WI: Meriweather Lewis Doesn't Die in 1809

Whether by his own hand or anyone else's, what is the next step in the explorer-naturalist-politician's life? Two years after he died, the state finally coughed up the money it owed him to his estate, but he was on his way to D.C. to contest claims of corruption/poor governance IIRC. The theory that he was a drug (opium) addict or an alcoholic can probably be debunked, since the guy gunning for his job (Bates?) never mentions it - which is more than a little odd. He'd have no reason to not name Lewis as a druggie/drunk, which, to my mind suggests that either a) Lewis wasn't, or b) he was but Bates didn't know about it.

So, by the time Lewis gets to D.C., Jefferson's already out of office, so I'm not sure how much help he's going to be. And I'm not sure how Madison's administration would view his gubernatorial politics (if Bates has poisoned that well). Would he get his money back? What would he do if he isn't kept on as Governor of Upper Louisiana? Go into the sciences/exploring further? Take up politics? Get married and father a dozen kids? All of the above? Same questions if he's vindicated and returns as Governor.
 
I must admit, I kinda like the idea of a future President Lewis, although I know so little about U.S. history, I have no idea how likely it is. Him becoming an explorer for hire by some Central/South American government also has it's appeal. He's an outdoorsman, so him being cooped up in a lab or getting some sciences chair at a university doesn't sound very likely. Or if he does,, he'll be one of those professors who's constantly out of class (because he finds faculty politics unbearable or would prefer to be exploring) and delegates the actual teaching job to his TAs.
 
Him becoming an explorer for hire by some Central/South American government also has it's appeal. He's an outdoorsman, so him being cooped up in a lab or getting some sciences chair at a university doesn't sound very likely.

Are there any Latin American governments that would take Lewis? Or were they still all to under Spanish/Portuguese thumbs at the time? Brazil might use him, but since Portuguese is not a language he's likely to have picked up in the continental US (not sure what his capacity for learning languages was), that could mean he has to work through interpreters, at least for a time.
 
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