killing meriwether lewis

Neelly came upon the grisly scene the day after Lewis's death. Most historians have attributed his death to suicide, but some question whether the explorer was murdered. If he believed Lewis could expose his plans for the mines, he might have taken extreme measures to guarantee his silence. The modern-day Lewis family filed an application with the National Park Service in January, 2009 to exhume the body for forensic examination. Along the way they filled hundreds of notebook pages with observations of the geography, Indian tribes, and natural history of the trans-Mississippi West. 224-225. "His condition rendered it necessary that he should be stoped until he would recover which I done [sic]," Russell wrote. In 1996, George Washington Law University Professor James Starrs petitioned for the body to be exhumed in the hopes of examining Lewis's remains and possibly shedding light on his cause of death. Be the first to contribute! Box 3434, Great Falls, Montana 59403 Ph: 406-454-1234 or 1-888-701-3434 Meriwether Lewis’s death has been a source of speculation for many years, often with the mistaken notion that “great men” do not take their own lives, and that suicide blights the memory of a great life. Lewis, he added, exhibited "mental derangement.". Lewis died childless, but there are still descendants of his family. He was thirty-five years old. Lewis's own mother expressed doubts; she believed he had been murdered. Dr Ravenbolt points to one specific time, August 13-14, 1805, when Lewis and some others were with the Shoshoni (Clark was with another party). Several years after his biggest accomplishment, Lewis was dead. Somehow, forensic analysis might be able to resolve what’s grown into a mystery enduring over two centuries. But his personality seemed to deteriorate in his last years. Wilkinson was far from trustworthy, having sold American secrets to the Spanish empire and even warning Spain of the Lewis and Clark expedition and forthcoming American expansion. The NPS is considering the matter. After hi… He also served as military officer in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Literally dozens of Lewis’s kinfolk have requested such an exhumation. If they weren’t, Lewis might have had to pay for them himself, which would have drained him financially. Or had someone at Grinder’s Stand murdered him? MERIWETHER LEWIS AT GRINDER’S STAND, BY LARRY JANOFF Lewis approaches Grinder’s Stand on the evening of October 10, 1809. Known as the “Devil’s Backbone,” the Natchez Trace was considered rough both geographically—it was made up of uneven terrain—and because of the bandits who lurked in the woods, ready to pounce on travelers carrying goods. He and Clark returned from their expedition to St. Louis, Missouri, as heroes in September 1806. Meriwether Lewis was the man who teamed with William Clark to map the lands west … Lewis’s Unsolved Mystery Meriwether Lewis became an American hero upon his return from his expedition across what is now the Northwestern half of the United States. Surely, he would have had the sense to aim for his heart or to take a more measured aim toward his brain. But only three years later, on October 11, 1809, Meriwether Lewis was mortally wounded while staying at a frontier inn along the Natchez Trace. Lewis simply did not seem to be a likeable man. After the examination, the body would be given a Christian burial. Wayne died in 1796 following a bout of intense stomach pain, which Gale argues was really arsenic poisoning. The rewards for enduring such an arduous trip were numerous. Fielding Lewis (July 7, 1725 – December 7, 1781) was an American merchant and a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War.He lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia where he had a plantation, which later became known as Kenmore.His brother-in-law was George Washington The expedition, Jefferson wrote, had taken Lewis’s mind off the discomfort. It remains one of the great mysteries of the early United States: Was it murder or suicide? At supper, he took only a few spoonfuls of his meal before launching into what she would later describe as a “violent” verbal tirade directed at himself. As governor of the Louisiana Territory, he may have run afoul of a plot by General James Wilkinson (his predecessor as governor) to control lead mines south of St. Louis and invade Mexico to seize silver mines. Then he began pacing. Jefferson gave Lewis double pay for the journey and 1600 acres of land. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led this expedition of 1804-6. She returned to Albemarle for good, and Locust Hill became her property after Meriwether's mysterious death in 1809. It could have been depression, exacerbated by Lewis’s tendency to drink alcohol to excess. At least, it seemed more likely than the idea that a competent soldier tried to kill himself by gruesomely shooting and slashing his own body. Both men were honored for their accomplishments. The two had split up the morning of October 10, when Neelly remained behind to pursue two escaped horses. When servants who had been traveling with him arrived, the guest ordered them to the stables [PDF]. Even if we accept that somehow the first shot miscarried and removed a portion of his skull without killing him, what followed, according to the evidence we have, ... Danisi and Jackson, Meriwether Lewis, p.342. According to Landon Y Jones’s article in a 2002 Time magazine, Clark read of his friend’s demise in a Kentucky newspaper. Starrs received no cooperation from the National Park Service, who told him it would set a bad precedent and that they have no interest in disrupting a burial site. According to the servants who discovered him, Lewis had purportedly shot himself in the head, a non-fatal wound that failed to penetrate his brain. But it was not to be. The Grinders later moved, and had money to buy land, fueling conspiracy theories. So far, those attempts have not been successful. Buy Meriwether Lewis: The Assassination of an American Hero and the Silver Mines of Mexico by Gale, Kira online on Amazon.ae at best prices. That would explain why he targeted his abdomen and why, when the two shots failed to resolve his discomfort, he may have taken to slashing himself with a razor. It should be said that those who cared for him the most, like William Clark, thought he committed suicide. Yet robbery does not seem the motive. 137. Had Lewis turned his pistol on himself? He was a son of famous explorer William Clark Early life and career. He was missing part of his forehead and, according to some accounts, had slashed at himself with a razor. In any case Lewis never really seems to have been well again. He has done many great things, but he is … Lewis was also named governor of the Territory of Upper Louisiana. Lewis was shot, but she also told a story of him crawling around the courtyard begging for water, or trying to cut himself with his own razor. That’s when he stopped off at Grinder’s Stand. Mrs. Grinder, wife of the innkeeper, gave conflicting and sometimes contradictory testimony. In an addled state, he might have even thought a wound could “cure” his affliction. Two old friends of Meriwether Lewis decide they have nothing better to do than to become detectives and attempt to find the killer (or killers) of Mr. Lewis. Authors Kira Gale and James E Starrs claim in their book The Murder of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation that it was more than just murder—it was political assassination. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 1848 that a doctor examined Lewis’s remains. Meriwether Lewis teamed up with William Clark to form the historic expedition pairing Lewis and Clark, who together explored the lands west of the Mississippi. He was given a powerful position in the new territory he had helped to explore, but tragedy would soon strike. The 200th anniversary of his death in 2009 has both sharpened and renewed the historical debate. Meriwether Lewis departed St. Louis on September 4, 1809, with his servant John Pernier. Unable to fight his personal demons, Meriwether Lewis shot himself. As governor he had paid official bills out of his own pocket, and had not been reimbursed by the government. Priscilla was so shaken by the sight of the wounded guest, not to mention his odd behavior earlier, that she did something nearly unthinkable: She ignored him. Instead, the Danisis argue, he wanted to quiet his ailing body. The suicide story simply has too many holes in it and too much evidence arguing strongly against it. Essay Meriwether Lewis the Leader 670 Words | 3 Pages. Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) – Diplomat, explorer, scientist, governor, soldier, and the official leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether Lewis has been called “undoubtedly the greatest pathfinder this country has ever known.” Born near Charlottesville, Virginia to William and Lucy Meriwether Lewis, faced the world with opportunity and advantage. It looks like we don't have any Awards for this title yet. Captain Gilbert Russell, who was in charge of Fort Pickering, would later state that he ordered Lewis detained until he regained his composure. Some—like the idea Lewis had been carrying on with Priscilla Grinder and was discovered by her returning husband, or that the innkeeper murdered Lewis for his money and possessions—seemed fantastic. Others feel sure he was murdered. For the next 210 years, scholars, his family, and forensic analysts would comb over his life—and attempt to analyze his remains—searching for an evasive truth. Furtwangler, Acts of Discovery, pp. His death—by a gunshot wound to the head and another to the abdomen—is a mystery. Meriwether Lewis, depicted here in 1805, died in 1809. A few weeks later Lewis noted “several of the men are unwell,” and that “brakings out (sic) and irruptions of the skin have also been common with us for some time.” Dr Ravensbolt thinks these are the secondary stage of syphilis, and by the term “us,” Lewis is indirectly including himself. And that was how Meriwether Lewis, aged 35 and once co-captain of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition, met his untimely end. Then he was believed to have turned the gun to his abdomen and fired again, the ammunition tearing through his torso and out near his backbone. Furtwangler, Acts of Discovery. In the throes of pain, illness, and frustration, it’s possible Lewis turned his weapons on himself without intending to take his own life. But not all of the facts supported that conclusion. In his article Self Destruction on the Natchez Trace Dr Reimert Thorolf Ravenbolt claims Lewis and other members of the expedition contracted the disease by sleeping with infected Native American women. Priscilla and her children—Robert was not at home—retired to nearby quarters, disconnected from main cabin but within earshot. Killing Meriwether Lewis Awards and Nominations. (Thornton was the daughter of Francis Thornton and Mary Taliaferro). Witnesses claim he was acting erratically during much of the journey. Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks was widowed a second time in 1791. There’s no guarantee that any evidence exists that could prove exactly what happened to Lewis the night of October 11, 1809. Even in the best of times, Lewis was often moody and introspective. He was the son of Lt. William Lewis of Locust Hill (1733 – November 17, 1779), who was of Welsh ancestry, and Lucy Meriwether (February 4, 1752 – September 8, 1837), daughter of Thomas Meriwether and Elizabeth Thornton who were both of English ancestry. The government had also complicated matters by asking for additional documentation and evidence that some of the filed expenses were necessary. And then another. Even close to 200 years later there might still be tell-tale clues on the body: Gunpowder residue could be tested to see if he was shot at close range or not. … On October 11th, 1809, Meriwether Lewis died of gunshot wounds at Grinder’s Stand, an inn on the Natchez Trace some seventy miles southwest of Nashville. Even Lewis’s last words were different from one telling to another. She also noted that she had seen John Pernier, Lewis's servant, wearing the clothes Lewis had arrived in. Lewis was also prone to dark moods, a gloom that Jefferson noticed throughout their long friendship. He had been found bleeding profusely from two gunshot wounds. At the time of his death Lewis was traveling to Washington, DC by way of the Natchez Trace. At times he was touchy, opinionated, and quarrelsome. The explorer became careless of dress, engaged in wild—and unsuccessful—land speculation, and drank heavily. He died seven months after Lewis in an apparent suicide.). pp. "I propose the motive was to prevent Lewis from bringing information to Washington regarding crooked land deals involving Wilkinson and John Smith T, a mine operator in the lead mine district south of St. Louis," Gale wrote in 2015. Scholars have long wondered if Lewis was a victim of foul play, or if he committed suicide. The exhumation idea was also floated in 2009 by Lewis's descendants, but rejected by the Department of the Interior in 2010. Based on his symptoms, scholars have also suggested malaria or syphilis may have been attacking both his body and his mind: Lewis himself wrote in a journal in November 1803 that he had been seized with a "violent ague," ague being the term at the time for malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes that was not then treatable by antibiotics. Worldhistory.us - For those who want to understand the History, not just to read it. His pleas for help went unanswered. Lewis is still buried in Hohenwald, Tennessee, in land that is now federally owned and part of the National Park Service. That, at least, is the theory espoused by some historians. Priscilla watched as the man moved about in an erratic manner. February 2000 We Proceeded On 2 The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. P.O. But roughly three decades later, when prompted by a schoolteacher for her memories of the night, she said three strange men had followed Lewis to the inn and that he had warned them off with his pistol. Lewis traveled on, following the Natchez Trace, and headed for Washington, where he intended to answer to questions concerning his expedition expenses. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had embarked on their epic journey to the Pacific two years earlier. When the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to the St Louis after an absence of two years and four months, there was great rejoicing. Everyone who knows anything about Meriwether Lewis beyond that he was one half of the famous exploring duo knows that he died a violent death at the age of 35, just three years after the completion of the most successful exploration mission in American history. He could have been trying to cure himself of a persistent pain. The trip could take up to four weeks, and weary travelers often found shelter in one of the many inns along the way. Even in the latter stages of the expedition, Clark noted “Capt Lewis scarcely able to ride on a gentle horse.” His erratic behavior also seems to point to latter-stage syphilis. Clearing Meriwether Lewis of Suicide. On the surface, he was merely one of many to make the trek along the Natchez Trace, a 450-mile path that connected Natchez, Mississippi, with Nashville, Tennessee. President Thomas Jefferson was determined to map the new acquisition, forge relationships with Native American tribes, explore the flora and fauna of the region, and, most importantly, find an all-water route to the Pacific for trade purposes. Meriwether Lewis Clark (January 10, 1809 – October 28, 1881) was an architect, civil engineer and politician. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/579687/meriwether-lewis-mysterious-death James Neelly, a federal agent also on the Natchez Trace trail, had traveled part of the way with Lewis and had witnessed the explorer's odd behavior. The 33 members of the Corps of Discovery … The War Department managed the monument and the superintendent of Shiloh … The suspicion of foul play grew in 1848, almost 40 years after Lewis's death, when his body had to be partially exhumed in order for a monument to be erected at his burial site. In 2009, the 200th anniversary of his death, the debate intensified. Lewis the Leader Meriwether Lewis is the main reason that the United States’ territory extends from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific Ocean (“Meriwether Lewis” 2). Governor Meriwether Lewis was on his way from St. Louis to Washington in September, 1809 to protest the federal government’s refusal to reimburse him for expenses. Gale also asserts that Wilkinson poisoned Anthony Wayne, commanding general of the U.S. Army, so second-in-command Wilkinson would climb in the ranks. For one thing, Lewis and Clark had not found the all-water route—the fabled Northwest Passage—to the Pacific. Owing to Lewis's recent behavior, it was an apparently easy assessment to make, and there was no autopsy or further investigation. Some historians have “diagnosed” depression. An exhumation and forensic examination could go a long way towards resolving the puzzle. For another, the trading posts they had helped set up were faltering. Jefferson had taken note of his friend’s maladies, and described them in letters as a “hypochondriac affection.” Jefferson, using the language of his day, didn’t mean Lewis was having health anxiety—he meant Lewis had some kind of bodily discomfort, possibly involving his alcohol-saturated liver or spleen. Why the United States Entered World War I, 123rd Machine Gun Battalion in the Meuse-Argonne, Northern Military Advantages in the Civil War, The Year Before America Entered the Great War, Vardis Fisher, Suicide of Murder? Ontdek de perfecte stockfoto's over Meriwether Lewis en redactionele nieuwsbeelden van Getty Images Kies uit premium Meriwether Lewis van de hoogste kwaliteit. The medical professionals who assisted in the exhumation reportedly made an offhand declaration: One of the bullet holes appeared to be in the back of his head, a strange spot for a self-inflicted gunshot. But Lewis was a military man and an expert marksman. With Justin Fornal, Emiliano Ruprah, Kevin Knight, Tony Turnbow. But was it suicide or murder? The Strange Death of Governor Meriwether Lewis (Swallow Press, 1993) Kira Gale and James E. Starrs, The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation (River Junction Press, 2009) Dr Reimart Thorolf Ravenbolt, MD “Self Destruction on the Natchez Trace”, Columbia—The Magazine of Northwest History (Summer, 1999) “I fear O!” Clark wrote, “I fear that the waight (sic) of his mind has overcome him.”. Even though this might seem a simple plot, the author is determined to make it even more complicated by throwing numerous names at the reader until finally at one point this reviewer actually had to stop and reread almost half the book. When she'd welcomed him to the inn she ran with her husband, Robert, that evening of October 10, 1809, he'd come with packhorses and a request to stay the night. Meriwether Lewis was a man 'of undaunted courage' who stood up to him." Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, in the present-day community of Ivy. Meriwether Lewis National Monument On February 6, 1925, President Calvin Coolidge used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to establish Meriwether Lewis National Monument. Both Lewis and Clark never record their own possible sexual adventures, though they do talk of other members of the expedition. She had told Neelly about Lewis's final hours. If he intended to kill himself, skeptics argue, a glancing shot against his head and another in his stomach seemed to be lousy choices. They pointed to Lewis’s longstanding “paroxysm of intermittent disease,” or the physical discomfort he experienced as a possible result of malaria or syphilis infection. McCarthy and Stalin – Political Brothers? The Natchez Trace was a rough area, infested with highwaymen and other unsavory people. He would walk up to Priscilla, and then quickly turn around. Another theory, put forward by historian Kira Gale in two books, 2009's The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation and 2015's Meriwether Lewis: The Assassination of an American Hero and the Silver Mines of Mexico, argues that Lewis was the target of a political assassination. On a boat headed for Fort Pickering in September 1809, a number of military officials reported that Lewis was obviously distraught and had made two attempts to take his own life. Some feel that Lewis was suffering from the advanced stages of venereal disease, more specifically syphilis. Meriwether Lewis’s death cannot and should not be put down to suicide. Late into the night, Priscilla heard what sounded like a pistol being fired. A theory presented by Lewis historians Thomas C. Danisi and John Danisi and published in 2012 [PDF] attempted to reconcile Lewis’s reported depression with the unusual nature of his death. Some—like Gale and Starr—say it was an assassination arranged by General James Wilkinson, then commander of the U.S. Army, among others. Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis—his protégé, one-time secretary, and an Army captain—to lead the expedition. It’s not clear how he tried to do it, but the prevailing belief was that Lewis was in a state of deep despondency that appeared to some as a mental illness. He buried the explorer near the inn and wrote to Jefferson that the death was a suicide. Scholars have suggested that despite the plaudits he was receiving, Lewis might have been somewhat disappointed with the expedition. Though he did not know it at the time, Meriwether Lewis was at the pinnacle of his career. Lewis and his co-commander William Clark had explored a vast new continent, mapping rivers, discovering new plant and animal species, and establishing relations with Native American Indian tribes. When the servants arrived from the stables early the next morning, the guest begged them to kill him. She heard the man cry out, “O Lord!” As she peered out of spaces between the wooden walls, he appeared, bleeding and rambling. He was capable of making good friends—William Clark and President Thomas Jefferson are prime examples—but managed to rub many others the wrong way. Fracture patterns in the skull could indicate the direction of the shot. Why ask—or make a proclamation—about “healing” his wound? Others seemed somewhat plausible. It was here at Grinder’s Stand, near Hohenwald, Tennessee, where this particular traveler had stopped to get some rest. October 11th, 1809, Meriwether Lewis died from gunshot wounds to the chest and head at Grinder's Stand, an inn on the Natchez Trace approximately seventy miles southwest of Nashville. The hope is to settle the controversy once and for all. Priscilla Grinder wasn’t sure what to make of her new guest's odd behavior. Or he could have been victimized by a bandit or bandits that simply disappeared back into the Natchez Trace. He begged for water and for Priscilla to “heal” his wounds. He then retired to his room, where his footsteps echoed across the hardwood. His aid, a man named James Neily is mentioned to have arrived 12 hours later at the scene to find him already dead. "Wilkinson had a history of assassinating, or attempting to assassinate, people who were his rivals and possessed incriminating information that could jeopardize his career. That comment, which lacked documentation or further explanation, ignited a number of theories about how Lewis had really died. (Pernier would go on to become an unlikely but persistent suspect, having no obvious motive beyond simple theft. Sick and tired, he could have taken his own life. Lewis was angry and depressed. With the Louisiana Purchase, when the United States bought 828,000 miles of French territory in 1803, the country nearly doubled in size. By rights, Lewis should have settled into a comfortable post-expedition life. Supposedly Lewis was about to expose fraudulent land deals in the Louisiana Territory. De expeditie van Lewis en Clark was de in 1803 door president Thomas Jefferson uitgezonden expeditie onder leiding van Meriwether Lewis en William Clark door het nieuw verworven Louisiana Territory.Het was de eerste overlandse tocht door het westen van de Verenigde Staten van Amerika die leidde naar de kust van de Grote Oceaan aan de monding van de Columbia in de huidige staat Washington. Lewis also made several moves that support the idea of a morose state of mind, arranging for his possessions to be disbursed in the event of his death and preparing a will. That doctor stated that the wounds were consistent with that of murder. Lewis had died on a path riddled with crime, and though nothing appeared to be missing, it was not inconceivable that an assailant could have fatally wounded him. 224-225. Fast and free shipping free returns cash on delivery available on eligible purchase. Upon his return, his mind had the freedom to return to it. It’s a secret that Lewis took to his grave—where it’s likely to remain for a long time to come. So was the death of Meriwether Lewis murder or suicide? Lewis became governor of Louisiana Territory, seemingly the start of a brilliant career. The Strange Death of Governor Meriwether Lewis (Swallow Press, 1993), Kira Gale and James E. Starrs, The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation (River Junction Press, 2009), Dr Reimart Thorolf Ravenbolt, MD “Self Destruction on the Natchez Trace”, Columbia—The Magazine of Northwest History (Summer, 1999). Priscilla Grinder herself added to the ambiguity around Lewis's death with her shifting recollections. Between 1804 and 1806, Lewis, his co-captain William Clark, and their team traversed 8000 miles, enduring bad weather, treacherous terrain, hunger, disease, and, at times, hostile Native Americans. 138. Had Lewis wanted to die, why beg the innkeeper’s wife for water and attention? "It seems to be more probable that he died by the hands of an assassin," the exhumation committee concluded. Some modern physicians take this view.

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