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Cornstalk (Shawnee leader)

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For other uses, see Corn Stalk.
Cornstalk
Hokoleskwa, Colesqua
File:Cornstalk by Sherman.jpg
Chief Cornstalk (after a Smithsonian Institution engraving by McKinney and Hall); Hal Sherman
Shawnee leader
Personal details
Bornca. 1720
Pennsylvania
Died(1777-11-10)November 10, 1777
Fort Randolph, Virginia (now West Virginia)
Cause of deathkilled in captivity
Resting placePoint Pleasant, West Virginia
RelationsNonhelema (sister)
Children2
Known forLeader of the Shawnee nation

Cornstalk (Shawnee: Hokoleskwa, Colesqua)[1] (c.1720 – November 10, 1777) was a prominent leader of the Shawnee nation just prior to the American Revolutionary War. His tribal name, "Hokoleskwa," translates loosely into "stalk of corn" in English.

Cornstalk opposed European settlement west of the Ohio River in his youth, but following the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant, he became an advocate for peace with settlers. His murder by American militiamen at Fort Randolph during a diplomatic visit in November 1777 outraged both American Indians and Virginians.

Early years

Historians believe Hokoleskwa may have been born in the area of the Pennsylvania colony, and then moved to the Ohio Country with his sister, Nonhelema, when the Shawnee withdrew before the expanding white settlements. The family settled in the vicinity of present-day Chillicothe.

Stories tell of Cornstalk's participation in the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion although unverified. He did, however, take part in the peace negotiations of the latter. Cornstalk married three times, to: 1) Helizikinopo (1715-1756, m. c.1739); 2) Ounaconoa Moytoy (1715-1755, m. c.1740); and, 3) Catherine Vanderpool (1725-c.1807, m. 1763-1777).

Dunmore's War

Cornstalk, detail from "Frost's Pictorial History of Indian Wars and Captivities," 1872

After the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, settlers and land speculators moved into the lands south of the Ohio River in present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. Although the Iroquois had agreed to cede the land, the Shawnee and others had not been present at the Fort Stanwix negotiations. They still claimed this area as their hunting grounds.[citation needed] Clashes soon took place over this. Cornstalk played a central role in unsuccessful attempts to prevent escalation of hostilities. Finally, in an effort to block a Virginian invasion of the Ohio country, Cornstalk led a force of Shawnee and Mingo warriors at the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant, part of Dunmore's War.[citation needed] His attack was beaten back by the Virginians. Cornstalk's forces retreated, and he reluctantly accepted the Ohio River as the boundary of Shawnee lands in the Treaty of Camp Charlotte.[citation needed]

Cornstalk's commanding presence often impressed American military officers. A Virginia officer, Col. Benjamin Wilson, wrote of Cornstalk's speech to Lord Dunmore at Camp Charlotte: "...I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk on that occasion."[citation needed]

American Revolution

Shawnee Chief Cornstalk; author unknown,[2] 1892

When the American Revolution followed shortly after Dunmore's War, Cornstalk endeavored to keep his people neutral. He represented the Shawnee in 1775 and 1776 at treaty councils held at Fort Pitt, the first Indian treaties ever to be negotiated by the United States with Native Americans. Many Shawnees, nevertheless, hoped to use British aid to reclaim their lands lost to the American settlers. By the winter of 1776, the Shawnee were effectively divided between a neutral faction, led by Cornstalk, and the militant bands led by such men as Blue Jacket.

Betrayed

In the fall of 1777, Cornstalk made a diplomatic visit to Fort Randolph, an American fort at present-day Point Pleasant, West Virginia, seeking to maintain his faction's neutrality. Cornstalk was detained by the fort commander, who had decided on his own initiative to take hostage any Shawnees who fell into his hands. On November 10, an American militiaman stationed at the fort was killed by unknown Indians in the vicinity. Angry soldiers brutally executed Cornstalk, his son Elinipsico, and two other Shawnees.[citation needed] Private Jacob McNeil, one of the soldiers who had participated in detaining Chief Cornstalk, attempted to prevent his murder.[3]

A transcription of McNeil's pension application testifies: "...That he was one of the guards over the celebrated Indian chief Corn Stalk [sic: Cornstalk or Hokoleskwa] – that when he was murdered [10 Nov 1777] he this affiant did all he could to prevent it –but that it was all in vain the American’s exasperated at the depredations of the Indians – broke through the guard and killed the said prisoner Corn Stalk – to the very great regret of this affiant..."[3]

Aftermath

American political and military leaders were alarmed by the murder of Cornstalk; they believed he was their only hope of securing Shawnee neutrality. At the insistence of Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia, Cornstalk's killers—whom Henry called "vile assassins"—were eventually brought to trial, but since their fellow soldiers would not testify against them, all were acquitted.[citation needed]

Cornstalk was originally buried at Fort Randolph.[citation needed] In 1840 Cornstalk's grave was rediscovered and his remains were moved to the Mason County Courthouse grounds. In 1954 the courthouse was torn down and he was reburied in Point Pleasant at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park.

Local legends arose about his dying "curse" being the cause of misfortunes in the area.[4][5] Regional stories claim that he took his revenge in the 1960s by sending the mysterious Mothman to terrorize Point Pleasant.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ NOTE: Cornstalk was also known as Hokolesqua, Keigh-tugh-qua and Wynepuechsika.
  2. ^ NOTE: Drawing from the Daily Independent News; Helena Montana; Nov 28, 1892
  3. ^ a b C. Leon Harris, transcribed and annotated; PDF format (Sep 25, 2014). Pension Application of Jacob McNeil S5745 (PDF) (Report). Vol. American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters (revision).{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Troy Taylor (2002). "The Cornstalk Curse!". Ghosts of the Prairie, Haunted West Virginia. Archived from the original on 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  5. ^ "Welcome to Point Pleasant, West Virginia!". Mason County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  6. ^ "Fighting Chief Cornstalk's Remains Laid to Rest Again". The Charleston Gazette. Charleston, WV. 1954-09-21. Retrieved 2013-02-18.

Bibliography

  • Downes, Randolph C. Council Fires on the Upper Ohio. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1940.
  • Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Cornstalk" in the Dictionary of American Biography, vol II. New York: Scribner, 1928.
  • Sugden, John. "Cornstalk" in American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 1999.
  • Roosevelt, Theodore. The winning of the West, Volume 1 G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1889
Wikiquote has quotations related to Cornstalk (Shawnee leader).
Wikisource has the text of the 1900 Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography article Cornstalk.
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