the Natchez Trace

Meriwether Lewis Monument near Grinder's Inn

Before we left for the vacation in Florida I had read Undaunted Courage, the story by Stephen Ambrose of the trip engineered and executed by Lewis & Clark.  I found the story to be fascinating, and learned that Meriwether Lewis died near Grinder's Inn on the Natchez Trace.

My thought was to visit Grinder's Inn on the way to Florida, and view the marker pictured here, but timing and distance got in the way.  Little did we know that my good friend and HS classmate Chuck Helgeland is now living in Franklin, TN, very near the Trace, so we missed out on two opportunities.

The photo is from a postcard, which says on the back The broken shaft design of this monument symbolizes a life ended in its prime.  Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, died under mysterious circumstances at Grinder's Inn, 300 yards south of here on the night of October 11,1809.  Lewis was Governor of Louisiana at the time of his death at age 35.

Perhaps because of all the remedies taken by Lewis during his trip to the West coast he eventually became incapable, and apparently some type of struggle occurred at Grinder's Inn, and the jury is still out as to whether he killed himself or was murdered by some assailant.  That debate continues today and we may never know.

Click the photo for a larger view

While in Natchez we gathered more information and found the Trace was originally an Indian Trail from Natchez to Nashville, and as boating on the Mississippi pre-steamboat became a source for transfer of goods, the boatsmen would travel from as far as Nashville, perhaps by way of the Cumberland River, and on down to New Orleans.

Once there they used the Trace for their return trip home.  Along much of the Trace the soil is loess, which is very silty, and in many places the horses and wagons actually carved out ditches as they followed the path.

We drove the Trace for 20 or 30 miles out of Natchez, just a small portion of the total 444 miles.  There are no services directly on the Trace but numerous historic sites including the Lewis Monument, further north in Tennessee.  The drive is more like a parkway, winding and speed-restricted, so you can't want to get somewhere in a hurry.  Along the way we stopped at a cabin used 200 years ago and visited with the docent who, with his wife, are at the service of the National Park Service, traveling the country and recounting the history at each location where they stop.

I have a goal to stand at Grinder's Inn at some point, but moreso I want to stand on the trail of Lewis & Clark, for as Ambrose wrote, one really needs to stand on the trail they followed at least once in a life to feel the trip that they took.  It's on my bucket list.