Bitterroot: The Life and Death of Meriwether Lewis

Some of the most memorable words describing Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809) come from the pen of Thomas Jefferson. In support of Lewis's selection to lead an exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson wrote that Lewis was "of courage undaunted" and that he possessed "firmness of mind and body." Yet four years after Lewis's untimely death, Jefferson wrote that Lewis's mind was clouded and that he suffered from depression and was heavily dependent upon alcohol; consequently, Jefferson supported the conclusion that Lewis had committed suicide. Independent scholar Stroud (Thomas Say: New World Naturalist) suggests that Jefferson's words were the "bitter root" of Lewis's legacy: suicide not murder. This volume, compactly written and filled with quotations, suggests that Lewis did not commit suicide and that his ill-fated tenure as governor of Louisiana entangled him in a web of political intrigue that involved James Wilkinson, Aaron Burr, and a president who did not defend his longtime friend. Stroud presents biographical details of Lewis's life, with several chapters concisely retelling the Lewis and Clark Expedition.