Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was born in Albemarle County Virginia on August 18, 1774. He was the second of three children of Lucy and John Lewis. His father died when he was five. Lewis's mother, left to raise her children and run a plantation, soon remarried. From age thirteen to eighteen Lewis attended local schools taught by ministers. When he was eighteen, his stepfather died and Lewis returned home to take over the job of running the plantation.

 Lewis joined the US Army in 1794 and rose to the rank of Captain in 1800. In 1801 Captain Lewis became private secretary to US President Thomas Jefferson. Under Jefferson's direction, Lewis planned an exploration of a route west to the Pacific coast of North America. Lewis invited William Clark to join the expedition, and the two men privately agreed to lead it jointly. In addition to command, Lewis served as the party's naturalist. On the expedition he collected plant, animal, and mineral specimens.  As a reward for his service, Jefferson named Lewis governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1807.

 The famous member of the Corps of Discovery was shot at a tavern  called Grinder's Stand about 70 miles (110 km)  from Nashville, Tennessee, on the Natchez Trace, while en route to Washington, D.C.  His wrists had been cut, and he had been shot in the head and chest. Whether his death was from suicide (as is widely believed) or murder (as contended by his family) has never been conclusively determined.  However, it should be noted that he allegedly attempted to jump into the Mississippi River and drown shortly before his death, and also was reportedly extremely depressed from 1779 until his death in 1809.