The Tragic Death of Meriwether Lewis; Murder or Suicide? Meriwether Lewis, famed explorer and one half of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, had conquered mountains, rivers, and Indians while searching for an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean. He was born on October 8, 1774 in Virginia, a place “where the west invited exploration, yet the east provided the opportunity to improve oneself with education and knowledge” (Ambrose, 19). Close friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson had appointed him the first Governor of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase upon his return from the Expedition (Ambrose). In early October 1809, he was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds and several knife wounds at Grinders Inn on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee. The verdict: Suicide. The facts and eyewitness accounts have been controversial since Lewis took his last breath. Grinders Inn was operated by Robert Grinder and his wife Priscilla. The Natchez Trace was an old frontier trail leading from New Orleans to Nashville, and known to be inhabited by highwaymen and robbers (Tennessee History). Lewis was not traveling alone; he was accompanied by his servant. General James Wilkinson had also appointed a Chickasaw Indian agent, Major James Neely, along with his servant, to accompany Lewis. This is where the controversy begins. According to Priscilla Grinder, the group of men arrived in the evening, and in one account (there were three), she stated that Lewis was uneasy and talking to himself “like a lawyer” (Moore). He could not stop pacing. He ate very little …show more content…
Some accounts state that some horses had gotten loose the morning of the incident, and he had gone back to retrieve them. However, court documents had later been uncovered, placing him in Franklin, Tennessee, a solid twenty hour horseback ride away, at the time (Meltzer). How is this possible? How could Neely be on the Trace with Lewis, and in court in