CHIEF CORNSTALK
In studying Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, several different native names for him
appear, purporting to have the same meaning. The word cornstalk is an English
rendition of something similar to a stalk, stem or blade of maize, however, few
if any writings about the Chief document the meaning of the native names. In a
plea for researchers of things Shawnee, several responders graciously
contributed some excellent information of which, some is newly exposed to many
of us..
A great deal about Cornstalk has been written, both in manuscript and published
form, so here, a note on his life is short, just outlining his background. He
was born ca 1720 in one of the Shawnee villages in the drainage of the upper
Susquehanna River. At that time, the Shawnees were undergoing another of their
migrations and as a youngster, his family moved to Ohio River country on it’s
Scioto River tributary, in what is now southern Ohio. By the end of the French
and Indian War in the early 1760’s, he had become a principal leader of the
Tribe and remained so until he was murdered by whites at Fort Randolph (Point
Pleasant, now West Virginia) in 1777. His 1763 foray up the Kanawha River to its
Greenbrier reaches was a scourge to Virginians. Cornstalk attempted to ambush
part of Lord Dunmore’s Virginia army at Point Pleasant where the Kanawha empties
into the Ohio in 1774. Failing, he deftly negotiated a peace settlement, saving
the Tribe from devastation. Largely however, Cornstalk and his family were
peacemakers and his 1777 death happened on such a mission. He had guided the
Tribe through the years just prior to the American Revolution, leading them on
another migration to put distance between them and European usurpers.
In studying Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, several different native names for him
appear, purporting to have the same meaning. The word cornstalk is an English
rendition of something similar to a stalk, stem or blade of maize, however, few
if any writings about the Chief document the meaning of the native names. In a
plea for researchers of things Shawnee, several responders graciously
contributed some excellent information of which, some is newly exposed to many
of us..
A great deal about Cornstalk has been written, both in manuscript and published
form, so here, a note on his life is short, just outlining his background. He
was born ca 1720 in one of the Shawnee villages in the drainage of the upper
Susquehanna River. At that time, the Shawnees were undergoing another of their
migrations and as a youngster, his family moved to Ohio River country on it’s
Scioto River tributary, in what is now southern Ohio. By the end of the French
and Indian War in the early 1760’s, he had become a principal leader of the
Tribe and remained so until he was murdered by whites at Fort Randolph (Point
Pleasant, now West Virginia) in 1777. His 1763 foray up the Kanawha River to its
Greenbrier reaches was a scourge to Virginians. Cornstalk attempted to ambush
part of Lord Dunmore’s Virginia army at Point Pleasant where the Kanawha empties
into the Ohio in 1774. Failing, he deftly negotiated a peace settlement, saving
the Tribe from devastation. Largely however, Cornstalk and his family were
peacemakers and his 1777 death happened on such a mission. He had guided the
Tribe through the years just prior to the American Revolution, leading them on
another migration to put distance between them and European usurpers.