Pilot Hickory - Arrow Rock, Missouri - Missouri Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Near this location, Dr. John Sappington built a commodious two-story log house that became the centerpiece on Pilot Hickory farm for what became known as the "Sappington Settlement."  Adjacent to his estate were those of his sons and daughters and their families.  The holdings of this family eventually came to thousands of acres, worked by dozens of slave families and tenant farmers.  Nearby were the estates of wealthy and progressive agriculturists, such as Governor Meredith Miles Marmaduke, John Hardeman, and General Thomas A. Smith.

Within the Sappington Settlement could be found some of the states' most elegant Greek Revival mansions, set amidst formal gardens, where hospitality was dispensed on a legendary scale to celebrated guests.  Influential visitors such as Senator Thomas Hart Benton and Judge Nathaniel Beverly Tuck came for extended visits.

The Sappington Settlement, a center of great agricultural wealth, also wielded great political power.  They and their circle controlled state politics to such an extent as to be known as the "Central Clique" of the Boonslick region.  At the same time these powerful families dominated much of the Santa Fe trade and their economic connections extended to St. Louis, New Orleans and Philadelphia. ~ text of marker