A Celebrated Hero’s Tragedy in the Wilderness “I fear O! I fear”

Hundreds of hours of research and scholarly writing has been devoted to the last days of Meriwether Lewis. Ambrose, Bakeless, Danisi, Fisher, Phelps, Guice, Jenkinson, Jones, Holmberg ⁽¹⁾ and many other fine writers have analyzed and described the time between Lewis’ arrival at Ft. Pickering and Grinders Stand. Each writer is worthy of reading to see their point of view. Autumn fogs are common in the Ohio and Mississippi River Valley, like the fog of mystery that hangs over Meriwether Lewis’ death. By His Own Hand: The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis, edited by John D. W. Guice with contributions by James J. Holmberg, John D. W. Guice, and Jay H. Buckley with an Introduction by Clay S. Jenkinson and a very thoughtful Forward by Elliott West, details the facts of Lewis’ death in 178 pages. The book provides the several descriptions of Lewis’ mysterious death for a nation that love mystery and intrigue. A second book equally worthy of reading, The Character of Meriwether Lewis Explorer in the Wilderness, by Clay S. Jenkinson, analyzes the conclusions of the men that knew Meriwether Lewis and later writers focused on the mysterious death of Meriwether Lewis.⁽²⁾ In James Neelly’s letter to Thomas Jefferson dated 18 October 1809, Neelly described the situation he found, “……I came up some time after, & had him (Lewis) as decently Buried as I could in that place- if there is any thing wished by his friends to be done to his grave I will attend to their Instructions”.⁽³⁾

During Meriwether Lewis’ visit to Philadelphia in 1807, to arrange for publication of the expedition journals, he made friends with ornithologist Alexander Wilson who agreed to illustrate the expedition birds. In May 1811, Wilson traveled the Natchez Trace and stopped at the Grinders where he interviewed and recorded Mrs. Ginder’s statement of Lewis’ death. In the closing sentence of Wilson’s letter to a friend, Alexander Lawson, Wilson explained, “I gave Grinder money to put a post fence around it, (the grave) to shelter it from the hogs, and the wolves; and he gave me his written promise he would do it.”⁽⁴⁾ 

From that early effort to protect Lewis’ grave, successive Tennessee and Federal Agencies have protected the Meriwether Lewis Grave Site. The 1998 National Park Service Cultural Landscape Inventory for the Lewis Grave is an excellent demonstration of historic preservation.⁽⁵⁾ The pictures in the report present a clear description of the site and stately beauty of a park like setting over the past 100 years or more. The beautiful and respectful park is a memorial to a successful public servant. Lewis’ death is a heartbreaking end to a brilliant and accomplished young life and he should be honored for his accomplishments, including his leadership during the first recorded exploration of the American West, instead of the societal cloud that hangs over Meriwether Lewis’ mysterious death.

The successful explorer, Territorial Governor, son, and friend did not receive the Honors of a Military Funeral until 2009. The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation organized a memorial service through the thoughtful leadership of Dr. Bryant Boswell and Mr. Tony Turnbow, Esquire. A formal military burial rite allowed the Lewis family and friends the opportunity to pay their respect to an American hero. While the memorial ceremony was nearly 200 years late, it should be the beginning of a grateful Nation respecting Lewis’ leadership and his accomplishments that made the United States a truly continental Nation.

With all the research concerning the death of Meriwether Lewis, his health, possessions, the validity of his will and dozens of other details, nothing is written about what happened to “Captain Tom” Reubin Lewis’ servant and slave. Did he return to St. Louis or did he see the opportunity to secure his freedom and disappear into history?