The Van Buren press., 1876-02-29

| W0flQ.
The Valley of Lees Creek contains
excellent land, both bottom and high
land: these last are, for the most part,
broken, rough and rocky. The Valley
of Lees Creek. with its tributaries, is
probably wider than that Of any other
tributary running into tbs Arkansas, on
the north, within the State, but great
hills and high bluffs of the millstone-
grit sandstones everywhere intersect it,
and yet there are great bodies of fertile
bottom and upland, and thousands of
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
tinn of the country is general and swift
description of them
AT Dripping Springs and vicinage, =.
%, T. 10, r 80, the shale is very thick,
and has an oily and glstening touch and
look Limestone is found here In mass
es protruding 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. 9. T. II, r. 80,
which is on and crosses the Mountain
Fork of Lees Creek the cliff or dam >
is about thirteen feet high, Of dark,
water. resisting, ferruginous sandstone,
and is an effectual and eternal barrier to
the volume of the stream It is most
eligible natural mill site, and an old mill
has been here run for many years. Rich
and wide botto .aaas lie around it and
its neighborhood springs are frequent
and the timber fine; coal shales are dis
closed in many places; it is distant from
Van Buren eighteen miles northward.
On Lees Creek, still northward from
Van Buren,, 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
quarried and in quantity 1t is known
as the Wooten bank. This coal. like all
the coal in this field, improves in quality
and thickness as it is penetrated
Near Robert Sutherand's, on Lees
Creek, S II, T. IL, r 80, is coal bed
which has been worked; its thickness we
do not know The bottom and uplands
here are fertile. Grapes abound on the
hillsides, as they do elsewhere in Craw
ford. The water is abundant and good
shales occur from this to Joseph Bry-
ants, on Lees Creek, at the foot of Bos.
ton Mountains, s. 20, 7. II, r. 81, with
occasional outcrop of limestone. Great
bluffs of sandstone rise up. and are full
of iron, and yield a good building rock.
| The timber is excellent, white oak being
among the prevalent oaks, and pine be-
ing absent A short distance from Bry-
ants. from the Boston Mountain. runs
the Blackhurn's Fork of Lees Creek.
rich in coal banks. This is a 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 btumin
Gus Coal has also, for years, been quar-
ried and transported from pits on Cove
Creek. a tributary of Lees Creek, in the
northwest corner of Crawford. it has
been hauled by smiths forty miles. This
coal IS very good, its thickn ess is about
twenty seven inches Boston Mountain
is famous Tor its very rich benches, hill
slopes and table lana, the soil being Ell
richcd by The limestone aud the ierru-
| ginous earths therein; it is covered wit!i
| ur,, 9Th ,f hor Snoh /,
walnut, pawpaw, oak. rich underground,
vines and shrubs. 1t is peculiarly adap-
/ ted for grape. tobacco, and pastures, the
numerous springs atfording plenty of
water In early times cane (reeds) grew
on their tops; itproduces extrsordinari-
ly Of all the grains, corn and grasses
Pine is absent,
In the neighborhood Of Shannon's
Mill, S. 10, I 10, Il. 80, 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 lowlands rich. Coal
shales also display in this tract of the
county.
There is saline spring in S, 80, I. IL,
r. 80, from which the brine. many years
ago, was worked, and the yield of salt
good Boring, without doubt, would
bring stronger brine, and make its boil
ing profitable to the salt manufacturer,
even in this close proximity to the ex
haustless saline waters, springs and de
posits Of the east Cherokee country. In
sections 80 and "a are 'Heard's and PEN
nywit's sulphur springs from which
run health giving waters, and which sre
famous in their locality. The precipi-
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" aud chalybeate springs
in this county.
On Frog Bayou, or Clear Creek. near
Fraziers Gin, the land is fine, as Frog
Bayou land always is.
The land is exceedingly fertile. the
timber most excellent, the range une-
quaied aud the water wholesome--gen
orally obtained for house use by digging,
or in cisterns, aud abundance of stock
water eyprvwhprp There is no hptter