Louisiana, an early Mississippi River port at the confluence of the river and Noix Creek, was settled in 1817 when John Bryson pre-empted land there, and in 1818 Samuel Caldwell and Joel Shaw of Kentucky founded the town on land bought from him. Settlers were in the vicinity as early as 1810, and about 2 miles southeast 15 families took refuge at Buffalo Fort during the War of 1812. The Pioneer Stark cabin, built by horticulturist James Hart Stark, was moved from the nearby hills, restored, and opened as a museum in 1952. Stark had planted an orchard there in 1816 with grafted scions brought from the family's Kentucky orchard, considered the first grafted apple trees west of the Alleghenies, and under his descendants it became one of the oldest and largest commercial nurseries in the world. Louisiana became known for the Delicious apple developed there and grown throughout the world, many of Luther Burbank's experiments were carried on there, and in 1934 the Stark Nursery obtained the first patent granted a fruit. A prominent supply stop for pioneers bound for the Salt River Country, the city flourished as a river port until the railroads came and early became a trade and industrial center. Laid out in the year Pike County was organized, it served as county seat until 1824, when centrally located Bowling Green succeeded it. The slang term "Pike" or "Piker" derives from this county and came into use for natives of the region who joined the '49 Gold Rush. The county was named for explorer Zebulon M. Pike. Among those associated with Louisiana were Lloyd C. Stark, Governor of Missouri from 1937 to 1941; John B. Henderson, U.S. Senator and promoter of the 13th and 15th Constitutional Amendments, who had law offices there; Champ Clark, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who had law offices there and taught there before moving to nearby Bowling Green; and scientist R.R. Rowley, who taught there. The third Missouri railroad bridge across the Mississippi opened there in 1873, and the Champ Clark Highway Bridge was dedicated there in 1928.