Letter from William G. Anderson

.oP y
The HonorableKen Salazar
Secretaryof the Interior
Departmentof the Interior
1849C Street,N.W.
Washington,D.C. 20240
May 10,2009
Re: Exhumation of Meriwether Lewis
Dear Mr. Secretary:
I am a direct descendantof Meriwether Lewis's sister ("Uncle" Meriwether never married and
had no children). Like many other relatives, I would like permission to be granted to exhume his
body so that responsible scientists and historians can try to determine the causeof his death or at
least exclude as many causesas possible from the current list of theories (murder, suicide,
alcoholism, drug use, venerealdiseaseand malaria).
The family's ef,fort has been ongoing for twelve years. Six years before orq requestsbegan,
permission was grantedand the remains of President ZacharyTaylor were exhumed in 1991
from a riational cemeterj' in order to determine whether he had died from illness or had been
poisoned with arsenic. The study determined that he had not died fiom arsenic iloisoning. In
1998 remainsof a Vietnam War unknown soldier were exhumed from Arlington National
Cemetery so that an identification could be made and closure could be given to his family.
I and many other family members are interested in preserving the memory of our famous relative
but even more interested that the history of his life, and history generally, be accurate. In other
words, we do not shy from the possibility that a study might show that he died from less than
honorable causes.We doubt that that is the case,but we are not reluctant to face that possibility.
Many books have been written and many theories proposed but only by an exhumation and an
objective, scientific study can the truth be found and closure result.
Exhumation is not an everyday occrrrence but neither is it an extraordinary. An Internet search
provided the attached list from a 1998 article in Slate which shows fourteen then recent
exhumations'of historically noteworthy individuals. In the eleven years since that article, the list
would obviously have grown substantially.
Assistant SecretmyLaverty approvedthe exhumation on January 11,2008. The National Park
Service neverthelesshas blocked further progress. Transparency in historical matters under
Interior's control is just asimportantasit is elsewherein government.I requestthat you remove
all further obstaclesto the previouslyrequestedexhumationand study,and allow the truth to be
determined
William G. Anderson
716North 67ft Street
Seattle,WA 98103
RecentExhumations:
JesseJames(outlaw);
ZacharyTaylor (president);
of AbrahamLincoln);
SamuelMudd(conspiratorin assassination
HaileSelassie(Ethiopianemperor);
Yagan(Maoriwarrior);
MedgarEvers(civil rights leader);
CzarLazar(14u'century Serbianmonarch);
Eva Per6n(wife of Argentinedictator);
CzarNicholasII and his family;
ButchCassidyand HarryA. Longabaugh(the Sundancekid) (outlaws);
CartA. Weiss(allegedassassinof Huey Long);
Lee HarveyOswald(assassin);
Victimsof cannibalAlfred Packer(gold prospector);
Louis"Moses"Rose(only man to desertthe Texansat the Alamo).