Pale Moon Rider

Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness

"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway we are visiting the Meriwether Lewis exhibit and are going to listen to part of Pale Moon Rider, a song written about the danger posed by robbers along this early National Road.

"Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition died here in 1809. In 1848 the state of Tennessee erected a monument at Lewis's grave, which visitors can see at this exhibit. The monument is a broken shaft symbolizing the early death of a promising life. The surrounding County is also called Lewis County.

"To this day there is some question about his death. Was it the suicide of a troubled young man? Or had Lewis, in his post as governor of Louisiana, discovered something about his predecessors, General Wilkinson and associates, that they wouldn't allow him to report to Washington? Too, the Trace was notorious for its criminals and bandits. Was Lewis robbed and murdered?

(SONG CLIP PERFORMED HERE)

Highwaymen are coming.
They're on a dead run through the cane break.
Hide all the women and the silver and the gold,
Highwaymen, on the road.
Don't you be fooled by all those fancy clothes,
He's a highwayman and he's a rogue.

"Join us next time when we will visit PHOSPHATE MINE. I'm Frank Thomas, Your guide along the Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com