Abstract
In the summer of 1737 four Delaware sachems agreed to give the Pennsylvania proprietors land west of the Delaware River that could be traversed by a walker in a day and a half. When the Walking Purchase, as it became known, was executed in September, the young men hired as walkers by the proprietors traveled faster and further northwest than Delawares assumed they would. Delawares documented the events of the Walking Purchase, but their version of the story was quickly buried under the considerable weight of the official narrative—a tale based on actual events but with significant details skillfully obfuscated by the Penns and their agents. What actually happened would remain obscure if not for the existence of a fragile map that can be found in the Chew Family and the Penn Family Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. When examined in light of Delaware accounts, this map reveals how the Pennsylvania proprietors deceived the Delawares so they would agree to the purchase.
