By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BALDWYN, Miss. – A legendary explorer travels through Tennessee and dies in a mysterious manner. What did happen to Meriwether Lewis, half of the famed Lewis and Clark duo that traversed the unknown wilderness of the American Southeast?
That's the question posed by Clark Richey, whose film Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis opens to rent or buy on Apple TV+ and other major streaming and cable platforms on Friday.
Richey, a Tennessee Tech football alum who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering, wrote and directed the film under his Six Shooter Studios banner. The film stars Evan Williams (Netflix's Blonde) and John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard).
The film's synopsis is intriguing – following the story of the allegedly unresolved 1809 death of Lewis, Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis examines the explorer and Governor of the Louisiana Territory (played by Evan Williams) and his death by gunshot along the Natchez Trace – the frontier road connecting Nashville to Natchez, Miss. Was it suicide or something else?
Different intertwining versions of his death at a Tennessee inn are imagined by his friend Alexander Wilson (Billy Slaughter, The Magnificent Seven) during a tense encounter with Priscilla Grinder (Amye Gousset, The Card Counter), the only witness to Lewis' final night alive.
The film also features performances from Sonny Marinelli (Entourage), Lance E. Nichols (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Marcus Dupree (ESPN's 30-for-30) and newcomer Rider Mayo.
It is a story that has been an interest of Richey's for a long time, even dating back to when he was a Golden Eagle.
"I've always been interested in the time period when Mississippi and western Tennessee were the 'wild, wild west,'" Richey said. "In the late 1700s and early 1800s, my part of the country was the farthest frontier in America, and that era represents a piece of history that's rarely talked about – yet it's a time rich in true tales of adventure, heroism, villainy and mystery.
"Ironically, I've been interested in the particular story of Meriwether Lewis' death in the broad sense since I attended Tech. From 1986 to 1989, I traveled to school from my home in north Mississippi back and forth on the Natchez Trace every few weeks. I would pass the 'Death Site of Meriwether Lewis' each time near Hohenwald. Frankly, it took me a long time to realize that Meriwether Lewis was the Lewis of Lewis and Clark."
Richey continued, "From that time on, I have always thought of that spot and wondered 'what in the world was Lewis doing out here in the middle of nowhere?' I later learned that not only did he die there on the Natchez Trace but he did so under suspicious circumstances. As a history buff, it's beyond intriguing, and I gravitated immediately to this tale when I decided I was going to make a movie."
In the festival circuit, the movie has already claimed award wins for Best Feature Film at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival and Gasparilla International Film Festival, as well as Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Film Awards and Oniros Film Awards New York. The latter two also gave Best Actress to Gousset and Best Director to Richey, while Oniros Film awarded Williams its Best Actor honor.
The movie debuted in American theaters in September and is currently playing in theatres in Canada before this weekend's opening on streaming sources. The trailer for the film is available here.
Looking back, it was a chance meeting that brought the Baldwyn, Miss., native to Cookeville.
"When you reach my age – 58 – you can look back at your paths and point directly to the moments and events that led to your current state in life, whether good or bad," Richey said. "I bounced around football a couple years before ending up at Tennessee Tech, having started my collegiate career at Ole Miss. In 1985, I was playing in the Mississippi JUCO All-Star Game (as a representative from Northeast Mississippi CC). I had a couple offers from FCS schools to return to Division I football, but none of those offers were from schools that had engineering programs. It was looking like I was going to have to go to school for two more years then transfer to finish my engineering degree – if I was going to keep playing football.
"Then, on the last day of practice before the game, Tech assistant coach Bill Drake, who I had never met, came to my room and – out of the blue – offered me a scholarship. At the time, I had never heard of Tennessee Tech and obviously hadn't visited the campus. I signed anyway."
What a fruitful meeting it was as Richey's move to Tech paid huge dividends. The former Golden Eagle offensive lineman was twice named Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week in 1987, was a CoSIDA Region IV Academic All-Region selection and was named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll. Even bigger of an honor was that he was the OVC Scholar-Athlete Award winner for football in 1987.
"A few years after I left Tennessee Tech with a master's in mechanical engineering, I started my own engineering and manufacturing company (Quail Ridge Engineering)," Richey said. "We've been in business now nearly 30 years and we've been the source of 'making a living' for probably hundreds of people. I look back at that single moment when Coach Drake and I crossed paths in Tupelo in the fall of 1985 and I realize, considering what it ultimately meant to my family and many others, it had to be divinely ordained."
Branching out into filmmaking is an interesting extension of his career, but considering Richey's had a long history of creativity, it's no surprise. Richey restored and renovated a live performance venue – The Claude Gentry – which has hosted variety shows and plays, including The Peacemakers – A Western, co-written by Richey in 2016.
"I have always had creative interests – music, acting and writing – and I've pursued those to some extent throughout my life, sort of a parallel life to my engineering world," he said. "From playing guitar, singing in church and broadcasting sports on local radio to organizing benefit variety shows and writing weekly history columns for my hometown paper – one creative thing led to another for literally decades until I saw an opportunity to make a movie.
"I believed when I started this last endeavor that filmmaking was the pinnacle and intersection of creative pursuits. I still think that's valid and true. Mysterious Circumstance: The Death of Meriwether Lewis is essentially the dramatic culmination of a lifetime of dabbling."
Richey has also been a field producer for the History Channel's The UnXplained with William Shatner, while also appearing in an acting role in the 2021 western Bastard's Crossing and the History Channel's Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman, while also appearing in a cameo in Mysterious Circumstance.
The task of putting the film together also seemed natural to him because it was so familiar in so many ways.
"Having been in business for many years before diving into movie-making was an advantage, especially for an engineer," Richey said. "It is remarkable how similar – aside from the creative aspects – the production of a movie is to an engineering or construction project. You have a budget, human resources, deadlines, contractors, a staff, materials management and a required end product that has to be produced to a certain quality level. So, after years as an engineer and business owner, the project management part of the production process was not overwhelming. That helped."
Richey's legacy with Tennessee Tech continues to this day as his son, Maddux, is a member of the current Golden Eagle squad as a quarterback, coached by his college teammates Dewayne Alexander and Bruce Hatfield.
"I'm extremely proud of my son Maddux and his commitment and desire to succeed in football," Richey said. "We share many interests and – like many fathers and sons – football is definitely one of them. To have him playing for my alma mater makes Tech a 'generational' part of our family. Tennessee Tech and Golden Eagle football are integral parts of the Richey family, and they will be for a long, long time."
