HISTORY. In 1679 La Salle visited this lo cality. and built near the present city the first ship that was navigated on Lake Erie—a little vessel of only 60 tons, called the Griffin. In 1792 there was only one settler here, a trader named Winney, and in 1795. according to the French traveler Liancourt, there was only "a small collection of four or five houses." In 1702-93 the Holland Land Company, so called, bought. a large tract of land in this vicinity, which during 1798-1803 was laid out into town ships by Joseph Ellicott. influenced by Elli cott, commonly called the 'founder of Buffalo,' the proprietors decided, in 1801, to establish a town (New Amsterdam) at the mouth of Buffalo Creek. and in 1803.04 a village was laid out nnder Ellicott's supervision. Though legally New Amsterdam. this new village soon came to be called Buffalo, probably from the immense herds of bison which had formerly frequented the salt licks several miles away, and in 1810 the township of Buffalo, with limits including the present city, was incorporated. In 1811 the first newspaper, the Buffalo Gazette, was pub lished, and in 1818 the first, steamboat, Walk in-the-Water, was built. On December 29. 1813,
a British and Indian force of 1200 men, under General Riall, captured Buffalo, and on the :Mai, and January I, almost completely destroyed it by fire. In 1815 it was rebuilt, but its growth was very slow until after the comple tion of the Erie Canal in 1825, when it became a distributing centre between the East and the West. In 1832, with a. population of 15.000, it became a city, and since 1857 it. has been noted for its manufactures and commerce. In 185:3 Black Rock, which for many years was Buffalo's great rival, was brought within the city limits. Buffalo was the home for a time of Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland, the latter serv ing as mayor in 1882. In 1901 (May 1 to No vember 1) the Pan-American Exposition was held at Buffalo. At this exhibition occurred the assassination of ('resident McKinley. on Friday, September 6, 1901. See PAN-AMERICAN Expo SITION.
Consult: Smith, History of the City of Buf falo and Erie County (Syracuse. 1884); Ketch um, An Asthentie and Comprchcusirc Tlistory of Buffalo (Buffalo, 1864-05) ; and Powell, His toric Poulin of the Middle States (New York, 1899).