According to the French explorer Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville, the native name of the stream is the Kanououara River, as was inscribed on the lead plate buried at the mouth by the Ohio River in 1749.
Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville, a French explorer, noted that the native name for the stream is the Kanououara River, which was recorded on the lead plate placed at the river's mouth by the Ohio River in 1749.