[Palter]

Documents

• Letter from Mr. Lewis's relatives appealing the government's decision to deny the exhumation
• The U.S. government's response

[Palter]

Ongoing, maybe of interest.

[tlb]

Meriwether Lewis was portrayed by Fred MacMurray in 1955 and by Chevy Chase in 2003. He has suffered enough indignity at modern hands.

There being no current compelling reason to dig up the old fellow, let him rest in peace.

[StAnDeliver]

It's absurd that the family can't get this done, and they ought to embarass the president into doing it. It's what the WSJ is hint hint hinting at. The family has the exact same cred the Taylor case had...or more!

wiki: "In the late 1980s, college professor and author Clara Rising hypothesized that Taylor was murdered by poison and was able to convince Taylor's closest living relative and the Coroner of Jefferson County, Kentucky, to order an exhumation"

wsj cont...: "Digging up notable Americans to solve mysteries isn't without precedent. President Zachary Taylor was exhumed in 1991, nearly 150 years after his death, to determine whether he had been poisoned..."

"The family had a breakthrough in 2008, when then-Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty wrote that given "the unique circumstances of the death of Meriwether Lewis," and the "overwhelming support'' of descendants, an exhumation was "appropriate and in the public interest.

But in April, before preparations for the exhumation were complete, the agency reversed its decision, arguing that department policy couldn't be ignored. Following up last month, Assistant Interior Secretary Thomas Strickland instructed the family, "Please consider this a final decision on this matter."

Anyone else recognize Obama appointee Strickland? He was a two-time big-time loser to Sen. Allard in Colorado.

[Red_Devil 232]

The stone monument

Be sure to take one of the Old Trace drives, where you will get a feel of what it was like in earlier days. There is an interesting Natural History Museum in Hohenwald, Tenn. the death place of the explorer Meriwether Lewis and a monument to him, and even an Amish community.

[saltus]

And in 2010 we care, why?

[Hawthorn]

Well, at least it's good that the National Park Service is upgrading the rest rooms at Grinders Stand. Last time I stopped by, they were dreadful.

And by the way, do any of you Tennesseans out there know if Grinders Stand has any connection to Grinders Switch? Too bad Minnie P. isn't around to tell us!

[NonValueAdded]

About 200 descendants have petitioned the federal government to dig Mr. Lewis up, hoping that modern science will exonerate a historical figure whose legacy they believe was tarnished by his ambiguous death.

With all due respect to the descendants interested in clearing his name (or more likely assuaging their legacy embarrassment), shouldn't you be privately raising the funds and doing this yourself? I know we learned about the Lewis and Clark expedition in school and I don't believe that lesson ended with news of Lewis' suicide. As it is, taxpayers are already on the hook for $3.2 million to improve the burial site.