How did Buffalo get its name? To the best of our knowledge here at the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the three theories given most credence are as follows:
The most widely-disseminated (and romantic) theory is that the early French explorers of the area came upon the Niagara River and christened it “Beau Fleuve” or “Beautiful River.” Over time, the areais English-speaking settlers began to pronounce the word as “Buffalo.” Also given credence by local historians is the possibility that an interpreter mistranslated the Indian 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. Another theory holds that a solitary Seneca who lived on the banks of the Buffalo Creek was called by the Indian word for buffalo, hence “Buffalois Creek.” Very few students of local history believe the city took its name from the buffalo, there being no evidence that the shaggy beasts ever inhabited this area.