The Van Buren press., 1878-08-06
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description OF lis Soil Timber
Minerals, etc., etc.
Attractions offered TO Immigrants.

ana contains an area Oi dUoul opz,uOp
, acres, good portion Of which is river
t and creek bottom lands. There Is in the
County nearly 10000 acres subject to
homestead or other entry, and about TO-
/ 600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at from
So to $500 per acre, according to quail
ty Other unimproved lands can be
bought Mt from S2,50 to $1,000 per acre j,
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
TO $500, per acre.
The Lands of Crawford County are,
the larger part Of them, exceedingly fer
tile, and the greater part OF them susccpt-
ible of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more alluyial lands than most, it
not all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, and capable Of
supporting a dense population. The
present population is estimated at 1000.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty.eght
School Districts in tie county, in which
free schools tire taught from three to ten
months in the year
There are in the county eight Steam
| Flonring Mills, two Wooleardine ma
chimes, and q large number of Steam
Cotton Gins, &c, 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 exeelled
snYwhere, and in this connection we may
state, that at the Arkansas State Fair,
held ut Little Rock last Fall, the first and
second premiums were awarded Crawford
County for the best and largest display
of Apples exhibited; the contesting 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 locali
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 a
report made from an actual reeonnois-
sance by Messrs j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. IL. Haney, to the l.. r, O. 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
mencing nine miles north of westward from
Van Buren,, Is one of the greatest pnercs |
north of the Arkansas River. II will hereaf- |
ter, be very valuable to your Road. The up |
lands in the eastern section # this county, |
generally, are level and fertile, rich IN grass |
es, vines grape, and underground. Spring
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands un- I
derlaid by ferrnginous shales and clays. and |
where unproductvc, 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,, aud runs down the river,
past the mouth of Frog Bayouor Clear Creek
to the mouth Of Mulberry. The greater part |
is high. dry richly timbcred, with luXuriant !
growth of vine, shrub and grass; wcll-wa- !
tered, and rs productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
shades are everywhere exposed even in the
city In several places Coal, or coal indiccs
are found all over the county, hnt the coal, as
a rule, is not as thick rs it is in Franklin On
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, 5. Is, L q, X. 30,
coal has been dug for tlirty-tlve years, said,
| by smiths, Who have worked it, to be the best
coal in che region; it is three feet thick, and
easy to quarry; ii extends quite a distance
along this Bayou, and is a 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 prairics skirt 1t with excellent
| grasses and herbs.
! On Flat Rock, q stream eastward from Van
| Buren, two miles, shale is exposed, and coal
| has been found. The uplands, along this
strcam, 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 low ridge
on the land of u. Scott y. o T. 8, Il. 81. and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
mill--are gathered. Limestone occurs at the
| base of the bluff of terruginous sandstone,
above Van Buren,; this bluff of sandstone
abuts on the river, and yields fine building
stone; and on its height which is a broad
table land, are some OF the finest building
sites to be found in its picturesque valley-it
! Is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
blum fronts. also, on Lees Creek, at its con-
uence with tlc Arkansas, ana runs along that
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth Of
this stream is in S. Is, T. 0, h. 30 opposite
the bluff, across the creek, is high hill, in
which lead was found many years ago--it was
probably drift. Fine springs gush out along
the valley of this stream, and its many atllu-
ents; iron oXydes and carbonate are CON .
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is excee-
dingly heavy indeed the absence of iron is
the exception in this valley. The water in
this region Is very good, and the springs
about and near Van Buren, are accounted
the best In the country. The water is cold
and sweet. These streams Will all supply
mills; and the county grows excellent
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es-
pecially blue-whieb takes hold OF the soil,
and spreads rapidly ana close Gas it does, in
decd In other parts of the valley Glover and
, fruits are all grown here in great perfection
and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especially,
have been so thoroughly tested and cultivat-
? ed 10y iir. l., Thurston, near Van Bnrcn. that
Il Is now demonstrated that the Arkansas will
, produce fruit equal to any other valley in the
, world.
The alley of Lees Creek contains excel
lent land, both bottom and high lands: these
last are, for the most part, broken, rough and
c rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek with lis
] tributaries, is probably wider than that OF
any other tributary running into the Arkan-
sas, on the north within the State. but great
hills and high bluffs of the milistone-grit
= sandstones everywhere intcrseet it; and yet
+ there are great bodies of fertile bottom and
j uplandS, and thousands of homes awaiting
= the IMMIGRANT and the advent Of Vnur road