this video is about the history of Buffalo, New York.
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City.
Originating around 1789 as a small trading community near the mouth of Buffalo Creek,
Buffalo grew quickly after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, with the city as its
western terminus.
The City of Buffalo, formerly known as Buffalo Creek, received its name from the creek that
flows through it.
However, the origin of the creek's name is unclear, with several unproven theories existing.
Early French explorers reported the abundance of buffalo on the south shore of Lake Erie,
but their presence on the banks of Buffalo Creek is still a matter of debate, although
American Bison did range into western NY state at one time.
Neither the Native American name Teyohoseroron nor the French name Riviere aux Chevaux survived,
so the current name likely dates to the British occupation which began with the capture of
Fort Niagara in 1759.
Another theory holds that a Seneca Indian lived there, either whose name meant buffalo,
or who had the physical characteristics of a buffalo, and was translated as such by the
English settlers.
The stream where he lived became Buffalo's Creek.
Unlike other nearby creeks such as Scajaquada Creek and Smoke's Creek which were named after
actual historic figures, there is no known reference to any Native American named Buffalo.
Also given credence by local historians at one time was the possibility that an interpreter
mistranslated the Native American word for "beaver" as "buffalo," the words being very
similar, at a treaty-signing at present-day Rome, New York in 1784.
The theory assumes that because there were beaver here, the creek was probably called
Beaver Creek rather than Buffalo Creek.
Despite many years of speculation and garbling of previous debate, more recently available
sources indicate that the name Buffalo Creek was in common use on the Niagara Frontier
by 1764, as John Montresor referenced 'Buffalo Creek' in his journal of that year.
The name may have originated with an English speaking person sometime between 1759 and
1764, possibly after seeing animal bones, thought to be bison but possibly elk or moose
or domesticated cattle, at the salt lick called Sour Springs located at the head of navigation
about 6 miles up the creek.
Prior to European colonization, the region's inhabitants were an Iroquoian-speaking tribe
called the Neutrals by French settlers, who found them helpful in mediating disputes with
other tribes.
Around 1650, during a period now loosely referred to as the Beaver Wars, the Iroquois Confederacy
declared war on the Neutrals; by 1653, the Confederacy, particularly the Senecas, had
practically annihilated the Neutrals.
The area was subsequently populated by the Seneca tribe.
Most of western New York was granted by Charles II of England to the Duke of York, but the
first European settlement in what is now Erie County was by the French, at the mouth of
Buffalo Creek in 1758.
Its buildings were destroyed a year later by the evacuating French after the British
captured Fort Niagara.
The British took control of the entire region in 1763, at the conclusion of the French and
Indian War.
In 1764, British military engineer John Montresor made an inspection tour of Buffalo Creek before
determining on a site for a fortification on the opposite shore.
After the 1779 Sullivan Expedition, the British settled Seneca refugees in several villages
on Buffalo Creek in the spring of 1780.
The first permanent settlers in present-day Buffalo were Cornelius Winney and "Black Joe"
Hodges, who set up a log cabin store there in 1789 for trading with the Native American
community.
British interpreter William Johnston was another early settler.
The British retained control of the area and prevented further settlement by Americans
until their evacuation of Fort Niagara in 1796.
Dutch investors purchased the area from the Seneca Indians as part of the Holland Purchase.
Although other Senecas were involved in ceding their land, the most famous today is Red Jacket,
who died in Buffalo in 1830.
His grave is in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Starting in 1801, parcels were sold through the Holland Land Companies office in Batavia,
New York.
The settlement was initially called Lake Erie, then Buffalo Creek, soon shortened to Buffalo.
Holland Land Company agent Joseph Ellicott christened it New Amsterdam, but the name
did not catch on.
In 1808, Niagara County was established with Buffalo as its county seat.
Erie County was formed out of Niagara County in 1821, retaining Buffalo as the county seat.