For other uses, see Corn Stalk.Hokoleskwa (
ca. 1720 –
November 10,
1777) — known as
Cornstalk — was an important 18th century leader of the
Shawnee people. In the
Shawnee language, his name meant "blade of corn". His name was spelled a variety of ways, including
Colesqua and
Keigh-tugh-qua.
Cornstalk and the rest of the Shawnee people migrated into present-day
Ohio in the 1730s, pushed by
European colonial encroachment into their traditional lands. He and his tribesmen participated in many battles against the
English settlers of
Virginia,
Kentucky, and Ohio. His death came at a time when he had been at peace with the whites. His effort to warn the fort of impending plans of massacre by militant Natives, perhaps defines this Native American hero.
Biography
Early years
Historians can only speculate on Cornstalk’s early years. He may have been born in present-day
Pennsylvania. At some time his people migrated to the
Ohio Country, near present day
Chillicothe, as the Shawnee gave ground in the face of expanding English settlement.
French and Indian War
During the
French and Indian War (1754–63) — conflicts in North America that paralleled European rivalries of the
Seven Years War — Cornstalk and the Shawnees sided with the
French. They feared that English settlers would rapidly expand into the Ohio Country if they were not stopped. As part of the more general conflict known as
Pontiac's Rebellion (1763), Cornstalk led raiding parties into western Virginia, hoping to drive the English away from Shawnee territory. In June 1763, Cornstalk led a band of about 60 of his tribesmen into
Greenbrier County, in present-day
West Virginia. On June 26, by pretending friendship, he gained the confidence of the settlers at Muddy Creek. When their defenses were down, his warriors killed them all. Among the dead were the families of Frederick Sea, Joseph Carrol and Salty Yolkum. The next day, Cornstalk repeated his deception at the Clendenin Settlement, near the current site of
Lewisburg, where his warriors killed more than 50 settlers. Colonel
Henry Bouquet defeated the Shawnee in 1764. To ensure that the natives would sign a peace treaty ending the rebellion, Bouquet seized several hostages, including Cornstalk. The Shawnee agreed not to take up arms against the English again.
During the next decade, fighting occurred again between the English and the Ohio natives. Cornstalk tried to ease the tensions, but with the arrival of more white settlers, his urging peace put him in the minority. By the spring of 1774, violence was constant. On May 3, 1774, a group of English colonists killed eleven
Mingo Indians. At least two were relatives of
Logan, a leader of the Mingos in the Ohio Country. Upon hearing of the murders, many Mingos and Shawnees demanded retribution. Some, like Cornstalk, urged conciliation. Cornstalk and most Shawnee Indians promised to protect English
fur traders in the Ohio Country from retaliatory attacks, since the traders were innocent. Logan, however, was not easily convinced. Shawnee and Mingo chiefs permitted him to attack British colonists south of the Ohio River, who had killed his family members.(see
Vandalia (colony)Logan took approximately two dozen warriors to exact revenge. He traveled into western
Pennsylvania. There, his followers killed thirteen settlers before returning back across the Ohio River. Captain John Connolly, commander of
Fort Pitt, immediately prepared to attack the Ohio Country natives. John Murray,
Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, offered his colony's assistance. Dunmore hoped to prevent Pennsylvania's expansion into modern-day West Virginia and Kentucky by placing Virginia militiamen in those regions. He also hoped to benefit his colonists by opening the lands to English settlement.
In August 1774, Pennsylvania militia entered the Ohio Country and quickly destroyed seven Mingo villages, which the Indians had abandoned as the soldiers approached. At the same time, Lord Dunmore sent 1,000 men to the
Little Kanawha River in modern-day West Virginia to build a fort and attack the Shawnees. Cornstalk, who had experienced a change of heart about the white colonists as the soldiers invaded the Ohio Country, dispatched nearly 1,000 Shawnee warriors to drive Dunmore's force from the region. The forces met on October 10, 1774, in what became known as the
Battle of Point Pleasant. After several hours of intense fighting, the English drove Cornstalk's followers north of the Ohio River. Dunmore, with a separate force, followed the Shawnees across the river. Upon nearing Shawnee villages on the Pickaway Plains, Dunmore stopped and asked the Shawnees to discuss a peace treaty. The Shawnees agreed. While negotiations were under way, however; Colonel Andrew Lewis and a detachment of Virginia militia crossed the Ohio River and destroyed several Shawnee villages. Fearing that Dunmore intended to destroy them, the Shawnees immediately agreed to terms before more blood was shed. Under this new treaty, the Shawnee Indians agreed to the previous
Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768) in which they gave up ownership of all lands east and south of the Ohio River. This was the first time that natives who lived in the Ohio Country agreed to relinquish some of their land. In addition, the Shawnees promised to return all European captives and to refrain from attacking English colonists traveling down the Ohio River.
American Revolution
Cornstalk abided by this treaty for the rest of his life, but most Shawnees did not. By 1777, the Shawnee Indians again planned to drive the white settlers from the region. This time they did so at the urging of British soldiers,
Simon Girty with the Ohio Shawnee,
Thomas McKee with the Ohio Delaware and British officer
Henry Hamilton of
Fort Detroit the other frontier Indians, who sought assistance in defeating the colonists in the American Revolution. Cornstalk and his son, Elinipsico, went to Point Pleasant, the site of an American fort, to warn the whites of the impending attack. The Americans took the natives hostage. Shortly thereafter, news reached Point Pleasant that, the Shawnee had ambushed and killed an American soldier. Seeking vengeance, the colonists killed Cornstalk, his son, and other Natives in American custody.
Cornstalk was originally buried at Fort Randolph. In 1840 his grave was found and the remains moved to the Mason County Courthouse grounds. When the courthouse was torn down in 1954 he was reburied at
Tu-Endie-Wei State Park in Point Pleasant.
See also
