From Dave Searles
Brodhead
To the editor:
This is in response to Dan Wegmueller's column (published Aug. 12, 2014 in The Monroe Times) on the legacy of Meriwether Lewis in Tennessee. New historical research may prove that Lewis was apparently assassinated. We now know that Gen. James Wilkinson, the highest ranking officer in the U.S. Army at the time was a traitor "in the pay of Spain." Proof of this has been found in the Spanish archives.
Lewis had knowledge of this and was carrying documents that incriminated Wilkinson and others back to Jefferson and Madison. Jefferson and Madison had suspected this treasonous cabal for years, but had no proof. Sending the documents back to Washington could not be trusted to couriers or the postal service. Only a trusted Jeffersonian, as Lewis was, could be entrusted with the task. Some historians, including myself, believe that Gov. Lewis was assassinated for these documents. With Lewis' death and the loss of the documents, Jefferson was left with nothing else he could say about Lewis' death.
Brodhead
To the editor:
This is in response to Dan Wegmueller's column (published Aug. 12, 2014 in The Monroe Times) on the legacy of Meriwether Lewis in Tennessee. New historical research may prove that Lewis was apparently assassinated. We now know that Gen. James Wilkinson, the highest ranking officer in the U.S. Army at the time was a traitor "in the pay of Spain." Proof of this has been found in the Spanish archives.
Lewis had knowledge of this and was carrying documents that incriminated Wilkinson and others back to Jefferson and Madison. Jefferson and Madison had suspected this treasonous cabal for years, but had no proof. Sending the documents back to Washington could not be trusted to couriers or the postal service. Only a trusted Jeffersonian, as Lewis was, could be entrusted with the task. Some historians, including myself, believe that Gov. Lewis was assassinated for these documents. With Lewis' death and the loss of the documents, Jefferson was left with nothing else he could say about Lewis' death.
