The Buffalo was a wooden propeller steam tug built in 1887 by Mahar & O’Grady in Buffalo. It had an official number of 3368 and measured 69 feet in length, 17 feet in beam, and 10 feet in depth. The tug had a gross tonnage of 60 and a net tonnage of 30.
On April 29, 1907, the Buffalo met its unfortunate fate in Portage Lake, located in Keweenaw County, Michigan, within Lake Superior. The tug foundered after being cut by ice in the lake and was declared a total loss. There were no reported casualties among the crew of six. The Buffalo was on its way from Marquette to Duluth and had recently been fitted out as a fireboat for the port of Duluth. Despite sinking in almost 50 feet of water, initial expectations were that it would be quickly recovered. However, the tug remained submerged for seven years before being raised. Unfortunately, it was never rebuilt.
Throughout its history, the ownership of the Buffalo changed hands. In 1890, it was owned by A.W. Comstock when it was enrolled in Port Huron. In September of the same year, it was owned by Henry Lay of Sandusky when it towed 6,000,000 feet of logs from French River to Tawas. In 1891, it was sold to Inman Tug Lines in Duluth. By 1900, the Great Lakes Towing Company owned the tug. In 1914, the Buffalo was sold to Jas. Whalen in Port Arthur, but it was never recovered or rebuilt after its sinking in 1907.
