Were lead mines the reason Meriwether Lewis was murdered?

When Meriwether Lewis was appointed Governor of Louisiana Territory he wrote to William Clark appointing him Brigadier General of Louisiana Territory. In this letter of March 13, 1807, he wrote “It is my wish that every person who holds an appointment of profit or honor in that territory and against whom sufficient proof of the infection of Burrism can be adduced, should be immediately dismissed from office without partiality favor or affection, as I can never make any terms with traitors.” He named three men, one of whom was John Smith T. The three men had set off down the Mississippi to join Aaron Burr in his planned invasion of Mexico, but had turned back upon learning of President Jefferson’s denouncement of Burr as a traitor. 

John Smith T. 

John Smith T. added a “T.” for “Tennessee” to his name. He was reputed to be the most dangerous man in Missouri and was said to have killed 12-14 men in duels and 4-5 others (though this cannot be substantiated). John Darby, the Mayor of St. Louis, called him “as mild a mannered man as ever put a bullet into the human body.” He always carried four pistols, one dirk (bowie knife), and a rifle called “Hark from the Tombs.” By the 1820’s he was known as the “Lead King of Missouri.” 

Smith T. had speculated in the Yazoo land frauds and owned or claimed a quarter of a million acres in Tennessee and northern Alabama. He kept numerous and prominent lawyers busy with multiple law suits. Smith T. managed his affairs with litigation, dueling challenges, and hired gunmen. Two of his slaves worked fulltime as gunsmiths; their guns were considered the finest in the West. A shot tower on the White Cliffs of Selma along the Mississippi River produced the bullets. 

Smith T. was ready to supply the guns and ammunition needs for any filibustering expedition. In fact he was a participant in at least four filibuster attempts to invade Texas and Mexico through the years. Smith T.’s mother was Lucy Wilkinson Smith. Historians agree that she was a relative of James Wilkinson, but their exact relationship is not known. Perhaps Smith T. was either a nephew or second cousin. Contemporaries didn’t seem to be aware of their family relationship, though they were associates. (I am hoping that some genealogist can solve this puzzle.) 

When James Wilkinson became the first Governor of Louisiana Territory in 1805-06, he dismissed Moses Austin (the father of Stephen Austin of Texas fame) from several offices and replaced him with Smith T. Moses Austin, the leading mine owner in the district, was Smith T.’s biggest enemy. He had enough armed manpower to resist Smith T.’s takeover attempts. Smith T. employed both thugs and lawyers in staking out the“floating” land claims he had purchased from the brother of the Spanish governor, and he dared anyone to do anything about it. 

Governor Lewis travels to Washington

Meriwether Lewis left St. Louis on September 4th,1809,  intending to go by boat to Washington D. C. He was upset because federal officials were refusing to pay bills that he had authorized as Governor of Louisiana Territory, and was being held personally responsible for these amounts. All of these bills were eventually honored by the government and paid to Lewis’s estate after his death. His death occurred on October 11th on the Natchez Trace, some 70 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. 

Lewis stayed at Fort Pickering (Memphis, Tennessee) for 15 days, from September 15-29th. Upon his arrival at the fort, he changed his travel plans and decided to go by horseback to the federal city, giving as his reason that he was afraid his papers (the expedition journals) would fall into the hands of the British at sea. Initially he was sick with malarial fevers, but he wrote sensible and coherent letters during this time. 

The commander of the fort, Captain Gilbert Russell, wanted to accompany Lewis to Washington. Russell wrote a letter to President Jefferson (dated January 4, 1810) saying that Lewis was sick for the first six days, but after that he was “perfectly restored and able to travel.” He continued, “Being then myself placed in a similar situation with him by having Bills protested to a considerable amount I had made application to the General [James Wilkinson] and expected leave of absence every day to go to Washington with Governor Lewis. In consequence of which he waited six or eight days expecting that I would go on with him, but in this we were disappointed & he set off with a Major Neely who was going to Nashville.” Neely, a local Indian agent appointed by General Wilkinson, had unaccountably arrived at the fort “on or about September 18th,” and waited eight days to travel with Lewis. 

After Lewis’s death, his papers were brought to Virginia, where they were found to be all in a jumble, personal and business papers mixed together. That, and a missing will William Clark was looking for, point to the theft of documents. It seems likely that Lewis was carrying papers that some people did not want to have reach Washington.

A recent reading of a biography, Frontier Swashbuckler: The Life and Legend of John Smith T. by Richard Steward, provides a plausible motive for an assassination, because John Smith T. was going to Washington on business also.

John Smith T. brings petitions to Congress

A month before Lewis left St Louis, a “citizen’s committee” in St. Louis chose John Smith T. as a lobbyist to go to Washington, and to bring two petitions to Congress. The first petition asked for the removal from office of Judge John B. C. Lucas, a friend of both Meriwether Lewis and Albert Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury. Lucas was one of three land claims commissioners in St. Louis and a Judge of the Territorial Court. As a member of the commission reviewing Spanish land claims, he was blamed for too strictly following the law. In addition, the petitioners wanted the law changed, validating land claims that were recorded after France’s secret acquisition of the territory on October 1, 1800. 

The second petition asked for a change of status for Louisiana Territory; an upgrade which would allow residents to elect their own territorial officials, rather than be wards of the federal government. It was obviously also the intention of the petition leaders to urge that Lewis not be reappointed as Territorial Governor by the President. 

Reuben Smith’s trade mission to Sante Fe

John Smith T. planned to go to the federal city in the winter. Before that he undoubtedly helped his younger brother and business partner, Reuben Smith, get ready to set off on an unauthorized “trade mission” to Sante Fe. The expedition left the lead mine district on November 20, 1809. News of Lewis’s death had reached St. Louis by November 2nd.  This filibustering expedition into Spanish territory consisted of six men: Reuben Smith, two associates, one Mexican interpreter, and two slaves. They were well armed and supplied; they had money, but no trade goods. The group aroused the suspicions of Spanish officials and the men were captured in February, 1810. 

Unlike the hospitality shown by Spanish authorities to Lieutenant Zebulon Pike and his party after their capture in 1806-07, the Reuben Smith party was treated harshly. Smith and his two associates were put to work in the gold and silver mines of Chihauhua where they labored under irons for three years. It is said that John Smith T. went alone to Sante Fe and paid a bribe to Father Miguel Hidalgo and his Mexican revolutionary forces to secure their release.

The “smoking bullets”

What transpired in Washington D. C. during the early winter months of 1810 is unknown. No records have been found of John Smith T.’s activities. However, the results of the petition issues are known: Judge Lucas, was reconfirmed in his appointment as land commissioner, and a bill to elevate Louisiana Territory to second class status failed to be enacted by Congress. The lead mine claims remained in legal limbo, never being accepted by Congress, while all those involved ignored the issues of valid titles and continued to make money. 

The death of Meriwether Lewis was bracketed by two significant events: in August, the selection of John Smith T. to bring petitions to Congress, and in November, the departure of Smith T.‘s brother Reuben Smith on a trade mission to Sante Fe. Are these the “smoking bullets” revealing the role of large land claimants and “Burrites” in causing the death of Meriwether Lewis? 

In a later blog I will examine the story of the last days of Lewis’s life, which consist of second hand accounts reported in letters and news articles.