Meriwether Lewis Site Review: Natchez Trace National Parkway

The Meriwether Lewis stop can be found at mile 385.9 along the Natchez Trace National Parkway. Meriwether Lewis lived 1774-1809 and was the Senior Commander on the Lewis and Clark expedition. He also served as a private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson, Captain in the US Army, and Governor of Louisiana from 1807 until his death in 1809.

Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and sent Lewis and William Clark to explore and assess the resources in the new acquisition, a trip that took them three years and can be called either "the Lewis and Clark Expedition" or "the Corps of Discovery Expedition." The most notable thing about their expedition is that they were able to make an overland trip all the way to the Pacific Ocean, proving that this was possible.

The monument is here because this is where Meriwether Lewis died and is buried. In addition to the campground here, there is a memorial for him. It's a kind of pillar on a pedestal in the midst of a large circle of grass. There's also a sign there that provides some basic details about his life.

This is an important stop along the Natchez Trace National Parkway because in addition to the memorial and gravesite, there are also camping, bathrooms, hiking (including a wheelchair accessible trail), an information station, and a picnic area here. The information station is located inside a 1930s cabin on the property near Grinder's Stand, where Lewis actually died. There's some amount of mystery surrounding his death, which was by gunshot and never definitively declared either a murder or a suicide.

We didn't take the time to do any of the hikes, but the memorial itself is worth seeing and we'll stop here again if we drive this way. Hopefully to camp, but at the very least to check out the trails in this area and have a picnic. It's a beautiful area, with a lot of trees (except around the memorial itself), and I hope to return and enjoy it in more depth.