Item 1: Reproduction by Lewis Evans, “Map of the Indian Walking Purchase,” 1738, after Benjamin Eastburn (removed to Grey Box #4), 1737; 1738
Item — Box: 15, Folder: 56
Dates
- Created: 1737; 1738
Creator
- Evans, Lewis, ca. 1700-1756 (Person)
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
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Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
English
Type of Material:
Map
Condition Note:
Good.
Title:
Map of the Indian Walking Purchase, 1737
Description:
The following item depicts a 1738 reproduction by Lewis Evans, of a map titled the “Map of the Indian Walking Purchase,” created after an original by Benjamin Eastburn in 1737. The historical sketch on the back of the map mentions that there was also a draft of the map created by John Chapman.
The Walking Purchase of 1737 was a land scheme by which Pennsylvania officials defrauded the Delaware Indigenous peoples out of a vast acreage—nearly a million—in the Delaware and Lehigh valleys. The sons of William Penn, John and Thomas, along with provincial secretary James Logan, carried out this grab for land with an unsigned draft of the 1686 deed, securing support from the Iroquois, and employing trickery to claim more lands than the draft deed allowed for. The 1686 deed was originally negotiated by the elder Penn’s agents for land in central Bucks County but remained unsigned because he failed to provide enough trade goods to complete the deal. The map was introduced during a 1737 meeting of the Delaware sachems, using it to mislead them into thinking that they would not be removed from their lands as a result of the deal.
The Philadelphia Encyclopedia’s historical sketch said: “Logan and Thomas Penn met with Nutimus, Manawkyhickon, Lapowinzo, and Tishcohan at Stenton, Logan’s county seat outside of Philadelphia, in August 1737. Manawkyhickon expressed a willingness to agree to the transaction if the sachems could learn how much land had been ceded to the proprietor in the draft deed. Andrew Hamilton (c. 1676-1741), an agent for the provincial government, produced a map, which misled the sachems into thinking that the purchase involved only territory south of Tohickon Creek. The sachems finally agreed to the transaction after being assured that the Delawares would not be removed from their settlements.”
Location:
Bucks County, PA
Creator
- Evans, Lewis, ca. 1700-1756 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu