The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-10-01

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

Crawford County, Arkansas, is Sltuat.
ed on the extreme Western boundary OF
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation,
and contains an area of about 1862, 600
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 TO-
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the Market and offered at from
81 to 500 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-
ible of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more alluvial 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 Is 200.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty-eght
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools tire taught from three to ten
months III the year.
There are in the county eight Steam
Fa,qoqrin9 Mills. tw9 Waql earding, ma
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
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 locai-
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 navgablo 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
report made from an actual reconnois-
sance by Messrs. j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II, Haney, to the l.. r. g. F. S. Rail.
MN IN Lot Al l.
been Of course, vast improvements made
in the condition of the county, in most
all respects
avery 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 f this county
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines. Crap, and underground. sprin IS
are common In parts and water obtained with
1eaattlnaeS hHraNHBig sIhesa alla9pp dfass: AHA
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
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 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, considerable tributary to the
Arkansas at Phillips bank. 5. Is, Il 8, K. 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-five years, said
by smiths who have worked it, to be the best
~ n m 10 hrnn FAINT htpl md
easy to quarry; 1t extends quite distance
along this Bayou, 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, n 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 for 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 a low ridge
on the land Of 4. Scott, 81 I. 8, X. 81. and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at the
| base of the bluff of ferruginous st 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
|
sites to be found in its picturesque valley-it
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
| blud 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, T. 8, X. 30 opposite
| the bluil, 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 ailiu-
ents; iron oXyd 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; aud the county grows excellent
| wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, cs-
peeialv blue-which takes hold OF the soil,
and spreads rapidly and close (as it does, in.
deed in other parts of the ley)-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 other tributary running into the Arkan-
sas. on the north. within the State. but great
, hills and high bluffs of the milestone grit
/ lyt., H..