XC1V 
LIFE OF 
hired at forty or fifty dollars a-trip, to return back on their own 
expenses. Some had upwards of eight hundred miles to travel. 
When they come to a stream that is unfordable, they coast it for 
a fallen tree ; if that cannot be had, they enter with their budget 
on their head, and, when they lose bottom, drop it on their 
shoulders, and take to swimming. They have sometimes fourteen 
or fifteen of such streams to pass in a day, and morasses of several 
miles in length, that I have never seen equalled in any country. 
I lodged this night at one Dobbin’s, where ten or twelve of these 
men lay on the floor. As they scrambled up in the morning, they 
very generally complained of being unwell, for which they gave an 
odd reason, — lying within doors, it being the first of fifteen nights 
they had been so indulged. Next morning (Sunday) I rode six 
miles to a man’s of the name of Grinder, where our poor friend 
Lewis perished.* In the same room where he expired, I took 
down from Mrs Grinder the particulars of that melancholy event, 
which affected me extremely. This house, or cabin, is seventy- 
two miles from Nashville, and is the last white man’s as you enter 
the Indian country. Governor Lewis, she said, came thither about 
sunset, alone, and inquired if he could stay for the night; and, 
alighting, brought his saddle into the house. He was dressed in a 
loose gown, white, stripped with blue. On being asked if he came 
alone, he replied, that there were two servants behind, who would 
soon be up. He called for some spirits, and drank a very little. 
When the servants arrived, one of whom was a negro, he inquired 
for his powder, saying he was sure he had some powder in a canister. 
The servant gave no distinct reply, and Lewis, in the mean while, 
walked backwards and forwards before the door, talking to himself. 
Sometimes, she said, he seemed as if he were walking up to her, 
and would suddenly wheel round, and walk back as fast as he 
could. Supper being ready, he sat down, but had eaten only a few 
mouthfuls, when he started up, speaking to himself in a violent 
manner. At these times, she says, she observed his face to flush 
as if it had come on him in a fit. He lighted his pipe, and, drawing 
* “ It is hardly necessary to state that this was the brave and enterprizing 
traveller, whose journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific Ocean, 
has obtained for him well merited celebrity. The true cause of his committing 
the rash deed, so feelingly detailed above, is not yet known to the public.” 
