How did Meriwether Lewis Die? Meriwether Lewis was an army officer who was told by Thomas Jefferson to lead the journey of traveling through the new Louisiana territory with William Clark. When he came back from the journey he was rewarded with the role as governor of the Louisiana territory. Close to the day of his death he traveled to Washington D.C. because he was hoping to resolve issues about the denied payment drafts which he made against the war department while he was serving as the governor which was leaving him in debt. Meriwether Lewis cause of death was murder, the evidence and support for my claim will be showed. In the report from the medical examiner it shows the locations of where he was shot. It states that he was shot in the back of the head and then in the upper stomach. If he were to have shot himself like it claims then he wouldn’t have been able to so it twice especially due to the location of the first bullet in the back of the head he wouldn’t have been able to reach from that angle and even if he were to have shot himself in the head he wouldn’t have been able to make the second shot cause would’ve already been dead. The bullet to the head did not exit his head which meant it entered his brain. It even says in the medical report that it was …show more content…
This does not seem reliable because he would not have been able to still be alive let alone ask for water after receiving a bullet to his and stomach. The after a few years her testimony was slightly changed and then again in 1839 which causes us to question the reliability of this even more. Lewis also created codes for each person on the staff to use when talking to someone which may have been because there was someone he didn’t trust or someone he thought was out to get
Neighbors, attracted by the gunfire and cries, came and carried the wounded officer into a nearby house and called an ambulance. Tom Borden was rushed to the Long Beach Sanitarium where he died just as the ambulance reached the entrance. An autopsy later revealed that two bullets had entered Tom Borden’s body. The first hit Borden in the stomach just above the navel. This wound caused the police officer to bend in pain.
Lewis and Clark Expedition In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson handed over a small price of $15,000,000 for the Louisiana Territory, originally owned by France. After the treaty for the purchase was made, Jefferson issued an exploration of this new land. Jefferson ordered that his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, an intelligent and skilled man, be the leader of the expedition. As his personal assistant, Lewis selected the help of William Clark.
Born August 18, 1774; Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, politician, public administrator, and the leader of the Louisiana expedition group known as the Corps of Discovery. During the first few years of his life, Meriwether grew up on his family’s estate in Ivy Creek, Virginia. After the death of Meriwether’s father in 1779, Meriwether’s mother Lucy Meriwether remarried to John Marks who later moved the family to Broad River Valley, Georgia in 1780. At his new home, Meriwether was influenced by his love for natural history and spent most of his time improving his skills as an outdoorsman, and it is said that he would go out hunting with his dogs at the age of eight. Meriwether’s mother who was a regionally-known herbalist
Death of Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis was born in Monticello, Virginia. He was famous for being the first presidential aids, also Lewis is known for being “handpicked” by Thomas Jefferson to go on the Lewis and Clark trail effectively and safely doubling the size of the United States. When he came back from his expedition Jefferson gave him the title of Governor of Louisiana. When Lewis died he was on his way to D.C with multiple personal journals about his journey. At that time Lewis was flat out broke having no money after coming out of his expedition.
Lewis and Clark Expedition In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson managed to initiate the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which was also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, after the Purchase of Louisiana, which was considered one of his highlights during his political career, marking the first government-sponsored exploration. President Thomas appointed Meriwether Lewis, the private secretary of the president, to be the Commander of the Expedition. Lewis also asked his close friend William Clark, who Lewis had served with in the army, to help him with the expedition and he actually named Clark the co-commander of the expedition. Generally speaking, the expedition had a significant impact on American history.
Lewis served as Jefferson’s private secretary for about a year and a half when Jefferson asked Lewis to lead the expedition through the Louisiana Territory, Lewis gladly accepted and asked William Clark to serve as co-captain whom also accepted (Harper). Together Lewis and Clark gathered over thirty men and created The Corps of Discovery (Harper). Lewis and Clark along with The Corps of Discovery successfully Navigated and Documented the Louisiana Territory (Harper). After the expedition Jefferson made Lewis the governor of the Louisiana Territory (Harper). During his time as governor Lewis did many things, he oversaw the creation of the Territory of Arkansas, and he ordered for the creation of a road connecting St. Louis and New Madrid, Missouri (Harper).
He found that one of the shots was to the back of the head which took off part of his skull, and exposed his brain. The second shot was to the stomach and it destroyed the vital organs, both bullets do not have exit wounds. The Medical Examiner himself stated that it is unlikely that the victim could have taken both shots and suicide is also unlikely. The Medical Examiner stated that the manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was blood loss from the organs. The pistol that was used was very heavy and hard to use, so the possibility of Lewis being able to shoot himself is extremely low.
When he was found murdered, people ruled it as a suicide. But nowadays, new evidence have been coming forward to change minds. There was one witness that claimed Lewis shot himself but didn’t directly see it happen. The witness was Priscilla Grinder. Priscilla Grinder told her account of what happened 3 different times.
This question of the cause of his death has been asked for aver 200 years, but it is clear that this is murder by conspiracy. There had been many doctors that saw Lewis after his death to try and figure what happened to him and it has been said in a historical video that the last 4 people to have seen Meriwether said that it was a murder. Based on the physical evidence exhibits, Exhibit two shows Lewis dead in his bed. It was written on the physical evidence that Lewis did not like to be in his bed and preferred to be on his buffalo and bear Robeson the floor, so wouldn’t it, make sense for him to kill himself in a place that he liked .In February of 1845, Priscilla Grinders story was written and what’s bad about it is that she was interviewed multiple times and her story was changed every time in a different way.
Merriweather Lewis was an esteemed explorer who was known as the person who explored one half of America but, died because of suicide. In his case there were many things to be suspicious of to the point where you can speculate that it wasn’t even suicide, but because of murder by conspiracy. During the research about Merriweather Lewis’s death there was many things that lead to a murder like suspicious wounds and the many enemies that Merriweather had. Before the time of his death Lewis was on his way to Washington to clear his debts with James Neely.
Meriwther Lewis suffered from depression, dementia, and had a history of alcoholism. Meriwether Lewis committed suicide. People have had multiple claims as to the reasoning of why Meriwether Lewis committed suicide. One being, “He was subject to periodic spells of depression and overwhelmed by personal problems after the expedition” (Suicide Theories). And another being, “He had a debilitating physical disease that caused both his mind and body to deteriorate” (Sucide Theories).
Thomas Jefferson’s Instructions to Meriwether Lewis discussed the appointment of Lewis as commander of the expedition, gave specific details of the purpose of the exploration, and provided directions for Lewis to follow when carrying out the trip. Thomas Jefferson carefully selected his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to be the commander of the Expedition and trusted that he would be able to perform the tasks assigned to him. Jefferson requested that an abundant amount of precise notes be taken and that they be protected at all costs. He was interested in learning about the people occupying the land, their culture, the ecosystems, and the land. In addition to note taking, treating the Native Americans with respect and peace was important
Up until now, historians haven’t been able to deduce Meriwether Lewis’ death. Lewis’ closest friends – Thomas Jefferson and William Clark – dismissed his death as a suicide, but some historical accounts claim that Lewis’ death could possibly be more than just a suicide. Meriwether Lewis (1774 – 1809) was an American Explorer, soldier, and politician who was famed for leading the Lewis and Clark Expedition (also sometimes referred to as the Corps of Discovery Expedition) along with his companion, William Clark. Lewis grew up in Albermarle County, Virginia (present day Ivy, Virginia) on August 1874, and was the second child and first son of William and Lucy Meriwether Lewis. Meriwether Lewis was also a trusted friend of President Thomas Jefferson
In the early beginning of building America mountain men discovered many different regions of the United States but one mountain man in particular made discoveries and saw the country in ways that no other mountain man had before. John Colter the mountain man contributed to building America by traveling across the United States with Lewis and Clark, learning the wilderness, and discover Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and leading the Missouri Fur Company to help develop the culture of America. In his earlier years of exploration, John Colter accompanied Lewis and Clark on two journeys across the continent (Wise, Legands of America). On his expeditions with Lewis and Clark, Colter gained very valuable knowledge of the land that he had covered, and
The angle at which the bullet entered his cranium was parallel to the ground, entering from the front of his head. The angle that the gun must have been held at would have been awkward. Lewis physically could not have moved his arm into the position it must have been in order to achieve that angle (H5).