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Welcome

Dear Friends of Lewis and Clark,
I am going to suspend my normal Lewis and Clark activities over the next couple of months in order to concentrate on publishing and writing my newest book, The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation. So there will be no monthly newsletter, and I won't be attending the weekly study group and monthly dinner programs  of the Mouth of the Platte Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation in Omaha-Council Bluffs. I will be hard at work meeting some publishing deadlines.


The book features the testimony of 13 expert witnesses who testified at a Coroner's Inquest into the death of Meriwether Lewis, held in 1996 in Hohenwald, Lewis County, Tennessee. James E. Starrs, professor of forensic science at George Washington University, is my co-author. Jim organized the inquest, which was an official inquest held in the county where the Meriwether Lewis National Monument gravesite is located. The coroner's jury called for an exhumation of Lewis's remains, to see if a cause of death could be determined. Over 200 members of the Lewis family have signed a petition calling for the exhumation.

The thirteen witnesses included some of the top crime scene investigators in the nation, and leading historians. The witnesses were:
James E. Starrs: Exhumation of the 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: Firearm demonstration
Gerald Richards: Document examination
Martin Fackler: Wound ballistics analysis
Duayne Dillon: Handwriting analysis
Reimert Ravenholt: Syphilis theory
William Bass: Forensic anthropology

Due to the research of study group member Ev Orr, I learned of the existence of  a transcript of the coroner's inquest hearings, and after reading it, decided it was a great read, and deserved to be published. My own contribution will be to discuss Lewis's last three years of life, from the return of the expedition in 1806 until his untimely and mysterious death at age 35. He met his death on the Natchez Trace on October 11, 1809, just 199 years ago today as I write this. I will also be including documents relating to his last days, and revealing a very surprising and important development in this 200 year old cold case! Much of the material I will be including in the book is contained among the various blogs on this website, so take a look.

Next year the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation will be meeting in Memphis, Tennessee and Tupelo, Mississippi in a unique traveling meeting format. The annual meeting date will be shifted from its customary August date to October 3-7, 2009. To learn more see the annual meeting announcement on the  foundation website.  The emphasis at the meeting will be on honoring the memory of Meriwether Lewis, regardless of how we individually view the circumstances of his death.

The book will be published In April, 2009 and distributed by IPG.

Sincerely,
Kira Gale
kira@lewisandclarktravel.com
 


From Kira's Blog on Lewis and Clark Travel

Were lead mines the reason Meriwether Lewis was murdered?

The immense fortunes to be had in lead mining operations south of St. Louis may have been the reason Meriwether Lewis was murdered. Captain Amos Stoddard reported to Congress that “no part of the world furnished lead ore in greater quantities and purities.” Lead was used to make bullets for guns; and Congress voted to reserve and lease all land containing lead in the territory. William Carr, the federal land agent, said that the profits from the leasing and sale of public lands could pay for almost the entire $15 million cost of the Louisiana Purchase within a few years. But after the U. S. acquired the territory, the lead district became the scene of raging “mineral wars,” with armed groups battling for control. The chief troublemaker was John Smith T., a relative of General James Wilkinson. 

 

Read On...>>

Lewis and Clark Proceeding On Newsletter Archives

Featuring Lewis and Clark Trail news from around America, an archive of past issues of the monthly newsletter, Proceeding On, is now available. Kira Gale was awarded the Meritorious Achievement Award of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation in 2007. She is the author of Lewis and Clark Road Trips: Exploring the Trail Across America published in 2006.  There is a large website with links and MapQuest maps to over 800 destinations on the trail, a forum, and other interesting information. The website address is www.lewisandclarkroadtrips.com Contact kira@lewisandclarktravel.com for permission to reprint articles featured in her newsletter. Send news, photo, comments to her for inclusion in the newsletter which goes out around the end of each month.

Join the mailing list to receive Proceeding On each month.

 Proceeding On Newsletter Archives

PAST ISSUES 1850 Grave Exhumation and Monument Committee Report (June, 2008) Unknown portraits of Lewis and Clark found (May, 2008) Strange Happenings during the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes (April, 2008) Jail Inmate rescues stolen Sacagawea statue heads (March, 2008) Power plant on Portage Route stalls out (February, 2008) Court record found for Sacagawea’s children (January, 2008) Lewis and Clark comic book by Native American artist now available (Nov-Dec, 2007) Beauty Queens stage protest at Sacagawea statue (October, 2007) City of St Louis proposes developing Gateway Arch grounds (September, 2007) Sacagawea dollar coins a hit in Ecuador (August, 2007) Montana inquires about HBO mini series (July, 2007) Lewis and Clark HBO mini series in 2008 with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton (June, 2007)

Read On...>>

Prince Maximilian’s Journals provide the text for Bodmer’s paintings

The North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied, Volume 1If you love the watercolors of Karl Bodmer, you will want to read the journals of Prince Maximilian. Looking at the drawings alone is like reading a comic book missing its words. The first volume of a modern edition of the journals has just been published by the University of Oklahoma Press. It is available from the press at a cost of $85. (The ISBN number is 978-0-8061-3888-6.) The title is The North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied: Volume 1: May 1832-April 1833. I just bought a copy at Joslyn Art Museum, the home of both the Bodmer drawings and the original journals of Prince Maximilian. This publication has been long awaited, and it was well worth the wait. It is a glorious publication. 


Read On...>>


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