SIEUR DE SAGUIN (variations Seguin, Seguein, Shaguin; no given name is known), a French trader, was the first recorded resident of Cuyahoga County to construct a permanent residence. During his stay, the locality was under the control of France, to whom the Indians gave their allegiance. A trader such as Saguin was needed to trade with and maintain the good will of the Indians, as well as to relay intelligence of Indian attitudes and English influence and deployments. That Saguin stayed near Cleveland is affirmed in the memoirs of Robt. Navarre, intendant of Detroit from 1730-60, who in 1743 was sent to visit the trading post that had been established on the CUYAHOGA RIVER by Saguin; and is also confirmed by reference to the Cuyahoga as Riviere a Seguin (de Lery, 1754) and River de Saguin (Montresor, 1764), and by Lewis Evans's 1755 map notation of the "French House." Estimates of Saguin's location on the Cuyahoga River range from the junction of TINKER'S CREEK to BROOKLYN HTS. The exact length of Saguin's short tenure, beginning by 1742, is uncertain, but he had constructed at least 2 buildings and apparently cultivated corn before being instructed by Sieur Pierre Joseph Celoron De Blainville in 1743 to depart his post, when Detroit authorities became afraid of losing their own Ottawa fur trade to Saguin and refused to send him the gunpowder the Indians needed and requested in trade, making his position increasingly untenable.
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