What really happened on the night of October 10th and the early morning of October 11th, 1809 at Grinder’s Stand along the Natchez Trace? Did Meriwether Lewis die by his own hand or that of an assassin? If by an assassin, for what reason was he killed? Was he, as some have asserted, suffering from alcohol and drug abuse, syphilis, or malaria? Was he the victim of a conspiracy led by General James Wilkinson or some other nefarious contemporary character? What is the truth about these matters and why does it matter now as we approach the 200th anniversary of his death? Finding the truth matters because Meriwether Lewis was one of our fledgling Nation’s greatest early explorers and heroes. He was an army officer; the private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson; leader along with William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; and after the expedition, the presidentially appointed governor of the expansive Louisiana Territory. As John D. W. Guice indicated in the preface to By his Own hand? The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis, finding the truth matters to scholars and historians who are concerned about the integrity of their profession and it matters to Americans who expect accuracy in our nation’s history.

Finding the truth also matters to our family who are the collateral descendants of Meriwether Lewis. Although President Jefferson did not question reports of suicide as the cause of Uncle Meriwether’s death, our progenitor, Lucy Marks, mother of Meriwether Lewis, purportedly did not believe that Uncle Meriwether died by suicide. This view has been held by many in our family down through the generations.

So, as in the words of Voltaire, we believe that, “We owe respect to the living; to the dead we owe only truth.” We may never know the answers to all of the questions surrounding the life and death of Meriwether Lewis that have been the subject of seemingly ceaseless debates for almost 200 years. However, exhumation and scientific investigation of his remains using forensic and other scientific procedures now available should provide the truth and answers to many of the questions about his life and the manner of his death. In addition, from our family’s viewpoint, such an exhumation would enable us to provide Uncle Meriwether with a Christian burial which the circumstances of his sudden and unexpected death on the Natchez Trace deprived him. A coroner’s jury which is presented and discussed in this book was convened during 1996 into the matter of the death of Meriwether Lewis in Lewis County, Tennessee, the present day jurisdiction in which Meriwether Lewis died. The jury issued a unanimous verdict on June 3, 1996 stating that exhumation and scientific examination of the remains of Meriwether Lewis from his burial site at Meriwether Lewis Park, Natchez Trace Parkway, which is managed by the National Park Service is necessary for closure in this matter. The Coroner of Lewis County accepted this verdict, ruling it so to be.