He first appears in historical documents in 1764, when he was one of the hostages surrendered to the British as part of the peace negotiations ending Pontiac's War.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.

When an American militiaman was killed by Natives in the fort's vicinity, angry soldiers executed Cornstalk and the other prisoners.

[1][2] Shawnees of Cornstalk's era belonged to one of five tribal divisions: Mekoche, Chalahgawtha (Chillicothe), Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela.

In 1758, seeking to avoid the conflict, they relocated to the Ohio Country, establishing a new town, Wakatomika, on the Muskingum River, with other Shawnee refugees.

At Fort Pitt, John Connolly, agent for Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, called out the militia.

Now Cornstalk, as head warrior, took command, leading war chiefs that included Blue Jacket, Black Snake (Peteusha), and Pukeshinwau.

[12] The Shawnees and Mingos were greatly outnumbered by the Virginians, so Cornstalk tried to recruit Native allies in the face of an imminent invasion.

British officials successfully prevented other Indians from joining the war, leaving Cornstalk with only about 300 Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, and Wyandot warriors to oppose Dunmore's 2,300 men.

[13] Dunmore launched a two-prong invasion of the Ohio Country, with him leading one wing, Colonel Andrew Lewis in command of the other.

Cornstalk decided to strike at Lewis's wing before the two armies could unite, initiating the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10.

[1] In October 1775, Cornstalk, Nimwha, and other Mekoches represented the Shawnees in 1775 at a council held at Fort Pitt, seeking to maintain peaceful relations with the Americans.

[18] In the autumn of 1776, Cornstalk returned to Fort Pitt, where he told U.S. Indian agent George Morgan that although some young Shawnee warriors were acting rashly, his people were committed to peace.

Cornstalk had Morgan send a message to the Continental Congress, outlining Shawnee grievances and offering friendship.

[19] In the meantime, Cornstalk said he had decided to remove his followers to Coshocton, a neutral Delaware Indian town on the Tuscarawas River.

[1] By the winter of 1776, Shawnees were effectively divided between Cornstalk's neutral faction and militant bands led by such men as Blackfish.

Although Cornstalk, Kisinoutha and other Mekoche leaders had made peace with the Virginians at Camp Charlotte, the other Shawnee divisions did not all agree with the loss of their hunting grounds and pursued their own agendas.

[1] His sister Nonhelema moved to Fort Randolph, where she worked as an interpreter and messenger for the Americans, and continued to promote peace despite her brother's murder.

[24] American political and military leaders were alarmed by Cornstalk's murder; they believed he was their only hope of securing Shawnee neutrality.

Patrick Henry, the first governor of Virginia under the United States, was outraged, demanding that Cornstalk's "vile assassins" be brought to justice.

When the courthouse was torn down in 1954, Cornstalk was reburied at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, the site of the Battle of Point Pleasant.