The Death of Meriwether Lewis
The Death of Meriwether Lewis

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Dept of Interior turns down family's request for exhumation

Read the letter from Thomas Strickland, Asst. Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, to Colonel Thomas McSwain (April 2, 2010) here.

Read Colonel McSwain's reply on behalf of Lewis family members (April 19, 2010) here.

Read the original Dept of Interior letter granting approval for the permit process (June 17, 2009) here.

Read  "Why Dig Up Lewis? Truth Is Important." by Bob Nelson, Omaha World-Herald. (April 23, 2010) here.

Read "This Is More Than History. It's a History Mystery"  Omaha World-Herald article on Kira Gale by David Hendee (January 23, 2010) here.

Read "Stephen Ambrose's loss of credibility and the death of Meriwether Lewis" a blog by Kira Gale (April 29, 2010) here.

Listen to "The Man Who Double-crossed the Founders" a National Public Radio interview with Andro Linklater, author of Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson (April 29, 2010) here.

Kira Gale discusses book on C-Span BookTV Link to  C-Span video library recording of Kira Gale's book talk at Southern Book Festival, October 10, 2009. Click here.    

You may also watch the BookTV book talk on YouTube. Click here.

Old News (2009)

The National Park Service announced at the ceremonies held on October 7th, 2009 at the gravesite of Meriwether Lewis that a three million dollar visitors center will be built at the National Monument & Gravesite.Over 1200 people attended the event, which was blessed by good weather in a week of rainy days.

All Things Considered National Public Radio Podcast: "Was Explorer Meriwether Lewis Murdered?"

Howell Bowen, Kira Gale and Jim Starrs were interviewed by Sandy Hausman of Virginia Public Radio for an interview aired on All Things Considered on July 8th.

The American Historical Association and The Scientific American websites have linked to the podcast. Click here to listen.

Two more podcasts

Book Expo of America podcast by James E. Starrs and Kira Gale. (5 minutes)

Book leads charge to solve mystery of explorer's death

Interview by Coy Barefoot on WINA Radio (19 minutes)

Charlottesville Right Now: Kira Gale

Nashville Tennesseean announces government will hold hearings

In a story dated June 18th, it was reported that Bill Reynolds, a spokesman for the Atlanta regional office of the National Park Service, said "that the government has decided to move forward with a barrage of hearings, meetings and paperwork that accompany it." Read the article here. The story was reprinted in USA Today on June 21st.

Descendants of Meriwether Lewis's family launch SolvetheMystery.org

The Lewis family has launched a website for the purpose of learning the truth about the death of their famous relative, www.solvethemystery.org   Over 200 members of the family have signed a petition requesting exhumation and a Christian reburial with military honors at the National Monument gravesite in western Tennessee. Professor Starrs has obtained DNA samples from family members, and will lead the exhumation team if the National Park Service, which controls the gravesite, grants the family's request. Starrs is an emeritus professor of forensic science and law at George Washington University and has conducted many exhumations of historical interest.

Amazon Reviewer headlines

"A must read on one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries"

"Marvelous Mix of History and Mystery"

"A sleuth's delight on one of our nation's very early unsolved mysteries"

"Interesting Survey of an Inquiry Into the Death of Lewis (of Lewis & Clark)"

"If you Love Lewis and Clark You Will Love this book!"

"A New/Old Crime Scene Investigation"

"The History of Greed and Forgery"

"Very Well Written"

"A Strange Book and a Strange Story"

"Boring"

"A Slog"

"An Attempt to Challenge History"

"The 'Scoundrel General' did it?"

The Coroner's Inquest Expert Witnesses--Part One

The Coroner's Inquest held in Lewis County, Tennessee in 1996 was organized by Professor Starrs. The jury verdict called for an exhumation of Lewis's remains to determine the cause of death. The request was denied by the National Park Service at that time, but a 2009 application to exhume the remains is currently being processed.The forensic investigators and historians and their topics featured are:

James E. Starrs  Exhumation of gravesite

Arlen Large  Suicide theory

John Guice Murder theory

Ruth Frick  Lewis's finances

George Stephens Geology of the gravesite

Thomas Streed  Suicide psychology

Jerry Francisco Gunshot wound analysis

Lucien Haag  Firearms demonstration

Gerald Richards  Document examinations

Martin Fackler Wound ballistics anyalsis

Duayne Dillon Handwriting analysis

Reimert Ravenhold Syphilis theory

William Bass Forensic anthropology

The Documents--Part Two

There are twenty documents relating to the death of Meriwether Lewis in Part Two of the book. This is essentially the entire historic record. One Amazon reviewer called it "the working tools of a historian." I provide commentary, as it really is pretty complicated. Readers will be able to judge the truth of the matter for themselves.

The Case for Murder--Part Three

I believe that Lewis was carrying documents to Washington that would have ruined General James Wilkinson's career, and perhaps he even had hard evidence of Wilkinson's treasonous activities. I also believe that he had evidence of a new filibuster plot to invade Mexico and seize the wealth of its silver mines. The documents section contains the report that Lewis's papers arrived in Virginia "so badly assorted that no idea could be given of them" after they had been carefully sorted and labeled in Tennessee after his death. The papers were carried to Washington by one of Wilkinson's men. Read for yourself, and see what you think!

From Kira's Blog on Lewis and Clark Travel

Stephen Ambrose’s loss of credibility and the death of Meriwether Lewis

Stephen Ambrose’s loss of credibility and the death of Meriwether Lewis by Kira Gale,  April 28, 2010   http://www.deathofmeriwetherlewis.com (1)

The revelation that Stephen Ambrose fabricated interviews with President Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Channeling Ike” by Richard Rayner, The New Yorker, April 26, 2010) raises new concerns regarding the credibility of America’s leading popular historian.  Ambrose claimed to have spent “hundreds and hundreds of hours” interviewing Eisenhower, while instead, presidential records show that he met with the former president for a total of less than five hours.  Ambrose, whose first book on Eisenhower was published in 1970, a year after the president’s death, cited numerous dates for fictitious interviews, and claimed to have spent two days a week interviewing him.

Read On...>>

Meriwether Lewis betrayed by Cahokia postmaster John Hay

Cahokia Courthouse, built c. 1740, Cahokia, Illinois.

Meriwether Lewis's letters from St. Louis took two to three times longer to reach Washington than letters written by other government and military officials in St. Louis! Thomas Danisi announced this startling fact at the annual meeting of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation held in Olive Branch, Mississippi on October 3-7, 2009. The meeting commemorated the death of Meriwether Lewis 200 years ago on October 11, 1809 on the Natchez Trace.

Read On...>>

Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks Exhibit at Jefferson Library

I visited Charlottesville in late May, 2009 to give a book talk on our new book, The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation, which I co-authored with James E. Starrs. While there, I had the pleasure of meeting Lewis family members, Howell Lewis Bowen and his wife Janice. They took me to visit the Jefferson Library near Monticello to see an exhibit on the life of Meriwether Lewis’s mother, Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks, Virginia Planter and Doctoress (1752-1837). Howell is a five times great grandson of Lucy Marks. Lewis family members have launched a website, www.solvethemystery.org asking for an exhumation of Lewis’s remains to determine the cause of death and provide for a Christian reburial. Our book also has a website, www.deathofmeriwetherlewis.com  In this book I discuss “The Case for Murder” and present my theories as to who did it and why. But this blog is about Lucy Marks, who had another theory.

Read On...>>


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