Naming the Animals Louisville Preview Ronda Essays Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation / www.lewisandclark.org February 2002 Volume 28, No. 1 THE DEATH OF MERIWETHER LEWIS New perspectives on the captain’s mysterious demise MERIWETHER LEWIS AT GRINDER’S STAND, BY LARRY JANOFF Lewis approaches Grinder’s Stand on the evening of October 10, 1809. The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 3434, Great Falls, Montana 59403 Ph: 406-454-1234 or 1-888-701-3434 Fax: 406-771-9237 www.lewisandclark.org Mission Statement The mission of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. is to stimulate public appreciation of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s contributions to America’s heritage and to support education, research, development, and preservation of the Lewis and Clark experience. Officers Active Past Presidents Directors at large President David Borlaug Beverly Hinds Cindy Orlando Washburn, North Dakota Sioux City, Iowa 1849 “C” St., N.W. Washington, DC 20240 Robert K. Doerk, Jr. James Holmberg Fort Benton, Montana Louisville, Kentucky President-Elect Barbara Kubik James R. Fazio Ron Laycock 10808 N.E. 27th Court Moscow, Idaho Benson, Minnesota Vancouver, WA 98686 Robert E. Gatten, Jr. Larry Epstein Vice-President Greensboro, North Carolina Cut Bank, Montana Jane Henley 1564 Heathrow Drive H. John Montague Dark Rain Thom Keswick, VA 22947 Portland, Oregon Bloomington, Indiana Secretary Clyde G. “Sid” Huggins Joe Mussulman Ludd Trozpek Covington, Louisiana Lolo, Montana 4141 Via Padova Claremont, CA 91711 Donald F. Nell Robert Shattuck Bozeman, Montana Grass Valley, California Treasurer Jerry Garrett James M. Peterson Jane SchmoyerWeber 10174 Sakura Drive Vermillion, South Dakota Great Falls, Montana St. Louis, MO 65128 William P. Sherman Frank Muhly Immediate Past President Portland, Oregon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania David Borlaug Washburn, ND 58577 L. Edwin Wang Minneapolis, Minnesota Executive Director Sammye Meadows Wilbur P. Werner Mesa, Arizona Stuart E. Knapp Bozeman, Montana Incorporated in 1969 under Missouri General Not-For-Profit Corporation Act. IRS Exemption Certificate No. 501(c)3, ldentification No. 510187715. February 2000 We Proceeded On 2 Contents Letters: Meriwether Lewis, R.I.P.; celestial navigation 2 Bicentennial Report: Corps II; looking toward Lewiston 4 From the Directors: Bicentennial legacy 5 Louisville Preview: Mark your calendars 6 Trail Notes: Discover, explore, respect 8 The Death of Meriwether Lewis Introduction 9 The “Ague” Made Him Do It 10 Did Lewis shoot himself to exorcise the demons of malaria? Lewis, p. 9 By Thomas C. Danisi Meriwether Lewis’s Personal Finances 16 Documents suggest he was land rich but cash poor By L. Ruth Colter Frick Moonlight and Meriwether Lewis 21 How could Mrs. Grinder have seen what she claimed? By John D. W. Guice Naming the Animals 26 The captains’ nomenclature can both clarify and confuse By Kenneth C. Walcheck Reviews: Vardis Fisher; James Ronda; music; briefs 32 Big White, p. 19 L&C Roundup: Bronson joins Foundation; Lewis statue; more 36 Passages: Glen Bishop (1925-2001) 42 New Sacajawea center going up in Idaho 43 By Angel Wynn Soundings 44 Patrick Gass: on the trail with Lewis & Clark By William Kloefkorn On the cover In Montana artist Larry Janoff’s evocative painting, Meriwether Lewis approaches Grinder’s Stand, Tennessee, on the evening of October 10, 1809. The nation’s most famous explorer died of gunshot wounds the next morning. Whether those wounds were self-inflicted or the result of robbery or assassination remains a point of contro- versy, and scholars who accept that Lewis killed himself debate what drove him to suicide. The articles beginning on page 9 explore some of these issues. Pileated woodpecker, p. 30 February 2002 We Proceeded On 1 Letters Meriwether Lewis, R.I.P. February2002 • Volume 28, Number 1 I want to thank Professor John Guice for In the meantime, in the spirit of Jef- We Proceeded On is the official publication of his comments about my book The Char- ferson, I publicly challenge John Guice the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, acter of Meriwether Lewis: “Completely to a public debate about Meriwether Inc. Its name derives from a phrase that appears Metamorphosed” in the American West Lewis—any time, anywhere! repeatedly in the collective journals of the ex- (Letters, November 2001). In Mr. Jef- CLAY JENKINSON pedition. 2002 ferson’s day such an assault might have Reno, Nev. E. G. Chuinard, M.D., Founder ended in a duel, but in ours it has led to a ISSN 02275-6706 useful dialogue about the life, character, and untimely death of Meriwether Lewis. I couldn’t agree less with John Guice’s Editor I agree with Mr. Guice that the Lewis conclusion that “the integrity of Ameri- J. I. Merritt and Clark community has too uncritically can scholarship demands” a forensic ex- 51 N. Main Street accepted the conclusion that Meriwether amination of Meriwether Lewis’s re- Pennington, NJ 08534 609-818-0168 Lewis committed suicide in 1809. I also mains. While I have not read Clay Jenk- [email protected] agree that our presentist urge to call the inson’s ‘troubling” essay about the great Lewis a “manic depressive,” a man troubled explorer, it hardly seems Art Direction Margaret Davis Design who suffered from “bipolar disease,” has “presentism” to believe that a man who Princeton, New Jersey been an unrigorous application of terms dealt with so much stress in such a short Printed by James-Allan Printing & Design most of us don’t fully understand to an period of his life could become depressed West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania era that did not think in such categories. and suicidal. High achievers have consid- In fact, I do believe that Meriwether ered suicide a valid alternative to disgrace Editorial Board Lewis probably took his own life, but my since the time of Cleopatra. mind is open to other possibilities. The What truly boggles my mind is the Gary E. Moulton, Leader Lincoln, Nebraska fact that William Clark later in his life question of what Mr. Guice expects re- retreated from his early acceptance of the ductionist science to accomplish in terms Robert C. Carriker Spokane, Washington suicide story should be enough for us all of throwing light on the death of a man to remain agnostic on this issue. who has been in his grave nearly 200 Robert K. Doerk, Jr. Even so, I disagree with portions of years. Will the forensic anthropologists Fort Benton, Montana Mr. Guice’s letter. I nowhere argue that check for serotonin levels inside the skull Glen Lindeman Lewis was a sexual pervert. I’m not quite as a way of determining if Lewis was de- Pullman, Washington sure what to make of his consumption in pressed? Can one tell if a wound was self- alcohol late in his life. I find no evidence inflicted after two centuries? What Membership Information to suggest that Lewis may have been a threshold of credibility do we set for such Membership in the Lewis and Clark Trail Heri- homosexual (nor did the age of Jeffer- “findings”? Considering that the evi- tage Foundation, Inc. is open to the public. In- son think in such terms). I do believe that dence would have been resting in the Ten- formation and applications are available by Lewis (like Jefferson) can at times fairly nessee clay for generations, it would have writing Membership Coordinator; Lewis and be called a racist, and a racist, it seems to be a rather low one. Any “facts” thus Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc.; P.O. Box to me, is still a racist irrespective of time gained would hardly be more solid than 3434; Great Falls, MT 59403. or place. Mr. Jenkinson’s speculations. We Proceeded On, the quarterly magazine of I stand by the thesis of my book: Meri- Nature abhors a vacuum; more spe- the Foundation, is mailed to current members wether Lewis was a gifted, high-strung, cifically, human nature abhors an incom- in February, May, August, and November. proud, tightly wired young man before plete narrative. (I suspect this has been Thomas Jefferson sent him into the wil- true since Stone Age people listened to Annual Membership Categories derness. Some of his experiences in the hunting stories around the primeval Student $30 wilderness exacerbated the streak of in- campfire.) Thus, myths and speculation Individual/Library/Nonprofit $40 stability in his character. When he re- grow up to fill the gap where facts are Family/International/Business $55 Heritage Club $75 turned, his psychic “immune system” was scarce. People embroidered the story of Explorer Club $150 worn down, so that when the great gu- Sacagawea, just as they are now busily Jefferson Club $250 bernatorial crises came to him in 1808-9 weaving a heroic myth about the hi- Discovery Club $500 he had no significant reserves on which jacked United Airlines Flight 93. Just as Expedition Club $1,000 to draw. they have done concerning Meriwether Leadership Club $2,500 The great Jefferson believed in a free Lewis. Is this natural folk process nec- marketplace of ideas where truth would essarily harmful, given the absence of The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc. drive out error and good sense would reliable information? There are practi- is a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation. Individual membership dues are not tax deductible. The portion prevail over nonsense. Those who read cal reasons to resist myth-making about of premium dues over $40 is tax deductible. my book will decide for themselves if current events such as Flight 93’s crash. they think it has insights. But in the case of Meriwether Lewis, it 2 We Proceeded On February 2002 is hard to see how the various versions Lewis’s bones; Chinook Point of his downfall harm anybody.