The Van Buren press., 1876-03-07
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description of its Soil,
Timber, Minerals. etc., and tho
Attraction offered to
Immigrants.


Crawford county is situated on the ex
tteme western boundary Of the State, nd
joining the Cherokee Nation, and con
tains an area Of about 362 900 acles,
good portion of which is river aud creel
bottom lands There is in the count,
about 10000 acres subject TO homestead
or other entry, and about 100000 acre,
Of railroad lands, which are now in the
market, and offered at from So 90 tc
81 per acre according to quality. Other
unimproved lands can be bought at from
$3.50 to $l2 200 per acre; and lands part.
ly improved at from s4,00 to $500 pei
acre.
The lands Of Crawford county arc, the
larger part of them exceedingly fertile,
aud the greater part of them susceptible
of cultivation there are, within its lin
its, more allu,ial lands than r.ost, if not
all the other western countless well.wa-
tered, good tiu bcr, and capable Of sup
plying dense population, the present
population is estimated at 1900.
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 froin three to ten
months in the year
There are, in the county, six steam
Touring mills, two wool carding ma.
chimes, and u large number OF steam cot.
ton gins, etc, as well as other machi
merry.
Cotton, corn, wheat, oats aaa grapes
all do well, turning off large crops.
Fruit Of all kinds-appIes. pears, pea
ches, grapes etc.-are not excellcd 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 Koch and Fort Smith Rail.
way (Which will be completed in three
months runs through the entire breadth
of the county, from cast to west and
the Arkansas river, which is navgable
the greattart of the year, runs along the
entire Ength 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.
Thcdescription Of Crawford county,
which wepublish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reconnoi-
'ssance by Messrs NJ. Washbourne and
j. H. Haney, to the l.. r. IL +. S. r. II.
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 plne is found in this conn.
ty but in the adjoining Cherokee coun-
try, commencing nine miles north OF
westward from Van Bnrcn. is one of the
greatest pinerics north of the Arkansas
1t will, hereafter, be very valuable to your
Rohd. The uplandS in the eastern sec
ton 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 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 Buren,, and 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, we'll waterc,l, and as
productive as any land on the Arkansas.
Shalcs are everywhere exposed, even
in the city in several places. Coal, or
coal indiccs are found all over the coun-
ty, but the coal, AS u rule, is not as thick
as it is in Franklin. On Frog Bayou a
considerable tributary of the Arkansas.
at Phillips bank. S. Is. I. 9, X. 80, coal
has been dug for thirty 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-G field, This stream
has long been famed for its fine, wide,
high, and rich lands. A few small prai
rics skirt it, with excellent grasses and
herbs.
On Flat Rock, stream eastward from
Van Buren, two miles, shale is exposed,
and coal has been found. The uplands
along this stream are fine for fruits,
grape and berries This shale runs into
Van Buren; and in the we'll sunk for the
steam mill in Van Buren,, coal was struck
rs, also, very hard, blue, almost mpen.
etrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments of crystal-as, also, on low
ridge on the land Of +. Scott. S. 8, T. 8,
r. 81. and along the hill side, near the
Van Buren, steam mill--are gathered.
Limestone occurs at the base of the blud
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 Lee Creek, a,
its confluence with the Arkansas. and
l.