The Van Buren press., 1876-04-18
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
\ Brief Description Of its Soil,
Timber, Minerals. ETC., and the
Attraction offered to
Immigrants.


Crawford county is situated on tho cX
t:sme western boundary Of the State, ad
joining the Cherokee Nation, and con
tains an area Of about 362,0 900 acles,
good portion Of which is river and creel
bottom lands. There is in the count,
about 100, 900 acres subject to Homestead
or other entry, and about 100000 acres
Of railroad lands, which are now in thu
market, and offered at from 500 tt
s. per acre according to quality. Othel
unimproved lands can be bought at from
$3.50 TO $1,000 per acre; aud lands part
ly improved at from $500 to $500 pei
acre.
The lands Of Crawford county are, the
larger part of them exceedingly fertile
and the greater part of them susceptible
Of cultivation; there are, within its lin.
its, more allnvial lands than H.ost, if no,
all the other western counties; well
tered, good timber, and capable Of sup.
plying dense population; the presen,
population is estimated at 10000
Schools and churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being thirty three
school-distrlcts in the county. in which
free schools are taught from three to ten
months in the year.
There are, in the county, six steam
Touring mills, two wool cardipg ma.
chimes, aud a large number Of steam cot.
ton gins, etc, as well as other machi-
merry.
Cotton, corn, wheat, oats and grapes
all do well, turning off large crops.
Fruit Of all kinds--apples. pears, pea.
ches, grapes. etc.-are not excelled any
where; in short, the agricultural prod
ucts of our fertile lands will vie in rich.
ness and quality with those Of the most
favored locality in the union.
The Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail.
way (Which will be completed in three
months runs through the entire breadth
of the county, from east to west; and
the Arkansas river, which is navigable
the great part of the year, runs along the
entire length Of its southern boundary,
thus giving to the citizens of the coun-
ty ample shipping facilities, and such as
are not enjoyed by many of her sister
counties.
The description of Crawford county,
which wepublish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reconnoi-
ssance by Messrs j NJ Washbourne and
j. II. Haney, to the l.. r. 4 f. S. r. Il.
Company, in 1857. Since that time there
have been. Of course, vast improvements
made in the condition Of the county, in
almost all respects:
Very little pine is found in this coun-
ty; bnt in the adjoining Cherokee coun-
try, commencing nine miles north Of
westward from Van Buren, is one of the
greatest pineries north of the Arkansas
1t will. hereafter, be very valuable to your
Road. The uplands in the eastern sec
tion Of this county. generally, are level
and fertile, rich in grasses, vines, grape
and underground. Springs are common
in parts, and water obtained with readi-
ness by digging These lands are,uuder-
laid by ferruginous shales and clays, and
where uuproductive, can be made so by
material existing there or in the hills.
One of the finest tracts of bottom land
begins IN the city of Van Buren, and rams
down the river, past the.smouth of Flat
Rock, past the mouth Of Frog Bayou or
Clear Creek to the mouth of Mulberry.
The greater part is high, dry, richly tim
bered, with luxuriant growth of vine,
shrub and grass; we'll watered, and as
productive as any land on the Arkansas
Shalcs are everywhere exposed, even
in the city in several places. Coal, or
coal indices are found all over the coun-
W but the coal. as q rule, is not as thick
as it is in Franklin. On Frog Bayou, a
considerable tributary of the Arkansas.
at Phillips bank. S. Is. L 8, r. 80, coal
has been dug for thirty five years; said,
Uy otnisuS Uho uaNC Noihcu IL, W NC tiS
best coal in the region; it is three feet
thick and easy to quarry; It extends quite
a distance along this Bayou, and is part
of the Arkansas coal This stream
has long been famed for its fine, wide,
high, and rich lands. A few small prai
ries skirt it, with excellent grasses and
herbs.
On Flat. Rock, a stream eastward from
Van Buren, two miles, shale is exposed,
and coal has been found The uplands
along this stream arc fine for fruits,
grape and berries This shale runs into
Van Buren; and in the well sunk for the
steam mill iuVan Buren, coal was struck
as, also, a very hard. blue, almost mpen
etrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments Of erysta!--as, also, on los
ridge ON the land of L. Scott, S. 8, L. 0
II. 81. and along the hill side, near The
Van Buren steam mill--are gathered
Limestone occurs at the base of the bluff
Of ferruginous sandstone, above Var
Buren,; this bluff of sandstone abuts OF
the river, and yields fine building stone
aud on its height, which is broad tabl,
land, are some of the finest building site.
10 be found in his picturesque valley
it is tempting to the wealthy immigrant
This bluff fronts, also, on Lee Creek, q
its confluence with the Arkansas, ane
runs along that stream into the adjoinin.