1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: Lawrence stepped outside of his Philadelphia apartment one afternoon to 7 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: find a box of seemingly discarded objects. This was not 8 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: uncommon in his neighborhood, where people often left old furniture 9 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: or boxes of books out for passers by to pick through. 10 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: Lawrence took a look inside a couple of knickknacks, including 11 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: a bronze statue lay on top of something massive and sparkly. 12 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: He dug through the box, unearthing an enormous crystal ball. 13 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: To Lawrence, it looked like a prop from a movie 14 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: or a Halloween costume, the sort of fortune teller or 15 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: witch might use. He made him move the box to 16 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: his garage, but he found that it was so heavy 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: that he had no choice but to drag it. Lawrence 18 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: had no use for the knickknacks, but he knew someone 19 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: who would love the crystal ball. His friend Kim Beckles, 20 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: cleaned Lawrence's house for him occasionally. Kim liked a joke 21 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: about being a witch and was all too happy when 22 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: he presented her with the crystal ball the next time 23 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: he saw her. Six months later, a man nicknamed Al 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: the trash Picker passed through Lawrence's neighborhood hunting for items 25 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: to pawn. Alan Lawrence weren't close friends, but he had 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: given Al a key to his garage and told him 27 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: to take anything that he wanted to sell. That day, 28 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: Al picked up the bronze statuette that Lawrence had found 29 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: next to the crystal ball. Al didn't have much use 30 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: for it either, but he knew that the old adage 31 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: was true. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Al 32 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: slipped the statue in with his other fines for the day, 33 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: and he made his way towards South Street garage and pawnshop. 34 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: The shop bought from Al regularly, and that day they 35 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: offered him thirty dollars for the statue and a wooden 36 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: table he'd picked up elsewhere. Twelve days later, on October 37 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: twenty fourth of nineteen ninety one, Penn Museum employee, Jess Canby, 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: took advantage of a free afternoon to do some shopping. 39 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,359 Speaker 1: As a self described thrift store junkie, Jess loved to 40 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: pick through piles of discarded treasures. She entered the South 41 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: Street Garage and pawnshop that afternoon with no idea what 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: she was about to find. A bronze statue out behind 43 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,639 Speaker 1: the counter caught Jess's eye. She asked the clerk if 44 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: she could inspect it more closely. In her hands, the 45 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: metal was cold and heavy. It depicted Osiris, the Egyptian 46 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: god of the afterlife. Jess examined the statue, first in 47 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: fascination and then in disbelief. Without a word of explanation, 48 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: she'd dropped the statue onto the counter and raced out 49 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: the door. Less than an hour later, she returned, this 50 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: time with two En Museum directors and the police. You see. 51 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: Three years earlier, on November tenth of nineteen eighty eight, 52 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: the Penn Museum staff had conducted their morning checks and 53 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,119 Speaker 1: found the unthinkable. In a room called the Harrison Rotunda, 54 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: where priceless artifacts from Japan and China were displayed, three 55 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: objects were missing. A silver Japanese sculpture resembling a crashing wave, 56 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: a bronze statue of the Egyptian god Osiris, and a 57 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: fifty five pound crystal ball that had once belonged to 58 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: the Dowager Empress of China. Together, they were valued at 59 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: over half a million dollars. Museum officials alerted the police 60 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,119 Speaker 1: and raced to check their security footage. They were horrified 61 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: to discover that security had been undergoing repairs to their 62 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: camera system and no footage of that night existed. Word 63 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: of the heist traveled quickly, and the Japanese wave sculpture 64 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: was recovered the same day. It had been dumped outside 65 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: of a building on the UPenn campus without fingerprints or 66 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: forensic evidence. Police and FBI searched for the crystal ball 67 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: and the statue, but without any leads, the case went cold, 68 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: that is until Jess can be spotted and recognized the 69 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: stolen artifact. At the pawn shot that day. Investigators questioned 70 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: the pawnshop owners, who led officials to al the trash picker, 71 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: who led them to Lawrence Stemmtz. When questioned by the 72 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: FBI and museum officials, Lawrence told them how he had 73 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: found the statue in a box with other objects, including 74 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: the crystal ball that he had given to Kim Beckle's 75 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: Kim happily returned the crystal ball to the museum, where 76 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: it was identified as the stolen artifact. Kim, Al and 77 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: Lawrence were all questioned extensively by the police and FBI, 78 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: but cleared of any suspicion in the robbery. Today, the 79 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: crystal ball is back in pride of place at the 80 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: Penn Museum Harrison Rotunda, along with the Osiris statue and 81 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: Japanese sculpture. The story of their time away from the 82 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,479 Speaker 1: museum is not widely known, and the heist itself remains unsolved, 83 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: and as far as the year or so that the 84 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: crystal ball spent in Kim Beckle's possession, she told investigators 85 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: that she had used the priceless antique as a hat rack. Today, 86 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: the Nachez Trace Parkway is a two lane road winding 87 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: through the tranquil forests of Tennessee. It's a favorite for hikers, bicyclists, 88 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,119 Speaker 1: and tourists looking for a scenic drive. But two hundred 89 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: years ago, long before the road was paved, the Natchez 90 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: Trace was more than just a place for a quiet getaway. 91 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: It was one of the main routes for traders and 92 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: explorers crossing the American frontier. On a cool autumn evening 93 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh nine, a lone traveler stopped at one 94 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: of the few inns along the remote trail, a log 95 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: cabin called Grinder's Stand. The innkeeper's wife noticed right away 96 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: that the man was behaving strangely. He kept pacing back 97 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: and forth talking to a and she gave him the 98 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: key to the main cabin and started preparing his bed, 99 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: but he told her not to bother he preferred to 100 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: sleep on the floor. Late that night, around three o'clock 101 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: in the morning, the innkeeper's wife was startled by the 102 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: sound of gunshots from the main cabin. She woke up 103 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: the servants and hurried over for them to break open 104 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: the door. Inside, she saw her guest crawling on the 105 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: buffalo hide rug, bleeding from bullet wounds to his head 106 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,799 Speaker 1: and chest. He begged them for a drink of water. 107 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: The servants poured him a glass and helped him sip, 108 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: but that was all they could do for him. There 109 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: were no doctors this far out in the wilderness. By sunrise, 110 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: he was dead. The man's servants were traveling a day 111 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: or two behind him, and they soon arrived at Grinder's 112 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 1: stand carried him along the trail. The man's friends all 113 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: assumed the death was a suicide. He had lifelong struggles 114 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: with depression, and he was dealing with money problems too. 115 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: He'd recently had to leave behind a job that he 116 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: absolutely loved for a desk job, and it was a 117 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: difficult adjust, even drinking heavily to get through the days. 118 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: He even tried unsuccessfully to take his own life just 119 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: a few weeks earlier. But there was something odd about 120 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: the situation. The man was a skilled gunman. He was 121 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: a former soldier and an expert hunter. How could he 122 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: have shot himself twice at point blank range and missed 123 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: badly enough that he survived for hours. Many people, though, 124 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: thought his death was actually a murder. It may have 125 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: been roving bandits searching the trail for someone to rob. 126 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: But another scandalous theory was that the innkeeper had caught 127 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: the man in bed with his wife, and some believe 128 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: that it was an assassination because this man wasn't just 129 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: any old lonesome traveler. He was one of the greatest 130 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: explorers in American history. Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and 131 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: Clark Expedition. There's a conspiracy theory that Lewis was killed 132 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: by James Wilkinson, an army general who served as governor 133 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: of the Louisiana Territory. Wilkinson was secretly a spy for 134 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: the Spanish, and he was also involved in some corrupt 135 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: land deals that Lewis had information about. The idea was 136 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: that Wilkinson had killed Lewis to protect his secrets, and 137 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: while there's no hard evidence to support this theory, it 138 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: has stuck around. Almost forty years after Lewis's death. In 139 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight, a Tennessee State commission opened his grave 140 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: and examined his body. Their final report found that even 141 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: though the death was officially ruled a suicide, it was 142 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: and I quote more probable that he died by the 143 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: hands of an assassin. The commissioners erected a monument over 144 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: Lewis's grave, a broken column symbolizing a life cut short. 145 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: It's still standing there along the Natchez Trace, near a 146 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: replica of the original Grinder's stand. In recent decades, some 147 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: of Lewis's descendants have tried to convince the National Park 148 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: Service to exhume his body again for more forensic testing, 149 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: but the request has been repeatedly denied. Unless they changed 150 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: their minds, the truth about what happened to Meriwether Lewis 151 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: might never be known. He might have been a trail 152 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: blo who navigated a continent, but in the end he 153 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: became lost in the fog of a personal mystery. I 154 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 155 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 156 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 157 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 158 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 159 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 160 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,719 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 161 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.