Lewis's death
Urged by Jefferson—who from
the first had been keenly
desirous to have the records of the exploration
as soon as possible
made the common property
of the world—it was in 1809
agreed that General Lewis should in
earnest undertake the
work. He was travelling on horseback through
Tennessee,
on his way to
Washington, intending thereafter to go to Philadelphia
to enter upon this editorial task,
when he lost his life
during the night of October 11th. A guest, at the
time, of a wayside settler some sixty miles southwest
of Nashville,
it was reported that he had committed
suicide—a theory which
Jefferson, probably his closest friend,
accepted without question; but it
was and still is believed by
many that he was murdered for the small sum
of money upon
his person at the time.
[33]
