buffalo

/buf"euh loh'/, n., pl. buffaloes, buffalos, (esp. collectively) buffalo, v., buffaloed, buffaloing.

n.

1. any of several large wild oxen of the family Bovidae. Cf. bison, Cape buffalo, water buffalo.

2. See buffalo robe.

3. a buffalofish.

4. a shuffling tap-dance step.

v.t. Informal.

5. to puzzle or baffle; confuse; mystify: He was buffaloed by the problem.

6. to impress or intimidate by a display of power, importance, etc.: The older boys buffaloed him.

[1535-45, Amer.; earlier bufalo < Pg (now bufaro) < LL bufalus, var. of L bubalus BUBAL]

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City (pop., 2000: 292,648), western New York, U.S. Located at the northeastern point of Lake Erie on the Niagara River, it is the terminus of the New York State Barge Canal.

Settled by American Indians in 1780, the site was laid out as a town at the beginning of the 19th century. It was a military post in the War of 1812 and was burned by the British. Rebuilt in 1814–15, it became the western terminus of the Erie Canal, which brought an economic boom to the community. A major port on the St. Lawrence Seaway and the main U.S. gateway to Ontario's Toronto-Hamilton industrial region, it processes much of U.S.-Canadian trade. It is also an educational and medical research centre.

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▪ New York, United States

Introduction

      city and port, seat (1821) of Erie county, western New York, U.S. It is located where the eastern end of Lake Erie (Erie, Lake) narrows into the Niagara River. New York's second largest city, it is the metropolis of a large urban complex that includes the cities of Lackawanna, Lockport, Niagara Falls, and Tonawanda–North Tonawanda, as well as the towns (townships) of Amherst, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Lancaster, and West Seneca. Lake Erie (Erie, Lake) strongly affects Buffalo's climate, moderating summer and winter temperatures and contributing much of the moisture that produces the city's renowned heavy winter snowfalls. Area city, 53 square miles (137 square km). Pop. (1990) city, 328,175; Buffalo–Niagara Falls MSA, 1,189,340; (2000) city, 292,648; Buffalo–Niagara Falls MSA, 1,170,111.

History

      Buffalo's site, at the natural junction of east-west transportation routes from the Hudson (Hudson River)-Mohawk (Mohawk River) river valleys to the Great Lakes basin, was visited by early French trappers and Jesuit missionaries. It was there on the banks of the Niagara River that the explorer René-Robert Cavelier, sieur (lord) de La Salle (La Salle, René-Robert Cavelier, sieur (lord) de), built his ship the Griffon in 1679. A French trading post under Chabert Joncaire was established in 1758 but was abandoned the following year after it was burned by the British. Seneca Indians under British protection settled the area in 1780. The town was laid out in 1803–04 by Joseph Ellicott of the Holland Land Company. Named New Amsterdam (but popularly called Buffalo), it had a population of about 1,500 at the time of the War of 1812 (1812, War of) and became the American military headquarters for operations on the Niagara Frontier. It was again burned by the British in 1813 but was rebuilt and incorporated as the village of Buffalo in 1816. The origin of the place-name is in dispute, as buffalo (bison) did not inhabit the area; it may reflect a mispronunciation of the French beau fleuve (“beautiful river”), in reference to the local Buffalo Creek.

      The first steamboat on the upper Great Lakes, Walk-on-the-Water, was built at Buffalo in 1818. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 brought a tremendous economic boom to the community, attracting immigrants and boosting its population to some 10,000 at the time of its incorporation as a city in 1832. Trade with the expanding West grew rapidly during the American Civil War period. Railroads, attracted by existing markets and trade routes, converged on the city. Shipyards, iron and steel mills, meat-packing plants, flour mills, and railroad car industries developed. The harnessing of Niagara waterpower in the 1890s further stimulated the growth of highly diversified industry.

 Buffalo was the home of two U.S. presidents: Millard Fillmore (Fillmore, Millard) and Grover Cleveland (Cleveland, Grover), who was elected mayor in 1881. President William McKinley (McKinley, William) was assassinated in the city while visiting the Pan-American Exposition (1901). The Ansley Wilcox Mansion, where Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt, Theodore) took the oath of office following the assassination, was dedicated a national historic site in 1966. Niagara Square, dominated by the McKinley Monument and site of the City Hall (1932) and federal buildings, is the focus of the city.

The contemporary city

      The chief manufactures include auto parts, chemicals, plastics, medical supplies, machine tools, pharmaceuticals, and wood products. However, services (notably those related to trade and government employment) constitute the largest share of the city's economy. Buffalo is a major port of the St. Lawrence Seaway (Saint Lawrence River and Seaway); it is the terminus of the New York State Canal System and is a major rail centre and highway crossroads. As the main U.S. gateway to the Toronto-Hamilton industrial region of Ontario, it processes a large percentage of trade between the United States and Canada. The international Peace Bridge to Fort Erie, Ontario, was opened in 1927 as a memorial to 100 years of peaceful relations between the United States and Canada.

      The State University of New York (New York, State University of (SUNY)) at Buffalo (University at Buffalo) was founded in 1846, and the State University College at Buffalo (Buffalo State College) originated in 1867. Colleges in the city and suburbs include Canisius (Canisius College) (1870), Medaille (1875; chartered 1937), D'Youville (1908), Erie Community (1946), Daemen (1947), Trocaire (1958), and Villa Maria (1960). Buffalo is also an established centre for medical research. Cultural institutions include the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the Buffalo Museum of Science, Kleinhans Music Hall (home of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra), Shea's Performing Arts Center (in a renovated theatre built in 1926), and Studio Arena (a professional theatre founded in 1965).

      Ralph Wilson Stadium is the home of the Buffalo Bills (professional American gridiron football team), and the HSBC Arena houses the Sabres professional ice hockey team. Buffalo is the gateway to the region's numerous recreational areas and tourist attractions. Most notable are the Niagara Falls on the Niagara River, some 20 miles (32 km) northwest of downtown. Several state parks and ski areas are near the city, including Fort Niagara State Park at the mouth of the Niagara River.

▪ Wyoming, United States

      city, seat (1881) of Johnson county, north-central Wyoming, U.S., on Clear Creek, immediately east of the Bighorn Mountains and Bighorn National Forest. The region was prime hunting ground for Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Indians, and many armed conflicts ensued as settlers moved into the area. Forts were established to protect miners and other white travelers on the Bozeman Trail; these were abandoned in 1868, but white settlement was not far in the future. Founded in 1879 on a buffalo trail that forded the creek, the community that became Buffalo soon saw considerable conflict between farmers and cattlemen, and the site of the final battle in the Johnson County Cattle War (1892) is 13 miles (21 km) south at the TA Ranch.

      Buffalo is a shipping point for livestock and lumber, with grain and sugar beet cultivation and oil wells in the vicinity. It also serves as a tourist centre for the Bighorn Mountains region. The sites of Fort Phil Kearny and the Fetterman Massacre (1886), in which 80 U.S. soldiers were trapped and killed by Sioux Indians, are a few miles northwest. Lake De Smet is 7 miles (11 km) north. Inc. 1884. Pop. (1990) 3,302; (2000) 3,900.

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