Meriwether Lewis' Mysterious Death
Two hundred years later, debate continues over whether the famous explorer committed suicide or was murdered
- By Abigail Tucker
- Smithsonian.com, October 09, 2009, Subscribe
(Page 2 of 2)
Interestingly, John Guice, one of the most prominent critics of the suicide theory, uses a very different astronaut comparison. Lewis was indeed “like a man coming back from the moon,” Guice notes. But rather than feeling alienated, he would have been busy enjoying a level of Buzz Aldrin-like celebrity. “He had so much to live for,” says Guice, professor emeritus of history at The University of Southern Mississippi and the editor of By His Own Hand? The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis. “This was the apex of a hero’s career. He was the governor of a huge territory. There were songs and poems written about him. This wasn’t just anybody who kicked the bucket.” Besides, how could an expert marksman botch his own suicide and be forced to shoot himself twice?
Guice believes that bandits roaming the notoriously dangerous Natchez Trace killed Lewis. Other murder theories range from the scandalous (the innkeeper discovered Lewis in flagrante with Mrs. Grinder) to the conspiratorial (a corrupt Army general named James Wilkinson hatched an assassination plot.)
Though Lewis’s mother is said to have believed he was murdered, that idea didn’t have much traction until the 1840s, when a commission of Tennesseans set out to honor Lewis by erecting a marker over his grave. While examining the remains, committee members wrote that “it was more probable that he died at the hands of an assassin.” Unfortunately, they failed to say why.
But the science of autopsies has come a long way since then, says James Starrs, a George Washington University Law School professor and forensics expert who is pressing for an exhumation. For one thing, with mitochondrial DNA samples he’s already taken from several of Lewis’ female descendants, scientists can confirm that the body really is Lewis’s (corpses were not uncommon on the Natchez Trace). If the skeleton is his, and intact, they can analyze gunpowder residue to see if he was shot at close range and examine fracture patterns in the skull. They could also potentially learn about his nutritional health, what drugs he was using and if he was suffering from syphilis. Historians would hold such details dear, Starrs says: “Nobody even knows how tall Meriwether Lewis was. We could do the DNA to find out the color of his hair.”
Some scholars aren’t so sure that an exhumation will clarify matters.
“Maybe there is an answer beneath the monument to help us understand,” says James Holmberg, curator of Special Collections at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Ky., who has published work on Lewis’s life and death. “But I don’t know if it would change anybody’s mind one way or the other.”
The details of the case are so sketchy that “it’s like trying to grab a shadow,” Holmberg says. “You try to reach out but you can never get a hold of it.” Even minor features of the story fluctuate. In some versions, Seaman, Lewis’s loyal Newfoundland who guarded his master against bears on the long journey West, remained by his grave, refusing to eat or drink. In other accounts, the dog was never there at all.
However Lewis died, his death had a considerable effect on the young country. A year and a half after the shooting, ornithologist Alexander Wilson, a friend of Lewis’s, interviewed Mrs. Grinder, becoming one of the first among many people who have investigated the case. He gave the Grinders money to maintain Lewis’s grave and visited the site himself. There, reflecting on the adventure-loving young man who had mapped “the gloomy and savage wilderness which I was just entering alone,” Wilson broke down and wept.
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Comments (26)
Im learning ABOUT THE LOUISIANA purchase its so cool and amazing how we learn things at school
Posted by alivia on February 8,2013 | 04:34 PM
Hey, Shelly---a few comments below---you say one one you relatives was murdered by the Harpes Gang. If it makes you fell any better, my great-great-great grandpa, William Monroe Buckles, tracked down the Harpes and killed one of them. You're welcome.
Posted by Tom on January 26,2013 | 08:43 PM
I always wanted to know more. Either way this is pretty good.
Posted by Mern on September 26,2012 | 09:00 PM
I think it was an assassination plot
Posted by christian on May 14,2012 | 06:58 PM
I am related to Mrs.Grinder. My grandmother was a Grinder. Me and my family live close to Hohenwald. We believe that one of the Grinders shot him, but have no proof.
Posted by Dayson Garner on April 15,2012 | 12:15 AM
what was the flint lock pistol that was said to have shot mr lewis was it French made I think it was called the horse killer use to put down wounded horses during battles ~~~james wiseman
Posted by james c. wiseman on March 12,2012 | 05:32 PM
i gotta say suicide because he finished the expedition and he may not of got another thing like the expedition so he went into dpression and took his own life.
Posted by Jeffrey on January 17,2012 | 12:33 PM
If you could weigh either option- murder or suicide- on a scale it would probably still be dead center.
It was a dangerous time. If you traveled by boat you risked river pirates, by road - every person you met could be a thief or murderer. Look up the Harpes brothers (or cousins, depending on the source.) I've recently been researching them, they murdered a relative of mine in 1800. The accounts of their crimes is chilling, to say the least. One article claimed they were among the earliest known serial killers in the US. Reading this article brought them to mind. It is not too hard to imagine the Grinders were capable of murder.
Suicide- as depression and bi polarism runs in my family, this, too, is possible.
For the sake of history I hope this is looked into.
Posted by Shelly on December 25,2011 | 01:48 PM
I used to assume that Lewis committed suicide because that was the final verdict expressed by Stephen Ambrose and Ken Burns. However after visiting the site and reading up on the case there is no doubt in my mind that Lewis was murdered. The Grinder account is completely unreliable. The Grinders' were known crooks who had stolen and murdered from other passerby on the Natchez Trace. The political climate was tense and fractured in the U.S. at the time - The British were plotting against us (Lewis made this point before his death, but it was written off as paranoia - however it turned out to be an accurate insight - the War of 1812 was around the corner)...various political factions were vying for power and their were treason movements to gain control over the western territories. James Wilkinson was known to be a corrupt man who would sell himself to the highest bidder. Lewis was honest and perhaps not adept at a 'desk job' he wasn't going to be intimidated by corrupt politics. Add in the danger on the Natchez Trace - it's safe to say he was murdered. You can have manic depression and be an alcoholic and that doesn't mean you commit suicide. I have depression and have been suicidal, but didn't take the plunge. He was anxious to clear his name and get to Washington. He wanted to finish editing his journal and publish them...I don't think he committed suicide. Regardless he is a truly great American!
Posted by Adele on October 10,2011 | 12:51 AM
I've been checking into my Lewis lineage.(mother's maiden name Lewis)Today, while searching,I am shocked and amazed at what I have read on this site.One of the main reasons why I have worked so hard to find where I came from is because I fight with depression and have had issues with alcohol and other addictions in my past.I have and aunt and an uncle(also an alcoholic)commit suicide during my lifetime, from what I understand our Lewis roots are where the mental illness stems from. All of my other traceable family lines seem to be normal peaceful law abiding and successful people. I, myself, have a cheetah type personality....I am excellent at everything I put my mind to, I always go straight to the top with jobs and such, but then I crash. I completely shut down. I am fighting with everything in me to overcome this weakness. My grandpa Lewis was very abusive both verbally and physically but at the same time was one of the best people you'd ever meet. He would work himself to death for others but his own family(wife and children) was never treated so well. When he died he had nothing and really had never made anything of himself. I remember having conversations with my uncle before his suicide and he would say.....imagine what I might have done with my life if I wasn't born into this family and raised by this man who always left me feeling that I didn't amount to anything.(by the way, he was salutatorian of his graduating class and earned a purple heart and bronze star in Vietnam) My Lewis line seems to full of tragedy and loss even though we all have the potential to be so successful.
Experiencing what I have, I would say....dig Mr. Lewis up if you must. I believe with all my heart he committed suicide. I'm willing to bet that no matter how hard he tried he was never good enough for himself.
To the person who started this site..... your time and efforts and talents and hard work are much appreciated! THANK YOU!
Posted by Kimberly on August 2,2011 | 08:35 PM
Suicide folks typically shoot themselves in the head, right? Angling a gun to get an abdomen shot could have been his way to say that the pain from the liver damage was just too much to handle - but that's doubtful that he would leave a "message" of pain in such a way. I believe he was murdered - I think it is a great idea to get his body and take a peek with the experts - Don't we all love to solve a mystery?
Posted by Joni Halvorson on May 14,2011 | 06:03 PM
My view is that Lewis suffered from the "gloom of the mountains" in the same manner that so many Welshmen do and it is quite plausible that he took his own life in the depth of depression. Was Jefferson (most probably of Welsh descent too - at least he said he was) also prone to depression?
Posted by Nigel Fletcher-Jones on May 14,2011 | 11:55 AM
MAY THE TRUTH ABOUT LEWIS BE REVEALED ! GOOD LUCK TO LEWIS' FAMILY IN AN INVESTIGATION. DON'T GIVE UP !
Posted by Renae on March 19,2011 | 09:44 PM
MR.LEWIS IS BEST KNOWN FOR THE EXPEDITION WITH CLARK. HE DID HIS BEST AND CAME BACK TO FACE THE REST OF HIS LIFE,WHATEVER IT HELD.WHETHER HE WAS MURDERED OR COMMITTED SUICIDE SURELY IS IMMATERIAL NOW.THE BIGGEST DIGNITY TO A PERSON IS TO LET THEIR FINAL RESTING PLACE BE THEIRS ALONE,REST IN PEACE,REMEMBER THEM FOR WHATEVER ACHIEVEMENTS THEY ACCOMPLISHED AND REMEMBER THEM FOR THE POSITIVE GOOD INFLUENCES AND MOST OF ALL WE MUST NOT FORGET FIRST AND FOREMOST THAT WHOEVER THEY WERE OR WHATEVER THEY DID THEY WERE AND STILL ARE A HUMAN BEING. I SAY THANK YOU FOR A GOOD JOB,MERIWEATHER LEWIS,REST IN PEACE
Posted by patricia downes on February 27,2011 | 09:28 AM
Too much emphasis has been placed on Mrs. Grinder's story of Lewis' death . She was not consistent and changed her story several times. Anyone who has studied Lewis' life for ten years, I am convinced he was murdered. I don't think he even made it to the cabin. I think he was murdered just as he arrived. He was robbed. Neely was nowhere near his death site , he was in court somewhere for not paying debts. Lewis was a sick man , no doubt, but I think it was due to malaria.
People were too afraid of the Grinder family to speak up so that stupid suicide story stuck. I have hiked the old Trace and it's scary even today. It was dangerous in Lewis' time.
Plus, Lewis possibly found out some information that someone high up did not want him to reveal. I also don't believe Lewis was a drunk like what they made out he was . As much as Frederick Bates HATED Lewis, he would have been sure to write letters about it. Lewis was set up , not doubt about it. He was no push over, he was a stand up kind of man. He was not a "team player" so they done him in. Plain and simple. Modern day historians just LOVE the suicide story cos it sounds romantic. That's just wrong !
If Lewis' family wants him exhumed , then it's their business ! Even though he's been dead for 200 years, they still might find out something. Other bodies have been exhumed after they had been dead for longer than Lewis and they were preserved enough to do an investigation. Lewis' family should get to have the say in this. I think it's time that the truth come out and they quit telling lies on him. He was a great American, let's give him a little credit people !
Posted by Michelle on January 29,2011 | 08:36 PM
I feel that one as experienced an outdoorsman, a soldier and an explorer such as Lewis would have been more proficient in a suicide attempt;he would have most certainly not attempted to shot himself in the abdoman,which he would know to cause a long,lingering painful death!His request for a drink of water is also very curious since it would have hasten his death in the event of a stomach wound.Since he was explorer, I speculate that he would have had a knife,in which case,had he wished death he could have finished the job with more haste than lingering in pain until the morning !
Posted by David Cappetta on January 24,2011 | 06:50 PM
A couple of points no one seems to be mentioning. The Natchez Trace was probably the most dangerous route in the Americas at that time. It was infested with robbers, renegades, thieves and highwaymen. Lewis was carrying a sum of money in gold coin, which was never found. Grinder, the innkeeper, was a surly, dangerous man of violent temper, who had been rumored to have participated in several robberies and/or murders in the past. We hardly need to dream up a conspiracy theory to find a reason for Lewis' murder, if murder it was.
Even discounting the letters of the military men involved, Lewis was known to be unwell, physically and quite possibly, mentally. A suicide is not at all out of the question, and does, in fact, seem to be the most likely cause of death, botched as it seems to have been. A murderer would have finished the job.
For those who cannot give up their dearly beloved conspiracies, I suggest a review of Occam's Razor.
For what it's worth, my cousins, Robert Melville Cooper and his older brother, were called upon to build the coffin (a split log, actually)in which Lewis was buried. The burial occurred in a graveyard with a number of unmarked graves. Some forty years later, the bodies (plural, you will note) were exhumed, and Col. R. M. Cooper was called upon to identify the burial. The log coffin had rotted away, and the bones were jumbled up. Col. Cooper was able to identify the hand-made spikes with which they had assembled the log coffin. The bones were then reburied, and the existing monument was built above them. And your guess is as good as mine as to which bones, if any remain, belonged to Lewis, and which to the unknown denizens of the Potter's Field. Good luck on that exhumation, folks.
Posted by Richard E. Davis on December 9,2010 | 01:34 AM
Hate to say it, but this mystery will nev er be fully solved even if the body is exhumed and examined. It has been almost 200 years since the incident occurred. Both sides have substancial evidence backing them up. Lewis was known to be manic depressive, however there is also evidence backing up his assassination. General Wilkinson had his governorship taken from him and given to Lewis. Wilkinson was later revealed to be a spy for the spanish/mexicans. The officer that detained Lewis in st.louis was appointed by Wilkinson. The major who arrived at grinder's bend and buried Lewis served directly under Wilkinson. Most importantly, there is strong evidence that Lewis was, in fact, a spy that traveled west under Jefferson's orders.
Posted by Derrick Orion Titley on November 18,2010 | 02:34 PM
it is very hard to tell what had happend in this death. it is very intusting
Posted by rian on November 16,2010 | 11:15 AM
Reading through all the wonderful commentary of the death, it is obvious modern science can conduct quite an investigation from the body which could trigger many avenues of truth in the cause of death.
Posted by David Marcus on July 7,2010 | 03:00 AM
Just a few little things to consider:
First, aiming a pistol at your own head is quite unlike aiming it at something else. (Ever tried to take your own picture using a camera phone? Aiming is hard.) How good of a shot Lewis may have been is completely irrelevant; his hands could have been shaking, he might have closed his eyes at the last moment, and it's simply harder to hold a gun steady when you're gripping it in a manner that it wasn't intended for and you're not used to.
Second, the "Heal my wounds!" quote was in an account given by Mrs. Grinder, who was notoriously inconsistent in her re-telling of the story. Even if it really happened, we can't assume that Lewis was thinking clearly about anything. Getting shot hurts, or so I've been told. After two shots and still not the death he had intended, it's possible that he simply wanted the pain to end, regardless of whether it was death or healing that brought it on.
Third, no one has addressed the exhumation issue. Is it worth it? Should we be allowing, condoning even, the destruction of a national monument to satisfy our curiosity? And what if nothing is found? All we will have done is let the public know that we can dig up famous people because they're famous and we want to. Is this really a precedent we want to set? I personally don't think it's worth it.
Posted by Sara on June 9,2010 | 05:22 PM
Well, first I think That Mr. Lewis was drunk in his room at the inn and James Wilkinson snuck in shot and injured Mr. Lewis while he had attemted earlier to commit suicide on one pf his expiditions because at the time he was very stressed out by long journey across land but once in the inn he still had to go to Washington. So when he was in the inn he was taking a rest because he was also going by land. If he would have commited suicide he would know where to shoot him self in the head to kill himself fast and wouldn't have crawled out the door hurt and in need of water.
So, mostly why I think he didn't commit suicide. There waas probaly a gunshot (the first one) because he was shot and injured from Wilkinson. Genaral Wilkinson was propably jealous of Meriwether so he got in the inn injured Mr. Lewis and got out as fast as his legs would go so he wasn't caught in the act because he knew the family would find out Meriwether Lewis was shot not to soon so he left quickly. When Lewis was shot that was Mrs. Grinder heard the first gunshot then Lewis couldn't stand his horibly painful leg so he tried to kill himself he thought it be better to quick than slow so he tried to shoot himself but since he was hurt he didnt shoot the right spot so he then thought he could make it again(because he was drunk) so he crawled out of the his room looking for help and since he was drunk he though that water could help him a little so he wanted some water because he was shot twice and was really strong he held out while Mrs. Grinder just sat there and did not know what to do so she just sat there in sorrow while he was laying there dying.
That is my side of the story but that is probalyWhat might've happened or something amongst those lines
Posted by Danny on March 16,2010 | 06:30 PM
I think that Lewis used suicide because of the stress.I think it was all too much for him to handle.
Posted by Hannah on January 25,2010 | 05:34 PM
As a Lewis and Clarke scholar, I believe that in order to truly know what happened we must first know whom exactly it was he was with in Tennessee at the time. I have found no consistent evidence either way on his exact traveling companions at the time. Regardless of these things I fell that he may have been murdered because he knew too much about Jeffersons true intentions towards the West. One case being that 2 journals from his voyage went missing AFTER he returned from the West. Murdered.
Posted by Ja'equob LeForge on November 7,2009 | 01:31 AM
As someone who has attempted suicide, I can state that it is impossible to judge by the outside appearance that one having "everything to live for" as being a reason why they would not have committed suicide, as the reasons for doing so are psychologically internal and cannot be judged or even known by another.
Posted by Name Withheld by Request on November 5,2009 | 11:46 AM
Nothing in the article touches on General James Wilkinson - whose army Lewis was taken from to make the expedition - whose job of governor Jefferson replaced with Lewis. Wilkinson was an unsavory character that Jefferson considered safer inside the government than out - who was a spy for Spain all the time he was commander of the army - who misused his governor's office for flamboyant personal gain. He must have hated Lewis & feared he was carrying evidence against him to Washington. And at the end Lewis was surrounded by Wilkinson cohorts & employees.Alone & surrounded. Lewis was an excellent shot - if he (inconceivably) could have missed his head & heart - Mrs Grinder (reportedly the only adult there then) said his cabin had shot & powder all over - so he would have reloaded & finished the job instead of crawling over to Mrs.Grinder's cabin & begging her to "Heal My Wounds" as she said in one of her three interviews.
Jefferson made known his desire to obtain Florida & Texas -& Wilkinson was probably useful to him in this. Which is probably why he didn't have Lewis's death explored. His own much-desired fame was precipitous at the time - his nephews had just brutally killed one of their slaves. How convenient to malign a defenseless corpse.
As some are still doing!
Posted by M.E, Bennett on October 17,2009 | 02:41 PM