The Van Buren press., 1876-04-29

! WI li
The Valley of Lees Creek contains
excellent land, both bottom and high
| iand 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 sahdstnnes everywhere nterseet 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.
ton Of the country is general and swift
description of them.
AT Dripping Springs and vicinage, S
%, I. 10, Il 80, the shale is very thick.
and has an oily and glistening touch and
look. Limestone is found here in mass
es protrading from the earth; wide
tract of fertile land surrounds it. 1t is
nine miles northward from Van Buren.
AT Mrs Forts, S, II, 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 arc abundant;
there is some pine on the hills. which are
lofty.
At Natural Dam, S. 8. 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, ferrugnous sandstone,
and is an effectual and eternal barrier to
the volume of the stream, 1t is a most
eligible natural mill site, and an old mill
has been here run for many years Rich
and wide bottom lands 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 I
Van Buren, eighteen miles Horthward
On Lees Creek, still northward from
Van Buren,, is n 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
quarriea 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 Sutherland's, on Lees
Creek, S II, I. II, 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
as they do elsewhere in Craw
ford. The water is abundant aud good
shaies occur from this to Joseph Bry.
ants. on Lees Creek, at the foot Of Bos.
ton Mountains, S. 30. Il. IL, r. 81, with
occasional outerop Of limestone. Great
bluffs of sandstone rise up, and are full
Of iron. and yield good building roek
The timber is excellent, white oak being
among the prevalent oaks, and pine be-
ing absent A short distance from Bry. I
ants, from the Boston Mountain, runs
the Blaekhnrn's Fork of Lees Greek. |
rich in coal banks. This is good, work I
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 bitumin
Gus. Coal has also. for years, been quar-
riad ana t'~-~tre-tsi Froru PITT, un Cove I
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 thickness is about
twenty seven inches. Boston Mountain
is famous for its very rich benches, hill |
slopes and table land, The soil being en-
richcd by the limestone and the terru-
ginous earths therein; it is covered with
bottom growth of timber. such as ash,
walnut, pawpaw, oak, rich underground,
vines and shrubs. 1t is peculiarly aaap.
ted for grape, tobacco, and pastures, the
numerous springs aHording plenty of
water. In early times cane (reeds grew
on their tops, itprodnces cxtraordnari-
lv of all the grains, corn and grasses.
Pine is absent.
In the neighborhood of Shannons
Mill, S. 10, I. 10, r. 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, +. II,
r. 32, 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 81 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 p" sulphur and chalybcate springs
in this county.
On Frog Bayou, or Clear Creek, near
Frazier's Gin, the land is fine, as Frog
Bayou land always is.
The land is exceedingly fertile. the
timber most excellent, the range une-
qualed aud the water wholesome-gen
orally obtained for house use by digging,
or in cistprns, and abundance of stock
water everywhere, There is no better
tract inviting the immigrant, none better
for the occupation to be made by the Ia
borers on your road
The county seat of Crawford ronntv