It is the most famous bargain in American folklore: in 1626, the Dutch bought Manhattan for 24 dollars. It makes a great story. It is also a story that falls apart the moment you look at it closely.
Where the number came from
The only surviving document from 1626 is a letter by a Dutch official named Pieter Schaghen. It says that the colony's director, Peter Minuit, had acquired the island from "the natives" for goods valued at 60 guilders. The figure of 24 dollars appeared more than two centuries later, when the 19th-century historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted guilders to dollars. Modern economists argue over what the real value would be today, because prices and goods then were so different.
Two sides of the deal
The people living on the island were the Lenape, and they did not share the Dutch idea that land could be owned outright and sold forever. For the Lenape, a payment more likely meant permission to share and use the land, and the Dutch understood it as a purchase. Historians still debate who was actually paid, and whether the group that received the goods had the right to speak for the whole island.
Look for the Lenape city
You can still walk on the old Lenape paths. Broadway follows a trail that ran the length of Manhattan long before there were streets, which is why it cuts across the grid at an angle. The names Manhattan, Canarsie and Rockaway all come from Lenape words. The city you know was built on top of a place that was already thoroughly lived in.
Why the myth survives
The 24-dollar story survives because it is short and easy to repeat. The real story, a mismatch of two different ideas about land, is harder to fit on a postcard. It is also a better reason to look at the street names around you with fresh eyes.
