"Buffaloed"

       I had used it in a letter and wondered how the word originated.

       First, it has nothing to do with the city of Buffalo.  Further, it seems that meanings of being  overcome by fear or being outwitted or taken advantage of as based in a buffalo's size or strength or high IQ are far less persuasive in the final analysis than, from observations of buffalos' behavior, BUFFALOS are the ones more likely to not be too smart, easily led to just mill around aimlessly and become vulnerable targets for killing.  THEY are "buffaloed," confused, stymied, easy marks, and this is what is analogized to human states of mind and behavior.

       For interesting tracing of this word as derived from various good sources, I recommend a look at the "buffaloed" entry on wordwizard.com