| Events of October 10, 1809 |
| The Moment in Question: What happened in Lewis' room that fateful night is unkown to everyone but Lewis himself. It is reported that Mrs. Grinder heard a gunshot from Lewis' cabin, then the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. Next, Mrs. Grinder clearly heard Meriwether exclaim "O, Lord!" and then another gunshot from his room. A few minutes after the second shot, she reported seeing Lewis stumble from his cabin and to a nearby water bucket; at the water bucket he begged "O madame, give me some water and heal my wounds!" After an undetermined amount of time next to the bucket, Lewis pulled himself up with the aid of a nearby tree and staggered back to his room. When Mrs. Grinder worked up enough courage, she ordered Lewis' slaves to check on their master. When they entered the room they found him with hundreds of slashes on his body and several gunshot wounds, one of which was so sevre that it was reported that part of the skull had been blown off and his brain exposed. When he saw his slaves he begged them to take one of his pistols and end his life. He said "I am no coward; but I am so strong, so hard to die." His slaves could do nothing for him; they could only watch helplessly as his life slowly ebbed from his body. Shortly before dawn on October 11, Meriwether Lewis was dead. |
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| His Arrival: Meriwether Lewis arrived at a run-down inn 75 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, called Grinder's Stand. He arrived alone, early in the evening. The owner of the inn was away on business, so his wife, Pricilla Grinder, and his two boys were the only ones at the stand. Lewis arrived alone, his slaves and companion were attempting to recapture several horses that had gotten loose from them in the wilderness. Lewis ordered a room and some whiskey to drink, but he drank very little of the alcohol. At dinner he was said to have "quitted his seat and traversed the yard"; he was also said to have "started up, speaking in a vionlent manner" one moment then the next he spoke the hostess in "a kind tone." |
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| Bed Time: As his room was being prepared, Lewis insisted that Mrs. Grinder not make his bed because he would rather sleep ont he floor. He explained that since his expedition into the west he was unable to sleep on anything other than his buffalo robes on the floor. Meriwether called in his servent and told him to prepare his "bed" of the buffalo skins. He then asked his servent for gunpowder, insisting that he knew he had packed some. His servent gave no reply and continued his work; But once his bed wasmade and everyone had left his room, he did not sleep. Instead, he was heard pacing back and forth in his room and talking aloud to himself "like a lawyer" as Mrs. Grinder put it. |
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| (Reproduction of Grinder's Stand) |
| (Interior of a log cabin, similar to the room lewis stayed in) |
| (Monument covering Lewis gravesite in Tenneesse) |