I was not familiar with "buffalo" being used in the sense of to bully, only in the sense of obstruction, confusion.
There is some question as to whether bison were still wandering in that area when the white man arrived as it was wooded countryside not the usual bison habitat. One theory is that Buffalo is a bastardized version of the French "belle fleuve" (beautiful river) which early explorers may have given to the present-day Buffalo Creek.
This I heard in Buffalo as a wee child on me granny's knee.
This would kind of put buffaloing up the creek.