The Van Buren press., 1876-03-28
CRAWFORD COuNffa
k#Hk
1 Brief Description Of its Soil,
Timber, Minerals. etc, and the
Attraction offered to
Immigrants.
Immigrants.


joining the Cherokee Nation, and con
tains an area of about 362 900 acies.
good portion. Of which is river aud cseel
bottom hnds There is III the count,
about lG0,000 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
81 per acre according to quality. Other
unimproved lands can be bought at from
Sa,50 to S1a go per acre, aud lands part.
" improved at from Si,o0 to $500 pei
acre G5fa
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 allupal lands than r.pst, ifnot
all the other western counties, well.wa-
tered, good tin Der, 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 from three to ten
months in the year .Sr T
There are, in the county, Six steam.
Touring mills, two wool carding ma
chimes, and alargenumber of steam.cot
Ii N r.
ton gins, etc, as we'll as other maclli.
merry.
Cotton, corn, wheat, oats and grapes
I'll do well, turning of large crops.
Fruit of all kinds-applss. pears, pen.
ohes, grapes. ete.-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 cast to west, and
the Arkansas river, which is naYigablc
the great part OF the year, runs along the
entire length of its southern boundary,
thus giving to the citizens of the coun-
" ample shipping facilities, and such as
are not enjoyed By many Of her sister
counties. Nm
The description Of Crawford county,
which we publish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reeonnui-
ssanee by Messrs NJ. Washbourne and
J. H. Haney, to the l.. r 4 +. S. r. Il.
Company, in 1857. Since tha, time there
have been, Of course, vast Improvement
made In the condition of the county, in
almost all respects: al % @#
"Nery little pine is found in this coun-
g.; bat in the adjoining Cherokee cout,-
try, commencing nine miles north of
westward from Van Buren,, is one Of the
greatest pinerics north OF the Arkansas
1t will, hereafter, be very valuable to your
Rold. The uplands in the eastern sec-
ton OF this county, generally, are level
and fertile, rich in grasses, vines, grape
aud underground. Springs are common
in parts, and water obtained with read-
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 tue finest tracts Of bottom land
begins in the city o! Van Baren, and rans
down the river, past the mouth Of Flat
Rock, past the mouth Of Frog Bayou or
Clear Creek to the mouth of Mulberry,
The greater part is high, dry, richly9thm
bcrcd, with luXuriant growth Of vine,
shrub and grass; well watercd, 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-
ty, but the coal, as a rule, is not as thick
a. it is in Franklin. On Frog Bayou, a
considerable tributary of the Arkansas.
at Phillips bank. S Is. 4. 9, X. 80, coal
has been dug for thirty-iiye 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; itcxtends quite
a distance along this Bayou, and isa par,
Of the Arkansas coal-leld. This stream
has long been famed Tor 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
aud coal has been found. The uplands
along this stream are fine for fruits,
grape and berries. This shae runs into
Vau Buren,; and III the well sunk for the
steam mill in Van Buren,, coal was struck
-, also, q very hard. blue, almost impen-
etrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments Of crystal--as, also, on low
ridge on the land of E. Scott. s. 8, r Q,
r. 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 Ven
Duren, this bluff OF sandstone abuts on
the river. and yields fine building stone /,
snd on Its height, which is broad table
land, are some Of the finest buldny sites
~ be found in his picturesque valley
itis tempting to the wealthy immigrant.
This bluff fronts, also, on Lees Greek, at
its confluence with the Arkansas, and
runs along that stream into the adjoining
hills; the mouth Of this stream il in S.
l6, T. 8, r. So; opposite the bluif, across
the creek. is high hill in which lead was
ound many years ago--it was probably