Thomas Jefferson Pettigrew

Named by his mother Thomas Jefferson Pettigrew, the "special horseman" who delivers the mail from Nashville to the Mississippi settlement is a "fragile wisp of a man ageless, hairless, and toothless, who looked too frail even to approach a horse, let alone ride one six hundred miles every two weeks, yet who did so" (208). Pettigrew becomes deeply involved in the dispute over the lost lock. He then becomes central to the naming of Jefferson. His arguments against the various proposals for dealing with the lost lock show detailed knowledge of bureaucratic federal regulations - and ultimately how to evade them.