Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-06-20
Strange Death of Meriuether LeDis One of the
UnsolOed Mysteries of EARLY American History

from there to Philadelphia by ship and
thence to Washington. When just q
short way down the river Lewis heard
lrumors Of trouble between the United
States and England, the trouble which
illuminated in the War Of 1872 He
heard rumors Of pirated ships on the
Atlantic and he decided 1t would be
Leaving the river boat at Memphis he
borrowed army horses and pack mules
and started the grueling journey
Through the wilderness toward Wash
ington, the Washington that he was
never to see again. Lewis was sick at
the time and Major John Nicely, In
dian agent of the Cherokee nation,
travelled with him to see that he
reached his destination safely. One
afternoon after the party had been
| travelling overland for a week a ter
rifle thunderstorm struck. In the storm
the pack mules escaped. Governor
Lewis ordered Nicely and the two SER
wants to round them up while he
pushed ahead to the nearest house.
There he would await them.
Meriwether Lewis rode for several
hours through the Tennessee hills. FL !
nally he saw house before him in the !
gathering dusk It was the home of a |
family named Grinder or Grinuer, a |
house many miles from any habitation, |
where travellers along the famous old /
Natchez Trace road sometimes stopped /
to spend the night. Lewis procured /
lodging from Mrs. Grinder. The facts
as to what happened after he entered
the door of that house deep in the
forest are jumbled. For him 1t was
the door of eternity. The following
morning he was found dead on his bed
with several bullet wounds in his body.
Many accounts Of what happened
that stormy night have been given, and
in nearly every account the important
facts differ. Some writers have pic
tured the Grinders as kindly country
folk who gave up their house that the
ailing governor might have good
nights rest; others have pictured the
Grinders as characters OF i'll repute
who had been suspected Of robbing
travellers who passed their way.
A number of historians have drawn r
conclusion that Meriwether Lewis was !
! suicide from the fact that Thomas t
Jefferson said he was. Yet Thomas !
Jefferson's word in this case can really !
larry very little weight for jefferson
vas retired to Monticello, his Virginia (
estate, at the time. The only
word he had of Meriwether Lewis
ieath was hearsay. The evidence gath 2
red at the scene Of the tragedy points 9
Iuite definitely toward a murder 2
he case have concluded that Lewis 8
vas murder victim.
Thomas Jeffersons memoir of Meri- !
Tether Lewis is given in Olin D. ?
Vheeler's account Of Lewis death in y
he monumental Trail of Lewis and 7.
Clark" Jefferson wrote: Governor =
lewis had, from early life, been subject =
o hypochondriac affections. 1t was a
constitutional disposition in all the =
bray ~f1n .T 70 nF zfclo
name, and was more Immediately in y
lerited by him from his father. While =
he lived in Washington, / observed at :,
lines sensible depreSsions of the mind; !,
put, knowing their constitutional y
iource. I estimated their course by Y
What had seen in the family. He was .
n a paroxym of one of these afflic- Z
,ssary for him to go to Washington. = =
&c proceeded to Chicasaw Bluffs, q
where he arrived Sept. Is, 1909, with q =
lew to continuing his journey thence 4
" water. The rumors of war with Eng 7,
and and apprehenSions that he might =
ose the papers he was bringing with e
i'm. among which were vouchers of his
Iublic accounts and the papers of his q
western expedition, induced him there y
o change his mind, and take his course e
" land through the Chicasaw coun- ~
ry. Although he appeared somewhat -
elieved, MIR. Nicely kindly determined "
o accompany him and watch over him 4.
at their encampment, Y
laving passed the Tennessee one days l.
Quincy, they lost two horses, which r.
bliged Mr.. Nicely to halt for their III
ecovery, the governor proceeding, un- III
er a promise to wait for him at the III
ouse Of the first white settler on the
pad. He stopped at the house of Mr..
irinder Cor Grinner), who not being
ONE, his wife. alarmed at symptoms
arrangement she discovered, gave
p the house to him and retired to
sst herself in an clubhouse, the gov
rnors and Neely's servants lodging in
mother. About three o'clock In the L.
ight he did the deed which plunged
is friends into affliction, and deprived I'M
Is country Of one of her most valued fai
items. 1t lost, too, to the nation, the
snefit Of receiving from his own hand ba
lie narrative now offered them of his VII
and successes in endeavor-
q to extend for them the boundaries A.,