The Van Buren press., 1878-09-17

CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of Its Soil, Timber
Minerals, ETC., etc.
AND THE
Attractions Offered to Immigrants.

! Crawford County, Arkansas, is stuat
ed on the extreme Western boundary o
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area Of about 1862, 900
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 70.
900 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at from
80 to 800 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-
ibe of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more alluvial lands than most, il
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 are taught from three to ten
months in the year.
There are in tho county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool.carding ma
chimes, and a large number of Steam
Cotton Gins, &c, &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 exceled
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 aud 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 reconnois-
sance by Messrs. j. M. Washbourne and
j. II. Haney, to the l.. H. a. 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 pineries
north of the Arkansas River. 1t will hereaf-
ter be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands in the eastern section If this county,
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es. vines. graDe. and underurnwth- SIoIin1s
are common In parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are un-
derlaid by terruginous shales and clays, and
where unproductive, can be made 50 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
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 ndices
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, S. IS, L ., r. 80,
coal has been dug for thirty-tive years, said.
by smiths, who have worked 1t, to be the best
coal in the region; it Is three feet thick. and
easy to quarry; 1t extends quite a distance
along this Bay on, 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 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 this
stream. are fine for fruits. grapes and berries
This shale runs into Van Buren, and in the
well sunk tor the steam mill there. coal was
struck, as, also, a very hard, blue, almost inn
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments of crystal-as, also, on low ridge
on the land OF +. Scott, S. 3. Il. 8, r. 81 and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at the
base of the bluff of ferruginous S, 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 broad
table land, are some Of the finest building
sites to be found In its picturesque valey-it
Is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, at its con-
uence with the Arkansas. and runs along that
stream into the adjoining hills the mouth of
this stream is in 5. Is, I. ., II. 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 afiu-
ents; iron oXydes and carbonate are CON
mon everywhere, and the carbonate Is excee-
dinghy 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-
peciallv blue-which takes hold of the soil.
and spreads rapidly and close (as it does, in
deed in other parts of the valley )-clover and
fruits are all grown here in great perfection
and quantity to the acre. Fruits. especially,
have been SO thoroughly tested and cultivat-
ed by DIR. X. Thurston, near Van Buren,. that
it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas will
produce fruit equal to any other valley in the
world
The Valley of Lees Creek contains excel
lent land, both bottom and high lands; 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 othertrlbutary running into the Arkan-