{"id":2748,"slug":"chief-cornstalk-monument-point-pleasant-west-virginia","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Cornstalk is the murdered — the '77 peace mission that became hostage, the son who was killed with him. The curse is the legend — the dying words that promised revenge, the Mothman that's the fulfillment. The battle was the '74 — the Point Pleasant that's the first Revolution, the 1,100 Shawnee who fought.","The bones were the moved — the 1840 street diggers, the 1954 final rest. The monument is the four-ton — the obelisk that holds the teeth, the smaller than the white settlers'. Cornstalk is the warning — the chief who tried to make peace, the murder that was the answer.","The file keeps Cornstalk: the 1777 murder, the curse legend, the moved bones, and the monument.","Cornstalk is the archive's Point Pleasant file — the murdered chief."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Cornstalk is the archive's Point Pleasant file — the cursed peace.","A monument keeps its teeth — the file's suggestion being that Cornstalk's hold is the betrayal: the peace mission that was the trap, the curse that followed, and the Mothman that's the sign."]}],"name":"Chief Cornstalk monument","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","LOCAL_FOLKLORE","COLONIAL","INDIGENOUS"],"groups":["dark-history","legends"],"desc":"The murdered chief—killed under flag of truce, 1777.","full_desc":"Chief Cornstalk monument is a site in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The murdered chief—killed under flag of truce, 1777. Its signature presence is Chief Cornstalk — the figure the file’s accounts keep returning to. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend, 1 documented fact and 1 named or described presence — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Point Pleasant","county":null,"state":"West Virginia","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":38.850227,"lon":-82.131978,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site / park","research_notes":"WV2 batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":2364,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"Cornstalk is reportedly seen at the monument. Chief Cornstalk is the name the reports keep returning to. Chief Cornstalk monument in Point Pleasant, West Virginia carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. The report is preserved in sources like 'Chief Cornstalk'. The name gives the haunting a face, and the sightings give the name a job.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"Chief Cornstalk","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Cornstalk","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":2365,"type":"LEGEND","description":"The murder is documented; the lore is the chief’s memory. The site in Point Pleasant, West Virginia gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. Coverage gave the claim its audience; proof remains another matter. 'Chief Cornstalk' carries the account. The legend does what legends do — it explains the place in a way the records can't.","evidence":"MEDIA_REPORTED","evidence_label":"Media reported","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Cornstalk","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"Cornstalk’s November 1777 murder is documented. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. Sources including 'Chief Cornstalk' carry the record. It anchors the timeline the rest of the file hangs from. The telling survives; the proof stays folklore.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":"1777-11","confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Cornstalk","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"Cornstalk is reportedly seen at the monument. Chief Cornstalk monument's file is thin on proof and long on persistence — the standard profile of American place-lore. 'Chief Cornstalk' preserves the telling; the record keeps it filed where it belongs, as lore. Sources including 'Chief Cornstalk' keep the claim in circulation. It's the version the place will be remembered by, whether or not it's the true one.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Cornstalk","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","claimed_identity":"Chief Cornstalk","verified":null,"summary":"Cornstalk is reportedly seen at the monument. The file calls it Chief Cornstalk. The site in Point Pleasant, West Virginia gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The name travels further than the proof; the sightings keep renewing the lease. It remains the site's standing claim.","behavior":"Cornstalk is reportedly seen at the monument.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Cornstalk","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Chief Cornstalk","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Cornstalk","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}