The Van Buren press., 1876-03-21
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description of its Soil
Timber, Minerals. etc, and the
Attraction offered to
Immigrants.

Crawford county is situated on the cx
treme western boundary Of the State adj
joining the Cherokee Nation, and con
tains an area of about 362 900 acIes, I
good portion Of which is river and creet
bottom lands There is in the county
about loo, 900 acres subject to Homestead
or other entry, and about 100000 acres
Of railroad lands, which are now IN the
market, and offered at from 81 90 to
s. per acre according to quality. Other
unimproved lands can be bought at from
$3.50 TO Sl2 90 per acre; and lands port
ly Improved at from $500 10 $1,000 pen
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
it's, more alIuvial lands than r.ost, itnot
al! the other western counties; well.wa-
tered, good timber, and capable Of sup
plying dense population; the present
population is estimated at lZ,000.
Schools and churches abound in all parts
Of the county, there being thirty.three
school districts 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 carding ma
chimes, and large number of steam cot
ton gins, etc, as well as other machi-
merry.
Cotton, corn, wheat, oats and grapes
all do we'll, turning off large crops
Fruit of all kinds--apples. pears, pea
ches, grapes. ete.--afe not exeelled 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 navisabIo
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 We publish below, is taken from
report made from an actual reconnoi-
ssance by Messrs j NJ Washbourne and
}. II Haney, to the L. Il & f. S K. r,
Company, in 1857. Since that time there
have been, Of course, vast improvements
made in tue condition Of the county, in
almost all respects:
"Nery little pine is found in this coun-
W; but 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
ton Of this county. generally, are level
and fertile, rich in grasses, vines, grape
and undergrowth. 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 unproductive. 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 Barren, aud rams
down the river, past the mouth Of Flat
Rock, past the mouth of Frog Bayou or
Clear Greek to the mouth OF Mulberry
The greater part is high, dry, richly tim
bered, with luxuriant growth of vine
shrub and grass; well watered, and as
productive as any land on the Arkansas.
Shales are everywhere exposed, even
in the city in several places. Coal. or
coal indices are found all over the coun-
", but the coal, as rule, is not as thick
as it is in Franklin. On Frog Bayou, a
considerable tributary Of the Arkansas.
at Phillips bank. $ Is. T. 8, r. 30, coal
has heen dug for thrty-t five years; said,
by smiths who have worked it, to be the
best coal in the region, it is three feet
thick and easy to quarry; itextends quite
distance along this Bayou, and is a part
of the Arkansas coal lfeld. This stream
has long been famed for its fine, wide,
high, and rich lands. A few small prai-
res 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 are fac for fruits,
grape and berries. This shale runs into
Van Buren: and in the well sunk for the
steam mill in Van Burcn, coal was struck
as, also, very hard. blue, almost impen-
etrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments of crystal--as, also, on q low
ridge on the land of L. Scott, S. 8, Il 8,
r. 81, and along the hill side, near The
Van Buren, steam mill--are gathered
Limestone occurs at the base of the hluh
Of ferruginous sandstone, above Van
Buren; this bluff of sandstone abuts on
the river, and yields fine building stone /;
and on its height, which is broad table
land. are some of the finest building sites
to be found in his picturesque valley
it is tempting to the wealthy immigrant
This bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, at
its confluence with the Arkansas, and
runs along that stream into the adjoining