The Van Buren press., 1878-11-05
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of Its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, etc., etc.
AND THE
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

Crawford County, Arkansas, IS sltuat
ed on the extreme Western boundary o
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
aud contains an area of about 362, 00t
acres, good portion of which is river
and creek bottom lands. There is in the
County nearly 10000 acres subject to
homestead or other entry, and about 20.
/ 900 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at from
81 to $500 per acre, according to quail
ty. Other unimproved lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
to $1,000, per acre.
The Lands of Crawford County are,
the larger part of them, exceedingly fer.
tile, and the greater part of them suscept-
ible of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more alluvial lands than most. if
not all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, and capable of
supporting a dense population. The
present population is estimated at 900.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty-eight
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools ere taught from three to ten
months in the year
There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool .carding ma
chimes, and a large number of Steam
Cotton Gins, DC, DC, as well as other
machinery.
Cotton, Corn, Wheat, Oats, Tobacco
Grasses, Grapes, etc. all do well, turning
off large crops.
Fruits of all kinds: Apples, Pears,
Peaches, Grapes, etc, are not excel!ea
anywhere, and in this connection We may
state, that at the Arkansas State Fair,
held at Little Rock last Fall. the first end
second premiums were awarded Crawford
County for the best and largest display
Of Apples exhibited; the eontesting ex-
hibits being large and numerous. In
short, the agricultural products of our
fertile lands will vie in richness and quail.
ty with those of the most favored locai-
ty in the Union.
The Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail
way, runs through the entire breadth of
the county from east to west And the
Arkansas River, which is navigable the
greater part of the year, runs along the
entire length of its southern boundary,
thus giving to the citizens of the county
ample shipping facilities, and such as are
not enjoyed by many of her sister coun-
ties.
The description of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from
report made from an actual reconnois-
sance by Messrs. J. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II. Haney, to the l.. r. d f. S. Rail.
way, in 1857, Since that time there has
been of course, vast improvements made
in the condition of the county, in most
all respects:
"Very little pine is found in this County
but In the adjoining Cherokee Country, com
meneing nine miles north of westward from
Van Buren,, Is one Of the greatest pineries
north of the Arkansas River 1t will hereaf-
ter, be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands In the eastern section f this county,
generally, are level and Iertie rish ip Trass
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are I'M
derlaid by terruginous shales and clays, and
where unproductye, can be made so by ma
terial existing there or in the hills. One OF
the finest tracts of bottom land begins in the
city of Van Buren,, and runs down the river,
past VIC uioutn VI FEOS Day Ou OF llcuT NTcpk
to the mouth of Mulberry. Tie greater part
Is high, dry, richly timbered, with luXuriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass; well.wa-
tered, and as productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
Shales are everywhere exposed, even in the
city in several places Coal. or coal induces
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
a rule, is not as thick as it is in Franklin. On
Frog Bayou considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank 5. Is, T 0, X. 80
coal has been dug for thirty-f five years, said
by smiths, who have worked it, to be the best
coal in the region 1t Is three feet thick, and
easy to quarry; it extends quite a distance
along this Bayou and is part of the Arkan-
sas coal field. This stream has long been Ia
med for its fine, wide, high and rich lands A
few small prairies 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 thi.
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
This shale runs into Van Buren, and in the
well sunk for the steam mill there, coal was
| struck. as. also, a very hard, blue. almost i'm.
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
| fragments of crystal-as, also. on n low rdg,
on the land of +. Scott, 5. g. I. 8, II. 81 ant
along the hillside, near the Van Buren steam
| mll--arc gathered. Limestone occurs at tn,
base of the bluff of ferruginous 81 ndstone
above Van Buren,; this bluff of sanaston,
abuts on the river and yields a fine building
stone; and on its height, which is q hroaC
| table land, are some of the finest building
sites to be found in Its picturesque valey--i
is tempting to TIE wealthy immigrant. Thi
| bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek. at its con
! uence with the Arkansas. and runs alongtha
stream into the adjoining hills the mouth o
| this stream is in 5. Is Il. 8, X. 80; opposite
the bluff, across the creek. is a high hill, il
which lead was found many years ago--it wa
probably drift. Fine springs gush out alon,
| the valley of this stream, and its many aiu
ents; iron oxydes and carbonate are con-
mon every where, and the carbonate Is eNcee
dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron il
the exception in this valley. The water i,
this region Is very good. and the spring
! about and near Van Buren,. are accounte,
| the best in the country. The water is coli
and sweet. These streams will all suppl
mills; and the county grows excellen
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es
peciallv blue-which takes hold OF the sol
and spreads rapidly and close las it does, in
deed in other parts of the Valley --clover an
fruits are all grown here in great perfection
and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especial,
have been so thoroughly tested and cultvat
ed by DR.. X. Thurston, near Van Buren,. tina
1t is now demonstrated that the Arkansas wi
produce fruit equal to any other valley In tn
world.
The Valley of Lees Creek contains excel
lent land. both bottom and high lands: thes
last are, for the most part. broken, rough an
rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek, with ii
tributaries, is probably wider than that c
any other tributary running into the Arkan