Everybody has heard of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806, though not nearly as many people know about Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Lewis died 200 years ago today on the Natchez Trace, near present-day Hohenwald, Tennessee. There is still controversy about his death. Some people think he killed himself. Some think he was murdered. Here is a column by Clay Jenkinson, who knows as much about Lewis as anyone. You're probably wondering what I think, since I'm a longtime student of the expedition. (See page three of this.) I think Lewis killed himself. The two people who knew him best, Thomas Jefferson and William Clark, thought he killed himself, and that's good enough for me. I'm not a dogmatist about this, however. There were people who wanted Lewis dead and had the means to effect it. Here is the National Park Service biography of Lewis. Here is a story from Smithsonian Magazine.
Addendum: If you want to see what sort of leader Lewis was, read this entry from his journal. It is one of my favorites.
Addendum 2: My longtime friend David, who traveled part of the Lewis and Clark trail with me in 1989, sent a link to this audio interview.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 