The Van Buren press., 1878-07-23
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description of It's Soil, Timber
Minerals. etc.. etc.
Attractions Offered to Immigrants.

ed on the extreme Western boundary of
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation,
and contains an area of about 1862 600
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 10.
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at from
s. to 81, 90 per acre, according to quail
| ty. Other unimproyed 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 alluyial 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 $4,000.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county. there being forty ight
School Districts in the county, in which
| free schools are taught from three to ten
months in the year.
There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool. .carding ma
chimes, and 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 cNcelled
anywhere, and in this connection we may
state, that at the Arkansas State Fair,
held at 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,
|
ample shipping facilities, and such as are
not enjoyed by many of her sister c6un-
| ties.
The description of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from n
report made from an actual reconnois-
sance by Messrs. j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II. Hanev, to the l.. Il. Il f. S. Rail
way, in 1851 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 pineres
north of the ArkarSaas River H-will hereaffs
valuable to your Road The up
vines, or the eastern section If this county,
iommoly, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines. grap,, aud underground. Springs
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are un-
deraid by fcrruginous shales and clays, and
| where unproductive, 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 the mouth Of Frog Bayou or Clear Greek
| to the mouth of Mulberry. The greater part
!
growth of vine, shrub and grass; well-wa-
tered, and as productive as any land on the
| Arkansas.
Shaes are everywhere exposed, even in the
city in several places Coal, or coal indices
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
a rule Is not as thick as it Is in Franklin On
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, ). is, I 3, Il. 30
coal has been dug for thirty-tlve years, said
by smiths, who have worked it, to be the bcsi
coal in the region; it is three feet thick, anC
easy to quarry; 1t extends quite 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 rch lands. a
few small prairies skirt it with excellent
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, a stream eastward from Var
Buren, two miles, shale is exposed, and Goa
has been found. The uplands, along thi;
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
This shalc runs into Van Burcn; and in The
well SINK for the steam mill there. coal wa'
struck, as, also u very hard blue almost i'm.
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
Fragments of crystal-as, also, on Il low ridg,
on the land OF +. Scott, >. .. I. 8, X. 81, ant
along the hillside, near the Van Buren steau
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at til,
base of the blun 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 a broat
, | table land, are some OF the finest building
sites to be found in its picturesque valley--i
is tempting TO the wealthy immigrant. Thi
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, mt its con
uence with the Arkansas, and runs along tina
a stream into the adjoining hills the mouth o
this stream is in >. Is, i. 8, X. 80; opposit
} the hlufl. across the creek, is high hill, il
which lead was found many years ago--it WA
probably drift. Fine springs gush out alon!
the valley of this stream, aud its many atllu
purbnnutn ar an
mon everywhere and the carbonate Is cXcee
: DINGHY heavy; indeed the absence of iron i
the exception in this valley. The water il
this region is very good, and the spring
about and near Van Buren. are accounted
the best in the country. The water is colt
e and sweet These streams will all suppl
Imills; and the county grows eXcellen
= wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es
peciallv bue-whieh 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 perfecto
4. and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especially
" have been SO thoroughly tested and cultivat
ed by DIR. X. Thurston, near Van Buren,, tina
S it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas Wi
produce fruit equal to any other valley in tn
world.
T.. 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 o. Lees Creek, with il
y tributaries, is probably wider than that {
;. any other tributary running into the Arkan
y sas, on the north. within the State. but grea