Chief Cornstalk ^1,4

  General Notes:

Shawnee Chieftain. Born in what is now Western Pennsylvania he was
known as Hokolesqua among his people. The Shawnee migrated to the Ohio Territory as they gave ground in the face of expanding white settlement. He fought with the French against the British during the French and Indian War. He continued to battle settler encroachment into Ohio Territory, and in 1763 he led an expedition against white settlements along Muddy Creek in Greenbrier County in what is now West Virginia. In the early 1770s, Cornstalk became the leader of a confederacy of Indian tribes living in the Territory. Cornstalk led a group of Shawnee and Mingo warriors against troops from Virginia at the Battle of Point Pleasant near the juncture of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers in present day West Virginia where both sides suffered heavy losses and Cornstalk Cornstalk withdrew. He was then forced to accept the Ohio River as the boundary line in the subsequent treaty. During the American Revolution, Cornstalk worked to keep the Shawnee neutral, representing his people at treaty councils at Fort Pitt in 1775 and 1776. The British attempted to build a coalition of Indians to fight against the colonists. Cornstalk refused to join though many Shawnees hoped to take advantage of the war and use British aid to reclaim lands lost to the Americans. By the winter of 1776, the Shawnee were divided into a neutral faction led by Cornstalk, and various militant bands. In the fall of 1777, Cornstalk and a small party made a diplomatic visit to the American Fort Randolph, Cornstalk and his two companions were detained by Captain Arbuckle, the fort commander, who had decided on his own initiative to take the Shawnees hostage. When news spread through the garrison of the chief’s incarceration, a group of militiamen led by John Hall stormed the jail. Cornstalk and his two men, including his son, Elinipsico, were summarily shot to death. American leaders were thoroughly alarmed by the murder of Cornstalk who they believed was their only hope of a Shawnee neutrality. Patrick Henry demanded Cornstalk’s killers be brought to trial. Since their fellow soldiers would not testify against them, however, all were acquitted. (bio by: Iola)

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alt. Death: Virginia, USA, 10 Nov 1777. ⁴

• Alt. Birth, 1704. ⁴

• Alt. Birth: Shenandoahvalley, Virginia, USA, 1712. ¹

• Alt. Death: Mason, Fairfax, Virginia, USA, 10 Nov 1777. ¹

Chief married.