On This Date – October 11, 1809 – Meriwether Lewis commits suicide or is murdered on the Natchez Trace!
On the morning of October 11, 1809 the innkeeper at Grinder’s Stand on the Natchez Trace about 70 miles southwest of Nashville heard gunshots. Soon servants found Meriwether Lewis badly injured from gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Lewis died shortly after sunrise that morning. Lewis had stopped at the …