Buffloe.com

The Bison Theory

 

This is the story of stories, in the sense that most people believe that the creek and city were named for the American Bison which is popularly known as a Buffalo.  

So, let’s take a look with a notable Buffalonian, a former mayor of the city, who favored the American Bison as the reason the creek was given the appellation of “Buffalo”.  William Ketchum probably gave the best argument of this origin story, in his History Of Buffalo published in 1866 a portion of which he shared with the Buffalo Historical Society in 1863.

The chapter, titled “Origin Of The Name Of Buffalo” is 26 pages long.  It is the longest chapter in the book that Ketchum wrote.  He starts by looking at the Native American names that are used for the creek.

He also shares what he knows of the earliest times that “Buffalo” were mentioned in literature (page 64 vol. 2); 

 

     It is probable it was known by that name much earlier than this, perhaps from the first settlement by the Seneca’s, which it is likely did not take place until after Sullivan's expedition in 1779. The name is mentioned in the "Narrative of the Captivity of the Gilbert family," prisoners among the Seneca’s in 1780 or 1782. Besides the treaty of 1784, already named, it is called Buffalo Creek in a treaty held with the "Six Nations" in 1789, and again in the treaty at Canandaigua in 1794.

 

Ketchum gives a variety of information on the possibility of Buffalo being in the area, he shares information from Native Americans who communicate that the Buffalo were once in this region and quotes among others a prominent Native American N.H. Parker who communicated the following (page 88, vol. 2);

 

     As for the name 'Buffalo,' I am informed that the Indians, in their hunting excursions from the East, to the vicinity of Buffalo City, say that there was plenty of buffalo in the western part of the State, and that their principal place of resort was at a lick in the bed of the creek, just above the Sulphur Springs, on the Buffalo Creek, and that at that place was the first settlement of the Indians.

 

and shares from early explorers and settlers who observed Buffalo at the southern edges of Lake Erie and the Allegheny mountains. An example on (page 80, vol. 2);

 

       He informed me that, for several seasons, the buffaloes paid him their visits with the utmost regularity. They traveled in single file, always following each other at equal distances, forming droves, on their arrival, of about three hundred each.

 

The chapter goes on with more info and also mentions a couple of the other theories.

The "Bison" is the most well-known origin tale, and Ketchum gives the most comprehensive defense of this theory. The story is very reasonable since Ketchum did not have the subsequent information of the British and French journals and maps from the soldiers at Fort Niagara. 

It seems less persuasive when we have this other information. Fillmore, Houghton and others expressed their doubt that a European had ever seen a Buffalo in the western NY region and therefore doubted that a creek would then be named for one.

This theory will probably continue to be the story most people think of in regards to the "origin of Buffalo".

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