Three years after becoming a hero when he returned with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether Lewis committed suicide on Oct. 11, 1809. He was only 35 years old. Lewis was on his way back to Washington, D.C. to answer questions about purchases he had made as Governor to the Louisiana Territory. He was traveling on the Natchez Trace and stopped for the night at an inn called Grinder’s Stand. He took lodging in a log cabin. During the night, Mrs. Grinder heard Lewis talking to himself. Later she heard two gun shots. In the morning, Mrs. Grinder saw Lewis crawling on the ground, begging for water. She was too scared to assist him. His servants found him slashing at himself with a razor. He died soon after of gun shot wounds to this head and abdomen. It was considered a suicide and Pres. Jefferson and William Clark were not surprised. They knew Lewis suffered from depression. Historians attributed the depression to his financial woes and his inability to cope with the boredom of a desk job after the thrills and stress of the expedition. He was having trouble motivating himself to finish his report on the expedition. Others have pointed out his possible alcoholism. He may have had syphilis or malaria. Malaria can lead to dementia. Before he left on the trip, he appointed friends to distribute his possessions if anything happened to him. He composed his will on the trip. This all points to a man who was depressed and felt he was drowning financially, so he shot himself. Although the evidence for his suicide seems strong, some have suggested it was murder. Bandits, Mr. Grinder because he caught Lewis with his wife, or even an assassination plot by the nefarious James Wilkinson have been posited.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/meriwether-lewis-mysterious-death-144006713/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/meriwether-lewis-dies-along-the-natchez-trace-tennessee
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