﻿60 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  Senecas 
  at 
  Buffalo 
  creek 
  occasioned 
  many 
  local 
  names, 
  and 
  

   led 
  to 
  their 
  preservation. 
  In 
  1863 
  a 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  

   city 
  of 
  Buffalo 
  elicited 
  some 
  facts 
  not 
  commonly 
  known, 
  and 
  

   Hon-non-de-uh 
  or 
  Nathaniel 
  T. 
  Strong, 
  a 
  Seneca 
  chief 
  of 
  good 
  

   education, 
  took 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  debate. 
  As 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  an 
  Indian 
  came 
  

   into 
  the 
  question 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  leading 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  

   discussion. 
  

  

  As 
  regards 
  the 
  present 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  very 
  

   improbable 
  in 
  the 
  occasional 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  there. 
  That 
  

   it 
  was 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  aborigines 
  is 
  certain. 
  Wassenaer, 
  

   1621-32, 
  in 
  describing 
  the 
  Indians 
  in 
  the 
  Highlands 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  

   said 
  : 
  "On 
  seeing 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  Taurus, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  signs 
  of 
  the 
  

   Zodiac, 
  the 
  women 
  know 
  how 
  to 
  explain 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  horned 
  head 
  

   of 
  a 
  big, 
  wild 
  animal, 
  which 
  inhabits 
  the 
  distant 
  country, 
  but 
  not 
  

   theirs." 
  In 
  Van 
  der 
  Donck's 
  Nezv 
  Netherlands 
  not 
  much 
  later, 
  he 
  

   said 
  that 
  "Buffalos 
  are 
  also 
  plenty. 
  The 
  animals 
  keep 
  toward 
  the 
  

   southwest, 
  where 
  few 
  people 
  go." 
  His 
  account 
  of 
  them 
  is 
  quite 
  

   good. 
  In 
  1688 
  Lahontan 
  said 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  "We 
  

   find 
  wild 
  beeves, 
  upon 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  two 
  rivers 
  that 
  discharge 
  into 
  

   it 
  without 
  cataracts 
  or 
  rapid 
  currents." 
  That 
  Cattaraugus 
  creek 
  

   was 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  certain, 
  and 
  that 
  Buffalo 
  creek 
  was 
  intended 
  

   for 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  probable. 
  In 
  17 
  18 
  M. 
  de 
  Vandreuil 
  said 
  that 
  

   "Buffalos 
  abound 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  but 
  not 
  on 
  the 
  

   north." 
  Oak 
  Orchard 
  was 
  Buffalo 
  creek 
  in 
  1721, 
  and 
  there 
  were 
  

   others 
  of 
  this 
  name, 
  though 
  a 
  mere 
  name 
  proves 
  little. 
  These 
  

   animals 
  were 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  forests 
  of 
  Ohio 
  and 
  West 
  

   Virginia 
  150 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  there 
  were 
  suitable 
  spots 
  for 
  their 
  

   grazing 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  parts 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  Bishop 
  Cammerhoff's 
  

   words 
  have 
  never 
  been 
  quoted 
  and 
  are 
  therefore 
  given 
  here. 
  He 
  

   was 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Genesee 
  river 
  and 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Geneseo, 
  

   July 
  2, 
  1750, 
  and 
  said 
  : 
  "As 
  we 
  continued 
  we 
  saw 
  many 
  tracks 
  of 
  

   elks 
  ; 
  they, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  buffalos 
  abound 
  in 
  these 
  parts," 
  but 
  he 
  saw 
  

   neither 
  of 
  these 
  animals. 
  However 
  rare 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Apalachian 
  

   range^ 
  Lawson 
  relates 
  that 
  two 
  were 
  killed 
  in 
  one 
  year 
  on 
  the 
  

   Appomattox, 
  a 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  James 
  river. 
  That 
  a 
  few 
  may 
  have 
  

   followed 
  the 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  to 
  Buffalo 
  creek 
  is 
  every 
  way 
  

   probable, 
  though 
  without 
  distinct 
  record. 
  

  

  Regarding 
  the 
  present 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  creek 
  and 
  city 
  Mr 
  Ketchum 
  

  

  