at twelve noon we departed. The view back toward Cleveland was [impressive]; we saw how the town extended along the shore, up the hill, and [then] across the plain, where a few churches [church spires?] rose. When we looked at the lake, we were pleased with the delightful bluish green color of its water, which I had found [before] only [in] the picturesque lakes of Switzerland. The [contrast] of this green, crystal-clear water against the dark brown of the Cuyahoga River was striking and distinctive.
Our steamboat did not steer far from the southern shore of the lake, and at about two o’clock, we put ashore at Fairport in Painesville Township, Geauga County, built on the right bank of the mouth of the Grand River. The place was earlier called Grandon; it is 32 miles from Cleveland. The river that flows into the lake here [was again] dark brown, and we had about the same view as in Cleveland. The town is small and scattered. A lighthouse had been built at the mouth of the river. We took on wood here and some passengers. We had a great many passengers on the ship already, but it was large and well equipped. In length, the deck measured 58 of my paces, excluding the outside parts of the ship. Other steamboats on Lake Erie are larger by far, especially the Michigan, said to be the largest and most beautiful.
The whole southern shoreline of Lake Erie is not high [but is rather] uniform, without hills or even any significant elevations, and covered completely with deciduous woodlands. The lake itself is 290 miles long from southwest to northeast, and its width at its widest part [is] 63 miles. The southern shore belongs to the United States, the northern to England.
About six o’clock the steamboat arrived at Ashtabula, but [it] turned away and continued its journey. We had come 60 miles thus far. Shortly before dusk we reached Salem, which is a small village but has nice houses. The harbor is small and charming. We took on wood. Many bats flew around above the harbor entrance. During the night the engine broke [down and] caused a halt.