The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-04-30
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions Offered to Immigrants.

and contains an area OF about 362 600
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 TO.
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in tho market, and offered at from
50 to 500 per acre, according to quail
ty. Other unimprovcd lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to $500 per acre ;
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 snscept
| ible of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more allnyial lands than most, if
not all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, and capable of
supporting dense population, The
present population is estimated at 600.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty.eight
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools tire taught from three to ten
months in the year.
There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool -cardina 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 eXcelled
anywhcre, and in this connection We may
state, that ut 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 largo and numerous, In
short, the agricultural products of our
fertile lands will vie in richness and quail |
ty with those of the most favored loeali-
ty in the Union.
The Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail.
way, runs through the entire breadth of
the county from cast 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 eoun-
ties
The description of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reconnois-
sance by Messrs j. VI. Washbourne and
j. II. Haney, to the l.. Il. q f. S Rail.
way, in 1851 Since that time there has
been Of course, vast Improvements made
ia the condition of the county, in most
II respects:
"yory little pine is found in this County
,ut in the adjoining Cherokee Country, com
neneng nine miles north of westward from
fan Buren,, is one of the greatest pineres
forth of the Arkansas River 1t VIII hereai- /
er, be very valuable to your Road, The up
ands in the eastern section If this county, /
are level and fertile, rich in grass
y. vines Crap, and underground. Springs |
IRE common in parts and water obtained with |
'eadiness by digging. These lands are I'M |
ier|nid by terruginous shaleS and clays. and
where unproductive, can be made so by ma
serial 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 luSuriant
growth Of vine, shrub and grass; well-wa-
tered, and us productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
Shalcs are everywhere exposed. even in the
city in several places Coal, or coal indices
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
rule. is not as thick as ii is in Frauklin On
Frog Bayou, considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, ), Is, I ., Il. 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-iivo 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 distance
along this Bayou, aud 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, a 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, very hard. blue, almost i'm
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
| fragments of crystal--as, also, ON n low ridge
on the land of +. Scott, 5. ., L. 8, X, 81, and
| along the hillside. near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs ut the
! base of the bluH of ferruginous 81 ndstone,
above Van Buren, this bluff of sandstone
abuts on the river and yields 4 line building.
stone; and on its height, which is broad
| table land, are some OF the finest huilding-
sites to be found in its picturesque vallcy-it
| is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
! bluff fronts. also, on Lees Creek. 81 its con-
ucnce with the Arkansas. and runs along that
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth OF
| this stream is in ). Is, I. ., X. 30; opposite
| the bluff, across the creek, is "A 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 aiIlti-
ents; iron oNydes and carbonate are con-
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is excee-
dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron /,
the exception in this valley. The water in
this region Is very good, and the spring,
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, i'm
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 cultiyat-
ed by DIR. r. 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 aud high lands; these
last are, for the most part, broken, rough and
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 milestone grit
sandstones everywhere intersect it: and vel
there are great bodies of fertile hottom and