A 200 Year Old Tennessee Murder Mystery

A 200 Year Old  Tennessee Murder Mystery

Meriweather Lewis  was a Lieutenant in the U. S. Army in 1795 and was appointed as a presidential aide by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801 where he resided in the presidential mansion conversing frequently with prominent figures in politics, arts and societal personages.

When Jefferson planned an expedition across the continent, he chose Lewis to lead the expedition, known as the Corps of Discovery. Lewis chose his co-commander, a friend and former commanding officer, William Clark to set out on this adventure to make cartographic maps of the area and to observe scientific phenomena.

The two men were quite different in personalities, Lewis was studious and introverted while Clark was gregarious and extroverted. Lewis had a better education and was able to deal with abstract ideas while Clark was quite pragmatic and practical. Between 1804-06, the Corps of Discovery explored thousands of miles of the Missouri and Columbia River watersheds, searching for an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean. Clark and Lewis shared leadership responsibilities of the expedition even though Lewis was technically the leader. 

In 1806, Lewis was shot in the left thigh by Pierre Cruzatte, a near- blind man, under his command while both were hunting for elk. His wound hampered him for the rest of the journey home. At first, Pierre blamed Indians for the injury but when no sign of Indians were seen, he admitted the accident.  Clark treated and bandaged Lewis’ wound and they returned safely home.

Following his return from the expedition, Lewis received a reward of 1,600 acres of land. In 1807, Jefferson appointed him governor of the Louisiana Territory and he settled in St. Louis. He was a good administrator but quarreling local political leaders in the area made Lewis appear to be a poor administrator who failed to keep in touch with his superiors in Washington. 

On September 3, 1809, Lewis set out to Washington D. C. to answer complaints about his actions as governor. He stopped to rest at an inn called Grinder’s Stand that is about 70 miles from Nashville Tennessee on the Natchez Trace on October 10, 1809. After dinner, he went to his bedroom. In the predawn hours of October 11, the innkeeper heard gunshots and servants found Lewis badly injured from multiple gunshot wound and he died shortly after sunrise.

Modern historians generally accept his death as a suicide but there is debate over this matter. Mrs. Grinder, the tavern-keeper’s wife, claimed Lewis acted strangely the night before his death. She heard him talking to himself and pacing the room. She heard several gunshots, and what she believed was someone asking for help. She claimed she saw Lewis through a slit in the door crawling back to his room. She never explained why she didn’t investigate further. The servants found him in his blood alive for several hours.

Lewis is buried in Hohenwald, TN not far from where he died. The State of Tennessee erected a monument over his grave in 1843 and wrote in its official report that it was likely Lewis died at the hands of an assassin at the age of 35 years old.  This October 7, 2009, will mark the 200^th anniversary of his death. A bronze bust of Lewis will be dedicated to be maintained by the Natchez Trace Parkway for a planned visitor center at the grave site area. The event will be the first national memorial service to Lewis who was not given the honor of a funeral or a memorial service at the time of his death since many assumed he committed suicide.

Descendents of Lewis launched a website SolvetheMystery.org which is aimed at garnering public support for exhumation and scientific study of the explorer’s remains to determine once and for all the cause of his death and give Gov. Lewis the proper Christian burial he was denied. 

“Although unrealized during his lifetime,” according to the National Park Service, “Meriwether Lewis’ accomplishments were numerous, and they made an enormous impact on our country’s perceptions and knowledge of the West.”