BUFFALO

city and port, seat (1821) of Erie county, western New York, U.S. It is located at the eastern end of Lake Erie, where it 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 Niagara Falls, Lockport, Lackawanna, and TonawandaNorth Tonawanda, as well as the towns (townships) of Amherst, Hamburg, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, and West Seneca. Its site, at the natural junction of east-west transportation routes from the Hudson-Mohawk 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 Ren-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, 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 180304 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 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. Major manufactures now include auto parts, chemicals, plastics, medical supplies, machine tools, pharmaceuticals, and wood products. Buffalo is a major port of the St. Lawrence 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. Buffalo was the home of two U.S. presidents: Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland, who was elected mayor in 1881. President William McKinley was assassinated in the city while visiting the Pan-American Exposition (1901). The Ansley Wilcox Mansion, where Theodore Roosevelt 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 State University of New York 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 (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. Notable cultural institutions are 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), and Studio Arena, a professional theatre founded in 1965. Ralph Wilson Stadium is the home of the Bills (professional American football team), and the Marine Midland Arena is the home of the Sabres professional ice hockey team. Pop. (1990) city, 328,175; BuffaloNiagara Falls MSA, 1,189,340; (1998 est.) city, 300,717; (1996 est.) BuffaloNiagara Falls MSA, 1,175,240. city, seat of Johnson county, north-central Wyoming, U.S., on Clear Creek, immediately east of the Bighorn Mountains and Bighorn National Forest. Founded in 1879 on a buffalo trail that forded the creek, the community saw much conflict between farmers and cattlemen, and the site where the Johnson County Cattle War (1892) terminated is 13 miles (21 km) south at the TA Ranch. Many Indian battles were also fought in the vicinity, and the sites of Ft. Phil Kearny and the Fetterman Massacre (1886) are a few miles northwest. Buffalo is a shipping point for livestock and lumber, with grain and sugar beet cultivation, and oil wells in the vicinity. Lake De Smet is 7 miles (11 km) north. Inc. 1884. Pop. 1990 3,277; (1994 est.) 3,699.