The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-04-02
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description of its Soil, Timber
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.


now in the market, and offered az from
81 to ST 90 per acre, according To quail
ty. Other unimproved lands ca, be
bought at from $3.50 TO $500 per acre
and lands partly improved at from s. to
to $1,000, per acre.
The Lands OF Crawford County are,
the larger part Of them, exceedingly fer.
tile, and the greater par, OF them suacept-
ible Of cultivation. There are, within ita
limits, more alluvial lands than most, if
not all the other western counties. Well
watercd, good timber, end capable Of
supporting dense population. TIE
present population s estimated at l5,0e0.
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
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, &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 ara not excclled
anywhere, and in this connection we may
state, that at the Arkansas State Fair,
held at Little Rock last Fall, tha first and
second premiums were awarded Crawford
County for the best and largest display
of Apples exhibited; the eontesting en-
hibts 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-
W 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 as are
not enjoyed by many Of her sister cDun,
ties
The description of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reconnos-
sance by Messrs. j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II. IIaney, to the l.. r. Il 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
meneing nine miles north OF westward from
| Van Buren,, is one of the greatest pineries
| north of the Arkansas River. IL will hereut-
ter, be very valuable to your Read. The up
lands In the eastern section this county,
generally, are level and fertile. rich in grass
es, vines. Crap, and underground. Springs
| are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are I'M
deriaia by ierrugino"s ehnivs and viase. aud
where unproductiye, 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 Creek
| To the mouth of Mulberry. The'greater part
is high, dry, richly tmbered, with luxuliant
| growth Of vine, shrub and grass; well-wa-
| tered, and rs productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
Shales are everywhere exposed, even in the
city in several places Coal, or coal induces
! are found all over the county, but the coal, "a
a rule. is not as thick rs it Is in Franklin On
Frog Bayou. considerable tributary to the
Arkansas at Phillips bank ). Is, I 0, K, 30
! coal has been dug for thirty five years, said,
by smiths. who have worked it, to be the best
coal in the region; it is three feet thick. and
easy to quarry; it extends quite n distance
along this Bayou. and Is part of the Arkan-
sas coat field. This stream has long been Ia
med for its fine. wide, high and CHI lands. A
few small prares skirt it with eXcellen,
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, 4 stream eastward from Van
Buren, two miles, shae 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 Il low ridge
on the land Of 4. Scott, 8, 8, I. 8. K. 81 and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at the
base of the bluff of ferruginous :, rdstone.
above Van Buren,; this buff of sandstone
abuts on the river and yields a fine building
stone; and on its height which is 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
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Greek. ut its con-
uence with the Arkansas and runs along that
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth OF
this stream is in 5. Is, L. ., K. 80; opposite
the BLUM. across the creek, is high hill, in
WHICH icau WAS itNilu many years dSo-1t WAS
probably Drift. Fine springs gush out along
the valley of this stream, and its many atlin-
ents; iron Xydes and carbonate are con,
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is eNcee.
; 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
and sweet. These streams will all suppl,
mills; and the county grows exeellen
| wheat. The corn. cotton, cereals, grasses cs
peciallv blue--which takes hold OF the soil
, and spreads rapidly and close Gas it does. in
deed in other parts of the va'ley)-cover ant
! fruits are all grown here in great perfection
: and quantity to the acre, Fruits. especially
. have been so thoroughly tested and cutivat
cd by Or. K. Thurston, near Van Buren,, tina
, it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas vii
produce fruit equal to any other valley in tn
world.
The Valley of Lees Creek contains excel
lent land both bottom and high lands; thes
: last are, for the most part. broken, rough ant
o rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek. with ii
tributaries. is probably wider than that O
any other tributary running into the Arkan
l., sas, on the north. within the State. but grea
hills and high bluffs of the milestone gri
;, sandstones everywhere interseet it; and We
q there are great bodies of fertile bottom an
uplands, and thousands of homes awaitin
the immigrant and the advent of your roao
l. As elsewhere and repeatedly remarked Tn
G railroad lands pierce this valley from I.ittl
/. Rock to For: Smith, and general and swift
= description of the county is a general an
1 - r.-s. al