The History of Penn's Woods #1

"The Walking Purchase"

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In 1737, there was a land dispute between Thomas Penn (son of William Penn) and the Delaware Indians. Penn claimed that his father had purchased land from the tribe along the Delaware River fifty years earlier. The land stretched along most of Pennsylvania's eastern border.

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The eventual agreement between the two sides was that the colonists could claim as much land as one man could walk in one day. The Penn's chose three people to walk but it soon turned into a race to claim as much land as possible.

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The travelers pushed to cover as many miles as possible. In just 18 hours of "walking", the group traveled 70 miles! This resulted in the colony claiming a large area of land from modern-day Wrightstown to Jim Thorpe. A perpendicular line was drawn to the eastern border.

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There was most certainly intervention in this event. Historians have claimed that there were supply stops along the path where the walkers could get food and water and even had assistance crossing streams. The fix was in and there was not much the Delaware could do.

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The Delaware tribe attempted to appeal to the Iroquis Confederacy but, the Iroquis chose to remain neutral in the conflict. The Pennsylvania colony added over 1.2M acres in land and in the end, only paid 400 pounds (British currency) for this land.

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The Delaware Nation filed suit against the Commonwealth and wanted 314 acres of land in 2004. The case was dismissed in the District Court and in 2006 the U.S Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the decision. The Supreme Court would later also deny the appeal.

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I hope you enjoyed this thread and stay tuned for more to come!

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