I never considered that buffalo could be domesticated.
Buffalo are known to be easier to raise than cattle for a number of reasons, mostly that they are more normally more self reliant. But they are not as easy to domesticate. I am not sure what techniques were used by farmers to get them to do work. My wife’s dad claimed that they were smarter than cattle, similar to mules vs horses, but it might be more like dogs vs wolves. Only herd animals are wild but not carnivorous. My guess is that bison were coerced to work using pain and brute force.
Our family’s friend who raised buffalo claimed that they were like wild cows on welfare... whatever that means. I think that when they realize that they get fed regularly that they keep coming back for more.
My parents have Hereford cows these days which my dad cross breads with a big red hairy almost cartoonish looking Scottish Highland Bull. These cows have a very pleasant disposition and are very easy to control. Cow breeds have different characteristics and personalities just like dog breeds. I can’t remember the breeds name, but the cows my dad had when we were growing up were a hardier breed of beef cow with good sized horns and a little bit of a feisty attitude. We used to carry 2x4s with us to smack them to get them to go where we wanted them to go.
The property behind us started getting developed when I was a little kid and the cows used to decide that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and they would get out and terrorize the surrounding neighborhoods. Since they had big horns all the people thought that they were a herd of “bulls”. They were all afraid if they had red on that they would be charged and silly stuff like that. Fortunately the sheriff’s department was undermanned if my dad wasn’t home my sisters, my little brother and I could usually get them back in our field before a deputy arrived.
Usually, we carried 2x4s to smack them with, but sometimes we could bring buckets with grain or just gravel to get them to run after us.