The body of explorer Meriwether Lewis will remain in the grave, the National Park Service decided Monday.
The agency rejected the request of James Starrs, a professor of law and forensic science, to dig up the remains of the 19th Century explorer to test a theory that Lewis was murdered. It said the Park Service has a duty to protect burial sites.
“The proposed excavation and exhumation is inconsistent with National Park Service management policies, which prohibit the disturbance of burials in national park lands unless threatened with destruction,” Jerry Belson, director of the National Park Service’s southeast region in Atlanta, said in a letter to Starrs.
Starrs’ request was supported by 160 Lewis descendants, who disagree with history books that say he committed suicide in 1809.
Lewis is buried along the Natchez Trace Trail in Tennessee. From 1803 to 1806, he and William Clark led the expedition into what was known as the Louisiana Territory.
