Re: JC's Query re the Walking Purchase

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Comments:
: : Ann,

: : In Lenape history there is the story of the "Walking Purchase" which took place in 1737.  William Penn had always dealt fairly with the Lenape (Deleware), but after he returned to England his sons and other agents began to sell land to pay their creditors, and these were lands which were still owned by the Lenape.

: : In order to convince the Lenape to part with the land, the Penns falsely represented an old, incomplete, unsigned draft of a deed as a legal contract.  They told the Lenape that their ancestors some fifty years before had signed this document which stated that the land to be deeded to the Penns was as much as could be covered in a day-and-a-half's walk.

: : Believing that ther forefathers had made such an agreement the Lenape leaders agreed to let the Penns have this area walked off.  They thought the whites would take a leisurly walk down an Indian path along the Deleware River.  Instead, the Penns hired 3 of the fastest runners, and had a straight path cleared.  Only one of the "walkers" was able to complete the "walk", but he went fifty-five miles, covering a large territory. 

: : And so by means of a false deed, and use of runners, the Penns acquired 1200 square miles of Lenape land in Pennsylvania, an area about the size of Rhode Island.................

: : this was taken from http://members,tripod.com/`lenapelady/walking_purchase.html
: : the rest can be found there.

: : JC

: Ah, JC! This is true. The Lenape were indeed ripped off by the infamous "Walking Purchase."  To track even more intrigue, read about the Iroquois influence in this and other Delaware matters and the disputes the Lenape found themselves entangled in later down the trail. A powerful testimony of the power of the Six Nations Confederacy in the 18th century.

: Elaine


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