Cornstalk, Shawnee chief, 1720?-1777

Cornstalk (c. 1727? – November 10, 1777) was a Shawnee leader in the Ohio Country in the 1760s and 1770s. His name in the Shawnee language was Hokoleskwa. Little is known about his early life. He may have been born in the Province of Pennsylvania. In 1763, he reportedly led a raid against British American colonists in Pontiac's War. He first appears in historical documents in 1764, when he was one of the hostages surrendered to the British as part of the peace negotiations ending Pontiac's War. When the British American colonies began expanding into the Ohio Country, Cornstalk played a major part in defense of the Shawnee homeland. He was the primary Shawnee war chief in Lord Dunmore's War (1774), leading Shawnees and other Native warriors against colonists in the Battle of Point Pleasant. After suffering defeat in that battle, he became an advocate for Shawnee neutrality in the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775. Many Shawnees fought against the Americans, hoping to regain lost lands, but Cornstalk was among those who feared that fighting the Americans would prove disastrous for the Shawnees. In 1777, Cornstalk made a diplomatic visit to Fort Randolph in Virginia (now West Virginia), hoping to learn American intentions. He and three others were imprisoned by the fort's commander. When an American militiaman was killed by Natives in the fort's vicinity, angry soldiers executed Cornstalk and the other prisoners. His murder enraged Shawnees and deprived them of an important voice of moderation.