Buffalo Creek Reservation

Buffalo Creek Reservation - located in the central portion of Erie County, included a good portion of the present day City of Buffalo, New York and its eastern and southern suburbs (New Amsterdam was the Holland Land Company name for the village of Buffalo)

The Buffalo Creek Reservation was a tract of land surrounding Buffalo Creek in the central portion of Erie County, New York. It contained approximately 49,920 acres (202.0 km²) of land and was set aside for the Seneca Nation following negotiations with the United States after the American Revolutionary War.

History

The territory around Buffalo Creek was conquered by the Senecas in the 1600s from the Wenrohronon, also called Wenro. Sometime between 1660 and 1690 the Senecas began to occupy the area.

During the American Revolution The Sullivan Expedition of 1779 destroyed many towns of the Seneca. who were allies of the British. The homeless people fled to the protection of the British at Fort Niagara. At one point the British were reported to be feeding and housing over 5000 refuges. Following a terrible winter of 1779–80 at Niagara the Iroquois began to disperse, with Joseph Brant taking a group to the Grand River in Canada, Tuscaroras going to Lewiston, and Senecas, Cayugas, and Onondagas led by Sayenqeraghta (Old King) and his son-in-law Roland Montour choosing to settle at Buffalo Creek.

Because the Seneca had been allies of the defeated British, the US forced them to cede most of their territory. The Treaty of Big Tree in 1797 relinquished all of Western New York except for twelve reservations, including Buffalo Creek. This reservation encompassed much of the present site of the city of Buffalo, New York, as well as its southern and western suburbs. By 1817 an estimate placed the population at around 700 Senecas plus small numbers of other displaced people.

The Senecas began selling portions of the reservation in the 1820s to members of the Ebenezer Society. In 1838 the United States forced the Seneca to agree to the Treaty of Buffalo Creek, which was part of the Indian Removal policy initiated by the President Andrew Jackson administration. It required the Seneca of western New York to cede all their reservation lands and move west of the Mississippi River, specifically to Wisconsin and Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), within five years. After the land sale that required the treaty fell through, the US negotiated a new treaty, which the Senate ratified in 1842. The Buffalo Creek reservation was the only reservation to be dissolved: the Seneca were allowed to keep Cattaraugus, Oil Springs, Allegany and Tonawanda reservations after legal battles in the 1850s fought by Onondaga chief Samuel George and other leaders.

Current status

The modern Buffalo Creek Reservation consists of a nine-acre plot of land, which was part of the original reservation. In 2010, the Seneca bought the land from Carl Paladino, who continues to own much of the surrounding land. The Seneca developed the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino on this property, which revenues are used for economic development.