Clark writes his brother Jonathan from Fincastle, Virginia, where they are visiting Julia's family, regarding the death of Meriwether Lewis, information he has received from the commander of Fort Pickering at the Chickasaw Bluffs, Gilbert Russell, who provides details of Lewis's condition and situation while there, and what he has learned from Lewis' servant John Pernier about Lewis's mental state.
Clark writes his brother Jonathan that evening from John Shannon's tavern east of Shelbyville, Kentucky, concerning the distressing news read earlier that day while in Shelbyville about the reported death by suicide of Meriwether Lewis in Tennessee. He states that he fears the report might be true.
Includes a statement of Transylvania University's accounts as well as reports from Rev. Horace Holley, President and Professor of Philosophy of the Mind, Robert Wickliffe, Librarian of the Law Library, Daniel Drake, Professor Meteria Medica and Medical Botany, C.S. Rafinesque, Librarian of the General Library and Keeper of the Museum, and others.