Mississippi River from the bluffs at Columbus Belmont State Park, Kentucky looking toward Missouri
Hickman County is probably most noted for the Columbus-Belmont State Park located on the bluffs above the Mississippi River. The park contains the anchor and and a portion of the chain with which the Confederate Army tried to block the river and keep the Union Army from controlling it.
Born in Hickman County on December 29, 1954, Robert Burns Smith went on to become the third governor of Montana (1897-1901). Smith was educated in Kentucky, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He began his legal career in Mayfield, Kentucky and continued it in Helena, Montana. As member of the 1884 Montana State Constitutional Convention, he served as U.S. District Attorney, City Attorney of Helena and was elected governor in 1896. Education was a major part of his tenure as he supported the state’s agricultural school in Bozeman, the state university in Missoula and the school of mines in Butte. Smith died on November 16, 1908 and is buried in the Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell, Montana.
Hickman was the 71st county formed, in 1822, and was named for Captain Paschal Hickman of the 1st Rifle Regiment, Kentucky Militia who was killed by Indians in the Massacre of the River Raisin during the War of 1812. Columbus was the original county seat but in 1830 it was moved to Clinton. According to the 2000 Census, Hickman is the least densely populated county in the state.
(Information for this posting was taken from the National Governors Association website at www.nga.org and Wikipedia website at http://en.wikipedia.org)
