The Van Buren press., 1878-11-12
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description Of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

h Crawford County, Arkansas, is sitaat
ed on the extreme Western boundary o
, the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
aud contains an area Of about 362 ,03t
t acres, a 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
81 to 800 per acre, according to quail.
ty. Other unimproyea lands can he
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 pant Of them sascept-
ibe of cultivation. There are, within its
limits. more allavial 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 !. re taught from three to ten
rr-n.hs ga tl.o saay
! There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool carding ma
chimes, and large number Of Steam
Cotton Gins, dc, &c, 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
onywhere. 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 conesting ex.
hibits beng 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 local..
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 nayigable 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 rs 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 reconnois.
sNnce by Messrs. }. M. Washhourne and
j. II. lIaney, TO the l.. II. d 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:
out in the adjoining Cherokee Country. COM
meneing nine miles north of westward from
Van Buren,, is one of the greatest pneries
north of the Arkansas River. 1t will hereaf-
ter be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands IN the eastern section this county,
generally, arc ieyel and fertile, rcn m grass
es, vines, Crap. and underground. Springs
are common IN parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are UNI
derlaid by terraginous shales and clays. and
where unprodnetve, can be made so by ma
tcrial 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 Creek
| to the mouth Of Mulberry. The 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,
Shades are everywhere exposed, even in the
city in several places Coal, or coal indces
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
a ruc. is not as thick az II Is in franklin. On
Frog Bayou. a considerable tributary to the
! Arkansas at Phillips bank :. Is, I O. Il. 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-hve 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 q part of the Arkan-
sas coal field. This stream has long been ia-
med for its fine, wide, high and rich lands \
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 TN,
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
This sllale runs into Van Barren and In tht
well sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
struck, as, also, a very hard. blue, almost i'm
. penetrable rock. Along this stream SINAI
J fragments of erystai-aS, also. on Il low ridg,
, on the land of T.. Scott, >. ., I. = X. 81. am
along the hillside near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs ut tht
base of the bluff of ferruginOus 8; ndstone
above Van Buren, this bluff of sandstone
, abuts on the river. and yields a fine building
stone; and on its height, which is a broat
> table land, are some of the finest building
G sites to be found in its picturesque yalley--i
[ il tempting to the wealthy immigrant Thi
BLUM fronts, also on Lees Greek. mt its con
uenoe with the Arkansas and runs along tha
stream into the adjoining hills the mouth o
this stream is in >. iS T. ,, K, 30; opposit
I 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 aillu
, mon everywhere, and the carbonate is eXeee
dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron i
the exception in this valley. The water i
y this region is very good, and the spring
about and near Van Buren, are accounte
the best in the country, The water is col
a and sweet. These streams will all suppl
!. mills; and the county grows excellen
- wheat, The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es
II peciallv blue--which takes hold OF the sol
!, and spreads rapidly and close Gas il does in
IS deed in other parts of the valley clover an
fruits are all grown here in great perfectio
and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especial,
. have been 81 thoroughly tested and cultiyat
70 ed by Or. Il. ThHrston, near Van Buren,. tn,
7 it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas wi
lie produce fruit equal to any other valley in I'll
m world.
"a The Valley Of Lees Creek contains exec
y lent land both bottom and high lands the,
&c last are. for the most part, broken. rough an
re rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek it'll /
Is tributaries is probably wider than that