Meriwether Lewis on the Natchez Trace

MERIWETHER LEWIS ON THE NATCHEZ TRACE, 1809

This scene depicts Meriwether Lewis traveling the Natchez Trace en route to Washington to dispute denial of payment vouchers that he had submitted for reimbursement from his time as Governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory.  It was beautiful autumn weather in October of 1809.

Near here, on October 11, at Grinder's Stand 72 miles short of Nashville, most historians believe that Lewis, suffering from depression and anxiety, shot himself in the head and died the following morning. Thomas Jefferson had much earlier noted Lewis's depressions, when he served as the President's secretary, and believed that the illnesses ran in the Lewis family.