National Park Service - Lewis and Clark (Point Ellice Campsite)

On October 11, 1809, Meriwether Lewis, American soldier, public administrator, and explorer (Lewis & Clark Expedition), died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 35 along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee at an inn called Grinder's Stand. From the article:

"National Park Service - Lewis and Clark (Meriwether Lewis Park (Natchez Trace Parkway))
This park, a unit of Natchez Trace Parkway, contains the site of the frontier inn where Meriwether Lewis died and his grave—far from that of his partner in discovery, Clark. The parkway, a scenic road now about two-thirds completed, generally follows the route of the old Natchez Trace, which extended from Natchez to Nashville. Originally a prehistoric Indian trail and later used by the Spaniards, French, British, and Americans, the trace was for several centuries an important trade and emigrant road in the old Southwest.

On October 10, 1809, Lewis was traveling along the trace en route from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., where he hoped to straighten out his affairs as Governor of Louisiana Territory and conduct other business. That morning, his traveling companion, Maj. James Neelly, had remained behind to look for two lost packhorses. Lewis and the two servants accompanying him stopped for the night at an inn named Grinder's Stand. In the early hours of the morning, Lewis died of two gunshot wounds, apparently self-inflicted. Neelly, arriving later that morning, buried his body nearby.

gravesite monument to LewisMonument to Lewis at his gravesite, in Meriwether Lewis Park, Natchez Trace Parkway. The broken column is symbolic of his untimely death. (National Park Service.)
Although some writers have contended Lewis was assassinated for political reasons or murdered, possibly while being robbed, his agitated mental state during most of the trip, reflected in two previous attempts to kill himself, and the recorded circumstances of his death stress the probability of suicide. Also, before he left St. Louis, he had granted to three of his friends power of attorney so they could dispose of his property to satisfy his creditors. And, en route, on September 11, he prepared a last will and testament. Whatever the facts surrounding his death, his sudden and tragic demise at an obscure place in a remote wilderness ended the career of one of the Nation's most noted explorers.

Except for a "post fence" built in 1810, the gravesite remained unmarked until 1848. That year, the State of Tennessee erected a broken column, symbolizing Lewis' untimely death at the age of 35."