Monument to Meriwether Lewis
Family united in query
On the day Lewis died, a traveling companion buried his body near the stable of the Grinder's Stand inn, far from the family cemetery in Virginia. His grave was covered with chestnut fence rails and remained unmarked until 1848.
Today, it is the centerpiece of a tiny cemetery in a clearing at the Meriwether Lewis National Monument, along the Natchez Trace Parkway near Hohenwald.
Nearly 200 distant nieces, nephews and cousins have signed a petition seeking permission to exhume the remains in hopes of learning what really killed him and, if nothing else, giving him a proper Christian burial.
Earlier this year, researchers backed by the family filed a petition with the Park Service to exhume Lewis' body. Bill Reynolds, a spokesman for the agency's regional office in Atlanta, said the government has decided to move forward with a barrage of hearings, meetings and paperwork that accompany it.
"Whenever we need to disturb the earth in any of our parks, it is a meticulous process," Reynolds said.
The park service refused a similar request filed in 1997, saying it went against a policy that prohibits the disturbance of graves in national parks unless they are threatened by development or natural forces.
A federal court ruled that without the permit, the exhumation could not go forward. Family members hope the request will be viewed differently today.
"The family feels like the truth should be known," Bowen said. The explorer had no children, and thus no direct descendants.
Bowen wants questions about Lewis' last days put to rest — some historical accounts paint him as a syphilitic, a drug addict and an alcoholic. Others have said he was a hypochondriac and that he had tried to kill himself at least once on the trip to Washington.
Personally, Bowen believes Lewis was murdered, but he insists the family's effort isn't aimed at proving that point.
"No matter how he died, we will accept it. If it was suicide, that's fine," said Bowen, a retired businessman from Charlottesville, Va. "If it is not the case, fourth-graders (who study the explorer) should know."
