Lewis and Jefferson (me!)

The Lewis and Clark Festival had the theme, Rendezvous with Destiny: Mysteries Unsolved. The main event was a dramatization pertaining to the death of Meriwether Lewis: suicide or murder? The audience would "participate in furthering the debate over his demise and learn of the complex and intriguing series of events leading up to his death." I went. Turned into more drama than I cared for.

Susie stayed back at the KOA, the very picture of a Happy Kamper.

Before the program started a Park Service ranger came and talked to me. Said the program would be like a trial with various witnesses called. Would I be Thomas Jefferson? I said I really wasn't very familiar with the issues, but he said it didn't matter. I'd just have to give yes or no answers that seemed reasonable to me. So, I agreed.

The actor/historian doing the show was named David Jolles, playing Lewis. It was set up as a trial, with Jolles playing two sides of Lewis. In one, he argued that his death was suicide. In the other, he argued he was murdered. It was kind of clever: Lewis 1 would interrupt Lewis 2 if he thought the questioning was out of line.

Now, I really don't know much about Lewis's death and its circumstances. Several years ago I read Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose, but my main memories from that book, and the reason we've spent so much time on this trip following the L&C trail, dealt with the expedition itself, not its aftermath. Jolles' "trial" filled in some of the details - Lewis was in debt, apparently drank heavily, was depressed, was stressed over the publication of the expedition's account.

When I was on the stand I mostly answered questions about the fact that Lewis was a family friend of the Jeffersons and had served as Jefferson's secretary before being recruited to lead the expedition. I knew that part of the story. However, as I was dismissed, Lewis 2 warned me darkly that I might be called for more testimony.

And I was, after the intermission. I was called by Lewis 2, the advocate of the murder scenario. He laid out a long, involved, Oliver-Stone-like conspiracy theory of what happened. A conspiracy involving Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and a General Wilkinson, a man who had been governor of Louisiana and allegedly a double agent for Spain. I was hit by a barrage of "Isn't it true, Mr. Jefferson, that .... " sorts of questions. The thrust of it was that I, Jefferson, had maligned Lewis and quickly adopted the suicide claim in order to protect my reputation at the expense of his.

So, I squirmed. Felt I was being held responsible for defending the reputation of one of our most esteemed Presidents and I wasn't up to it. Maybe this shows how gifted the actor was. Maybe it shows my gullibility. However, I became steamed because Lewis 1 never intervened to stop all this speculation and haranguing by Lewis 2. I and the audience - we'd been given ballots on which to vote suicide or murder after the mock trial - had been set up for a one-sided view of history. So, I started not answering Yes or No, because my answer wouldn't matter, and just sat there, with Jeffersonian dignity, waiting to be excused.

Meanwhile, my cell phone vibrated. Thought it might be Susie calling - a Tuzigoot emergency? So, when I got dismissed, instead of returning to my seat and watching the finish of the show, I left the auditorium. Found out Susie was not calling me; nobody was - the phone's battery was low. Steam rising, though, I decided not to return - I'd lost interest in, rather than being intrigued by, the debate over Lewis's demise. (If you're interested, you can google up several sources.) I went back to the KOA and caught the last hour of the Rivertown Rounders show to help me chill out.

The next morning I wrote a nice e-mail letter (Susie vetted it) to the Center's director (she was sitting on the front row of the auditorium) explaining that I was the guy who left and why. So far, no response.

Meriwether Lewis, Rest In Peace.

Rob