Meriwether Lewis

When I was young I knew basically about what Lewis and Clark did. Later I read about how Meriwether Lewis died. I remember being shocked. He was staying at some kind of inn and was either murdered or killed himself. Either of those seemed awful. How does either of those happen to a famous, important person like that. He faced all kinds of dangers in going to the Pacific and back. How do robber get the best of him? Or suicide. I knew fame assures people of a lifetime of happiness and contentment. Neither made sense. I remembered thinking, "If I could just go to that site, I bet I could figure it out." Now, I don't know why I thought that, but I was young and stupid at the time.

The site is in Tennessee and I'm really glad I wen there. The cabin he stayed at no longer exists, buy you can see the foundation of where it stood. His grave is nearby. Also, the location is right on the Natchez Trace, which was fun to see itself. I walked about a mile of it.

I know there are some that hold to the notion he was robbed, but that's not what happened. At the site they had reports from the innkeeper that talks about his irrational behavior that night - talking to himself, picking fights, and just generally acting weird. There were no signs of any other intruders or a robbery taking place. At the time, he was on his way to Washington, because they had some questions about how he had used some government funds. He probably had done nothing wrong, but it would have caused some anxiety in a person that was already a little off his nut. I had read that earlier in his life, when he was Jefferson's secretary, he had some problems dealing with depression. I hadn't thought about it before, but having to go through life with a name like Meriwether couldn't have helped.

All in all, pretty clear what happened. It still makes me said to think about his tough life and his sad end.