Formed, 1845, out of Hickman Co. Part of Jackson Purchase from the Chickasaw Indians in 1818. Named for Robert Fulton, whose CLERMONT, best known of early steamboats, went up the Hudson River in 1807. Far western part of the county, known as Madrid Bend, separated from rest by bend of Mississippi River. Hickman, county seat, was founded as Mills' Point in 1834.