It’s been nearly two years since I first mentioned the French word “Bois Blanc” as the probable origin of the name of Buffalo. Below with a short series of maps I summarize why.
In the eighteenth century Native Americans in the area called Buffalo Creek, “Toseoway” which means “place of basswoods” or “Tehoseroron” which means “among the basswoods.” Basswood is a wood that was used in those days to make baskets, twine, netting, and other fasteners. It was important in everyday use around the home or in the field.
The French also used basswood and named places having an abundance of it with the moniker of bois blanc or white wood. There are Bois Blanc Islands that can be found both below and above Detroit.
In WNY the French gave the Native American “Toseoway” the name Riviere du Bois Blanc.
When the French left the Great Lakes at the end of the Seven Years War, the British kept the island names and the British having heard the names from either the French or from Native Americans, pronounced Bois Blanc as “Boblo” and it is pronounced that way still.
Here in Western New York the British called the Riviere du Bois Blanc, “Bufflo” and other variants like Buffeloe and Buffaloe, before settling on Buffalo.
Tis ends the summary but I wanted to share what I think are the two reasons this hasn’t been recognized.
Historians initially saw a map that had the Riviere aux Bois Blanc as Tonawanda Creek. Even after a second map showed up with Riviere du Bois Blanc at Buffalo Creek, the historians did not properly regard it. If they would have looked into the maps further they would have found the maker of the second map, Crevecoeur, worked with the maker of the first map, Pouchot, for the French in the Seven Years War. Crevecoeur’s map came out with the proper placement of Bois Blanc and the Riviere aux Chevaux, as a correction to Pouchot’s map.
Second, no one had made the connection that Bois Blanc is pronounced “Boblo.” Most people want to pronounce it as it is spelled or “Bwa Blanc” or “Bwa Bla.” It is this pronunciation from the two Bois Blancs islands that unlock the probability of “Bufflo” coming from Bois Blanc.
The Bois Blanc theory connects at least three other Buffalo Origin Theories. It credits the Native American Toseoway Origin Story for giving Buffalo Creek its name. It explains that instead of Buffalo coming from the French “Beau Fleuve” it comes from Bois Blanc (Boblo, Bufflo). It also connects Sheldon Ball’s “Buffaloed” story which features French Missionaries in it.
Lead image: Toseoway is shown above Buffalo Creek on a copy of Joseph Ellicott’s 1804 map-(raremaps.com) of the area.