The Van Buren press., 1876-03-07

excellent land, both bottom and hql
land, these last are, for the most part
broken, rough and rocky. The Vale,
of Lees Creek, with its tributaries, i.
probably wider than that of any othei
tributary running into tbs Arkansas, OF
the north. within the State. but grea
hills and high bluffs of the milestone,
+ grit sandstones everywhere intetseet it
and yet there are great bodies of fertile
bottom and upland, and thousands pi
homes awaiting the immigrant and the
advent Of your road. AS elsewhere and
repeatedly remarked, the railroad lands
pierce this valley from Little Rock to Ft.
Smith, and general and swift descrip.
tion of the country is general and swift
description of them.
AT Dripping Springs and vicinage, s.
%, L. 10, L 80, the shale is very thick,
and has an oily and gistcning touch and
look. Limestone is found here in mass
es protrudng from the earth wide
tract of fertile land surrounds it. 1t is
nine miles northward from Van Buren.
At Mrs Forts, S. II, I l, r. 80, on
Lees Creek, coal is visible in its bed the
thickness of this coal is untested and so
is its quality. Ponderous blocks, water.
worn, Of carbonate iron are abundant :;
there is some pine on the hills. which are
lofty
AT Natural Dam, S, 0, L. II, r. 80,
which is on and crosses the Mountain
Fork OF Lees Creek, the clih or " dam y
is about thirteen feet high, of IA dark,
water resisting, ferrusinous sandstone,
and is an etiectual and eternal barrier to
the volume of the stream t is a most
eligible natural mill site, and an old mill
has been here run for many years. Rich
and wide bottom lands lie around 1t and
its neighbofhood; springs are frequent
and the timber 6ne; coal shales are dis
closed in many places, it is distant from
Van Buren, eighteen miles northward.
On Lees Creek, still northward from
Van Barren, is fine coal bed, Of the
thickness of twenty. eight to thirty two
inches Coal has been tried by smiths,
and by them termed fine 1t is easily
quarfied and in quantity. 1t is known
as the Wooten bank. This coal, like all
the coal in this field, improves in quality
and thickness rs it is penetrated
Near Robert Sutherland's, on Lees
Creek, y L. L. IL, r 32, is coal bed
which has been worked its thickness we
do not know. The bottom and uplands
here are fertile Grapes abound on the
hilsiaes. as they do elsewhere in Gfaw
ford The water is abundant and good
shnlcs occur from this to Joseph Bry.
ants, on Lees Creek, at the foot of Bos.
ton Mountains, S. 20, I. II, r. 81, with
occasional outerop of limestone Great
bluffs o! sandstone rise up, and are full
of iron, and yield good building rock.
The timber is excellent white oak being
among the prevalent oaks, and pine be-
ing nbsent. A short distance from Bry-
ants, from the Boston Mountain. runs
the Blackburn's Fork of Lees Creek,
rich in coal banks. This is good, work
able coal, exposed for thirty inches has
been Used by smiths for years, and into
which have been sunk fourteen pits This
coal, like the great body of the coal so
far used in this valley, is semi bitumn
Gus, Coal has also, for years, been quar-
riea aud transported from pits on Cove
Creek, tributary OF Lees Creek, in the
northwest corner of Crawford 1t has
been hauled by smiths forty miles This
coal is very good, its thickness is about
twenty seven inches Boston Mountain
is famous for its very rich benches, hill
slopes and table land, the soil being en-
riched by the limestone and the terru-
ginous carths therein; it is covered with
bottom growth of timber, such as ash,
walnut, pawpaw, oak, rich undergrowth,
vines and shrubs. 1t is peculiarly adap-
ted for grape, tobacco, and pastures, the
numerous springs afording plenty of
water In early times cane (reeds J grew
on their tops; itprodnces extraordinari.
ly of all the grains, corn and grasses
Pine is absent
In the neighborhood of Shannons
Mill, S, 10, T. 10, X. 30, on Cedar Creek
which EN- ties into Frog Bayou, quartz
fragments have been discovered, and lead.
also, The water is sufficient for the SUP
ply Of mills, and the lowlunds rich. Coal
shales also display in this tact of the
county.
There is a saline spring in S 81, I. IL,
Il. 30, from which the brine. IN tny years
ago, was worked, ana the Weld of salt
good, Boring, without doubt, would
bring stronger brine, and make its boil
ing profitable to the salt manufacturer,
even i'll this close proX nifty to the ex-
hausucss saline waters, springs and de-
posits Of the east Cherokee country. In
sections 81 aud "a are 'Heartfs and Pen
nywlt's sulphur springs, from which
run health giving waters, aud which srp
famous in their locality The precip-
tates are white, and were they improved
by digging. cleansing them out and wall
ed. they would probably equal springs in
Virginia and Kentucky, and become a
resort for spring visitors. There are
other " sulphur" and chaly bcate springs
in this county.
On Frog Bayou, or Clear Creek, near
Frazier Gin, the land is fine, as Frog
| Bay on land always is.
The land is exceedingly fertile, the
| timber most excellent, the range une-
qualed and the water whulesome--~gen
orally obtained for house use by diggmg.
or in cisterns, and abundance of stock
water everywhere, There is no better
tract inviting the immigrant, none better
for the occupation to be made by the Ia
.borers on your road"
The county seat of Crawford conntv