KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsSouth Dakotans attend Meriwether Lewis funeral
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Associated Press - October 17, 2009 12:15 PM ET
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A handful of South Dakotans headed to Tennessee this month to attend an event 200 years in the making - a funeral for explorer Meriwether Lewis.
Lewis died in 1809 under what some historians believe were suspicious circumstances.
The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation held a memorial service in Hohenwald, Tenn., after discovering that Lewis never had a proper burial.
Lonis Wendt of Vivian says Lewis was buried immediately after his death because of distance and heat. He says historians still don't know why the military or politicians didn't do something special to honor him.
Wendt, a member of the Central South Dakota Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, called the military-style funeral a "fitting, unbelievable ceremony."
Information from: KGFX-AM, http://www.dakotaradiogroup.com
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