goods valued at $1,200. The expedition then coasted along the shore of Lake Erie and landed at the mouth of Conneaut Creek on July 4, 1796, which they named Port Independence. Nearby Native Americans were upset at the encroachment on their land, but they were appeased with gifts of beads and whiskey and allowed the surveys to proceed. General Cleaveland coasted along the shore with a surveying party and landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on July 22, 1796. He ascended the bank and determined that the spot was a favorable site for a city, with the river on the west and Lake Erie on the north. He had it surveyed into town lots, and the employees named the place Cleaveland in his honor. There were four settlers the first year, and growth was slow initially, reaching only 150 inhabitants in 1820. Cleaveland went home to Connecticut after the 1796 expedition and never returned to Ohio or the city that bears his name. He died in Canterbury, Connecticut, where he is also buried, but a statue of him stands in the Cleveland Public Square. The settlement of "Cleaveland" eventually became known as "Cleveland". One theory is that Cleaveland's surveying party misspelled the name on their original map. More than likely though, the story goes back to the Cleveland Advertiser, a local paper in the early 1800s. They could not fit the words “Cleaveland Advertiser” on their masthead, so they dropped the extra “a” to make room and the name stuck. Commemorations Notes References "Moses Cleaveland". Ohio History Central. "Cleaveland, Moses" at the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Attribution 1754 births 1806 deaths American militia generals American surveyors American city founders Continental Army officers from Connecticut History of Cleveland Lawyers from Cleveland People from Canterbury, Connecticut Connecticut Land Company Burials in Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut People of colonial Connecticut Politicians from Cleveland Grover Cleveland family