The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-06-26
BY WALTER ED TAYLOR

The story Of the strange death Of
Meriwether Lewis, he who was CO.
leader Of the great Lewis and
Clark expedition of exploration to
SO intimately connected with Mon
tana's earlier history, is n Of the
dark spots and unsolved mysteries
of American history. It. is q, puzz-
ling, not always pleasant tale which
has all the elements necessary to
a modern popular mystery. novel.
wether Lewis there was ma Sher-
lock Holmes, no aPhilo Vance to
step in and unravel the tangled
threads of the mystery. Was It .
murder or q suicide? Did the great
man really die by his own hand,
or was he the victim OF a murder
house where he stopped to spend
the night that fateful evening of
Oct. 10, 1909?
The setting of this real-life murder
mystery yarn was q house, sort OF
tavern-in the frontier wilderness Of
the region now included in the state
of Tennessee. The characters in the
group indeed. For that touch of ro-
manc 20 necessary to any. story, we
have Lewis long drawn-out romance
with the beautiful Mrs. Theodosia Burr
Aston, daughter of the much-maligned
Aaron Burr and n of the reigning
beauties Of Washington society of the
era: The two had parted forever in
and a short time later Mrs. Aston dis
appeared mysteriously from a ship
while on a cruise along the Atlantic
coast. Her death, like that of her
lover, remains an unSolved mystery
to this day. For q further touch of the
6;oo rro vrn Ho1,n tho Z ou,{e fo~o;1xy tow,
els which are said to have disappeared
at the time Of Lewis death. The n
tire story is full of contradictions;
historians contradict each other in tell
ing it, and while it is now much too
late to decide definitely just how Meri-
wether Lewis did die, we can, at least,
marshal the evidence and draw our
own conclusions.
Almost Immediately after. the close Of
the Lewis and Clark expedition, Meri
wether Lewis a appointed governor
q the Louisiana Territory, q vast. re.
gion including all the territory west ct.
the Mississippi river and drained by
its tributaries. He arrived in st. Louis,
his capital, amidst much celebration.
he had once lived in ST.. Louis asian:
obscure army officer; now be was gov
ernor Of the greatest piece of territory
ever annexed by a nation in modern
times. Upon arrival in st. Louis, Lewis;
took up, residence in q -sprawling m9n-1
sion Of M. Auguste Chollteau, member,
Of a family of fur traders famouss:inI
trade. Lewis had been invited to: live
in the home Of his old friend William
Clark. but as Clark had huE%SHeentdyI
been married Lewis probably seefutedj
the invitation because he did nde WANT
to intrude upon the happiness of the
newlyweds. :.
roses and Lewis soon found it out. His
domain was a tr~acklessu forest with
only a few scatteredsSsettN ments. st.
Louis itself was only a srnaIl frontier
settlement where saloons pttnfinbered
other places of business three to one
and where most of the representatives
time gambling and general carousing.
Lewis did his best rs governor, but
by the fall of 1909 his accounts were
so badly scrambled that he decided he
must go to Washington and straighten
them out: Although he was a Virginia
cation; he knew nothing about keeping
accounts. Government authorities in
Washington knew as little about con-
ditionS on the frontier. They had queS-
toned Lewis accounts of his handling
of certain Indian affairs. He had pro-
Vlded money for the purchase of medt-
cine for disease-ridden tribes and when
he presented his bill to the treasury
officials in Washington they refused
pay. So Lewis decided to go to
Washington and clear his name. He
had also another reason for making
the journey, for Thomas jefferson had
been writing letters for two years urg-
ing him to prepare for publication his
journals of the expedition to the Pa
cific coast.
One day in September, 1909, Lewis
set out from St. Louis on the long
journey to Washington with two SER
wants. leaving William Clark in charge
of affairs in Louisiana. In his trunk he
his proof that his accounts of
the handling of Indian money and
other affairs were correct. He also car
ried his journals of the northwestern
It was his plan to 60 down