Fillmore's Beaver Theory
Millard Fillmore gave the inaugural address to the Buffalo Historical Society and in it gave his view as to the origin of the word "Buffalo" to describe the creek upon which the city was then named. He explains that his research up to that time (1879) showed Buffalo to come into view with the signing of a treaty in 1784 at Fort Stanwix.
Fillmore states on page 6-7,
The chief object of the treaty seems to have been to fix the western boundary of the lands belonging to the Six Nation and this place was made a point from which a line was to be run due south to the north line of Pennsylvania, as the western boundary of the Six Nations, and this locality was described in the treaty as ''Tehosororan or Buffaloe Creek.'' Now it is apparent that "Tehosororan " was intended to be what the Indians here call " Tushuway or Desoway'' and the marked difference of spelling shows the bungling manner in which the interpreter spoke the Indian language, or the stupidity of the scribe in writing it down. This mistake in the Indian name may also prepare us to look out for a mistake in the English name, fcr it can hardly be supposed that an Indian interpreter spoke English better than Indian, and it therefore might naturally happen that a stupid scribe did not readily distinguish between the word "beaver** and "buffalo," especially when spoken by one who could not speak the English language plainly, I strongly suspect that the interpreter meant to say Beaver creek, but not speaking the language well, the scribe understood him ''Buffalo creek," and so wrote it down, and inserted it in the treaty. But you naturally ask why I suspect this mistake. I will tell you why. It does not appear that there was ever a buffalo here, and therefore there was nothing to suggest that name for the creek. The Indians never spoke of buffalo as I can find, in all their, communications to the colonial authorities of New York, but they seemed to be most anxious about their ''beaver hunting grounds'' They had no Buffalo tribe, but they had a Beaver tribe, and it is far more probable that beavers were found on this creek than buffalos.
This suspicion is very much strengthened, if not confirmed by the fact that Corn Planter, a very intelligent Indian chief who was present at Fort Stanwix when this treaty was made six years afterwards, in 1790, appealed to President Washington for relief on behalf of the Indians, and, in speaking of this treaty, he said: "You told us that the line drawn from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario would mark it forever on the east, and that the line running from Beaver creek would mark it on the west, and we see that it is not so." (I. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, p.' 207.)
Thus, I say, it seems probable that the same blundering stupidity which converted Tushua into Tehosororan changed Beaver into Buffalo and that this was the time, place and manner in which this stream received the name of "Buffalo creek."
But the question may be asked: "Why, if this mistake was made, was it not corrected ? " How could it be ? The Indians were too ignorant of letters to know that any mistake had been made, as is evident from the fact that Corn Planter called it Beaver creek six years afterwards, and the ignorance of the whites as to the true name precluded all possibility of correcting the mistake at that time; and the natural course of events soon fixed it beyond the power of correction, for the treaty was published as a law, and sent all over the country; but Corn Planter's address to President Washington was probably not published till forty years afterwards. Thus you will perceive, if my conjecture be correct, that Fort Stanwix was the place, and the making of the treaty of 1784, the occasion, for christening Buffalo creek, whether the god-fathers who assisted on that occasion, mistook the intended name or not. There the name originated, and there it was first applied. But I concede that this is only a conjecture; and the most that I can hope is, that it will stimulate some member of the Society, fond of antiquarian research, to pursue this investigation, and, if possible, either confirm or explode this theory, and settle the true origin of the name of Buffalo upon a firm, historical basis.
Fillmore's theory is interesting, but we now have the knowledge of a map dating to 1760, that clearly labels Buffalo Creek at that time. Without this map and the other 1760's maps though, the theory at least had some evidence in the fact that Corn Planter is attesting to the creek being called Beaver Creek.
Furthermore, a map by Thomas Hutchins from 1778 shows a waterway labelled Beaver Creek near where Buffalo Creek is. The map is below.
1778 Hutchins Map-Detail (mapsofpa.com)
It seems likely however that Thomas Hutchins the cartographer, was misnaming Buffalo Creek for the 18 Mile Creek where the wreck of a ship the Beaver occurred in 1765 while Hutchins was serving in the British military and working in the Great Lakes region under Colonel Bouquet.
Crisfield Johnson in his Centennial History of Erie County written in 1876, notes on page 58,
Other boats were mentioned at the same time as frozen up or
lost, but nothing is said as to sail-vessels. There were, however, at
least two or three English trading vessels on Lake Erie before the
Revolution, and probably one or two armed vessels belonging to
the British government. One of the former, called the Beaver,
is known to have been lost in a storm, and is believed by the
best authorities to have been wrecked near the mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek, and to have furnished the relics found in that vicinity by early settlers, which by some have been attributed to the ill-fated Griffin.
On page 186, Criswell mentions Historian O. H. Marshall and states further,
Mr. O. H. Marshall is very decidedly of the opinion that the
evidences of shipwreck found on the lake shore were due to the
loss of the Beaver, which occurred near that locality about 1765,
and furnished an essay supporting this view to the Buffalo Historical Society, which has unfortunately been lost. The size of the trees growing over the irons confirms Mr. Marshall's theory,
which is in all probability correct.
Thus, the Beaver Theory, falls short on merit and evidence as a likely source for the name "Buffalo".
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