The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-03-19
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of its Soil, Timber
Minerals. etc.. etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

and contains an area OF about 3G2, DOC
acres, a good portion of which is river
aud creek bottom lands. There is in the
County nearly 10000 acres subject to
! homestead or other entry, and about 10
900 acres Of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered AT from
81 to s. go per acre, according to quail.
ty Other unimproyed lands eau be
bought at from 81, 80 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from i 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 suseept
! iho of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more aIluvial lands than most, il
not all the other western counties " ell
watered, good timber and capable OF
supporting a dense population. The
present population Is estimated at 10000.
| Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being tofty-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-carding ma
chimes and large number of Steam
Cotton Gins, dc, dc, ms 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
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 aud 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 loeali-
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 as are
not enjoyed by many of her sister coun.
ties.
The description of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from Il
report made from an actual reeonnois-
sanee by Messrs J, N. Washbourne and
j. H Ilaney, to the l.. K. q f S Rail.
way, in 1851 Since chat time there has
been Of course, vast Improvements made
in the condition of the county, in most
all respects;
"Nery little pine is found in this County ;
but In the adjoining Cherokee Country, COM
mencing yinr miles north OF westward from
Van Buren, ia one of the greatest pneries
north of the Arkansas River. IL will hereat-
ter, be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands IN the cHstern section t this county,
generally, are level ana hrtaa. rich in grass-
es, vines, crap and underground, Sprin .
are common IN parts and water obtained W th
readiness by digging. These lands are I'M
derlaid by terruginous shHles and clayS, and
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 luNuraut
growth OF vine, shrub and grass; Wcll-Wa-
tered, and as productive rs any land on the
Arkansas,
Shades 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 i, in Franklin On
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, >. Is, T 9, X. 30
coal has been dug for thirty-live 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; it extends quite a 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 rch lands \
| few small prairieS skirt IL with excellent
| grasses and herbs,
| On Flat Rock, a stream eastward from Van
| Buren, two miles, shale i exposed, and coal
has been found, The uplands, along TIL,
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 Il very hard, blue, almost i'm
penetrabe rock. Along this stream small
! fragments of crystal-u>, also. on Il low ridge
on the land of h. Scott, :. 8. T. 8, K. 81, and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren steam
mil-are gathered. Limestone occlrs at the
| base of the bluff of terruginouS s. sandstone
above Van Buren,; this bluff 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 he found in its picturesque yallcy-it
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Thi.
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek at its con.
uence with the Arkansas. and runs alongtha,
| stream into the adjoining hills; she mouth o
this stream Is in $, Is, T. g. Il. 80; opposite
the bluff, across the creek, is Il high hill, it
which lead WAS found many years ago-it WA,
probably drift. Fine springs gush out alonz
the valley of this stream, and its many ailiu
ents; iron oXy DIES and carbonate are com
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is eXeee
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 colJ
and sweet. These streams will all suppl,
milis; and the county grows cNcellen
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses es
peciallv biue-which takes hold OF the suil
and spreads rapidly ana close ,as it does, in
deed in other parts OF the valley l-clovcra an,
fruits are all grown here in great prrtectio,
and quantity To tue acre. Fruits, especially
have been 50 thoroughly tested and cutivat
ed by Or. Il. Thurston, near Van Buren,. tina
it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas vii
produce fruit equal to any other valley in tn,
world
The alley of Lees Greek contains excel
lieut. land, both bottom aud high lands; thes,
last are for the most part, broken, rough ant
rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek with il,
tributaries, is probably wider than that O.
any other tributary running into the Arkan.
sas, on the north, within the State bur ureat
hills and high bluffs of the milestone grit
saudstones everywhere ntCrSect il; and Vel
there are great bodies OF fertile bottom and