Buffalo Creek is a stream in the U.S. states of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. It rises in

East Finley Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania East Finley Township is a township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,287 at the 2020 census. History The Scott Brownlee Covered Bridge, Plant's Covered Bridge, Sprowl's Covered Bridge and Wyit Sprowls ...

. Its tributaries are Brushy Run, Mill Run, Indian Camp Run, Buck Run, and Dutch Fork. These streams flow through the townships of East Findley,

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

, Hopewell, and Buffalo, and the creek itself empties into the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

Wellsburg, West Virginia Wellsburg is a city in and the county seat of Brooke County, West Virginia, United States. The 2020 census recorded a population of 2,455. It is a part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area. The city's economy includes several telemar ...

. The stream was presumably named for a Buffalo trace that once passed through the valley.

History

The Buffalo Creek area was first visited by Europeans in the 1600s by LaSalle. Later in 1749, Captain Celeron de Blainville sailed down the Ohio River planting lead plates to claim land for France. These claims were then nullified during the Treaty of Paris of 1763. Settlement of the watershed began in the early 1770s with James Caldwell. In 1773, Thomas Clark and some Germans settled along Dutch Fork, hence the name of the tributary. The mouth of Buffalo Creek was the location of Wells Fort. A number of other forts were located in the watershed and include Rail's Fort (1770s), Ramsey's Fort (1770s) - near Bethany, and a blockhouse called Coon's Fort east of Bethany. A stockade, called Rices Stockade, was located near the present Town of Bethany. Rices Stockade was the scene of an Indian raid in 1782. The Washington County part of the watershed had an additional eight forts (see reference for names). The watershed was the location of a number of mills, the most prominent of which was Waugh's Mill (a flour mill) built in the 1790s. The mouth of Buffalo Creek was the location of Wells Fort and another stockade, called Rices Stockade, was located near the present Town of Bethany. Rices Stockade was the scene of an Indian raid in 1782. Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition passed by the mouth of Buffalo Creek on the Ohio River on September 7, 1803. Oil was discovered in the watershed at Taylorstown, Pennsylvania in 1885.