Exploring the Meriwether Lewis Mystery

A Day Away By Mike Steely

The Natchez Trace is one of the oldest routes in our state and runs as a two-lane parkway from southwest Nashville all the way to Natchez, Mississippi. The route is dotted with historic spots here and there but nothing is as interesting or mysterious as the grave of explorer Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame.

My wife and I ventured down the trace years ago, camping here and there in our little cab-over RV, and spent a day exploring the Lewis gravesite. Along the historic trace are places where the original path can be seen rutted deep in the earth.

Lewis, who before that venture to the Pacific, was secretary to President Thomas Jefferson. Following the big trip, he served as governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory. Lewis was traveling to Washington, D.C., when his life ended abruptly near what is now Hohenwald, Tennessee.

In September of 1809, Lewis began his journey to Washington, D.C., to document and defend his spending of government funds, publish expedition journals, and meet with former President Thomas Jefferson.

He was escorted by Chickasaw Agent James Neely as they traveled along the Old Natchez Trace and stopped overnight at the inn operated by the Grinder family. Mrs. Grinder fed them and made up a room for Lewis. That night the family heard several gunshots and found Lewis with wounds to his head and chest. He died the next morning at 35 years of age and it remains a mystery if the noted explorer killed himself or if someone else murdered him.

Before entering the trace, Lewis left a journal, much of his possessions, and a will with his mother at Fort Pickering near Memphis.

At milepost 385.9 on the parkway, you'll find a park with the Lewis monument at his grave and you can also visit interpretive exhibits in a log cabin near the site of Grinder's Stand, the inn where he stayed.  The monument, designed to look broken or incomplete, has a quote from Thomas Jefferson about Lewis' courage.

The park has a free campground with few services, a picnic area, hiking trails and restrooms. His grave was located many years earlier after a large search and the broken shaft monument placed atop his remains.

While visiting the gravesite and park you may want to drive the seven miles from Grinder's Stand to Hohenwald and take in the museum there, said to have one of the largest trophy mount collections. The small town is also the home of the Elephant Sanctuary, the largest natural habitat for elephants in our nation.

Hohenwald, originally called New Switzerland, is German for "High Forest" and was founded by Swiss immigrants when the railway came through the area. Hohenwald is the county seat of Lewis County, named for the young explorer, with a population of about 4,000 people.

If you like, you can travel the Natchez Trace Parkway all the way to the southern end or you can double back along several routes in returning to Knoxville. If you venture further south you could spend the day in Tupelo, Mississippi, and visit the "shotgun" home of Elvis Presley's birthplace.

You can find the Meriwether Lewis gravesite and park on the internet. You may also call the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce there at (931) 796-4084.

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