I stood on the cliff at Cape Disappointment, wind in my face, the Pacific grumbling below. Behind me, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center kept watch like a lighthouse for memory. This is where the Corps of Discovery met saltwater and fog, where maps ran out and America looked bigger than any drawing on parchment. I went to touch that edge, and to meet the shadow of a man who helped find it.

Tonight we talk about Meriwether Lewis, not the statue but the person. Soldier and observer, partner to Clark, tough in the wilderness and troubled in rooms full of ledgers. He carried Jefferson’s hopes across mountains, then carried debts and doubts that bit harder than winter rain. From triumph at the Pacific to a death that raises questions, his life reads like a warning and a promise. Join me as we chase the man behind the myth together.