The Van Buren press., 1878-09-03
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
1 Brief Description of lis Soil, Timber
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered TO Immigrants.

! Crawford County, Arkansas, is situat
ed on the extreme Western boundary o.
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area of about 362 ,00t
acres, good portion of which is riyel
/ and creek bottom lands. There is in the
County nearly 10000 acres subject to
homestead or other entry, and about 70.
0o0 acres of Railroad Lands, which arc
now in the market, and offered at from
81 to $500 per acre, according to quail
ty, Other unimproyed lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
to sl5,00, per acre.
The Lands of Crawford County are,
the larger part of them, exceedingly fer.
| tile, and the greater part of them suscept-
ihle 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 Il dense population. The
present population is estimated at 10000.
! Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty light
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 cardine ma
chimes, and a large number of Steam
! Cotton Gins, &c, DC, 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 eXeelied
anywhere, and in this connection we may
state, that at the Arkansas State Fair,
held at Little Rock last Fall, the first aud
second premiums were awarded Crawford
County for the best and largest display
of Apples exhibited, the contesting ey-
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-
~ 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. NJ Washbourne and
J. H. Haucy, to the l.. r. d 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 Bnren, 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 t this county,
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines Crap, and underground. Spriu Is
I are Gommon In parts and Mater obtainad with
readiness by digging These lands are un-
| derlaid by terruglnous sllaleS and clays and
where unproductlye, can be made so by ma
| terial existing there or in the bills. 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, n considerable tributary to the
Arkansas at Phillips bank, ). Is, T ., Il. 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 a 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, 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 shalc runs into Van Buren, and in the
4 well sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
struck, as, also, "A very hard, blue, almost i'm
4 peuetrable rock. Along this stream small
/ fragments of crystal-as. also. on a low ridge
on the land OF Il. Scott. ). ., L, 8, X. 81. and
along the hillside. near the Van Buren, steam
mill--are gathered. Limestone occurs ut the
base of the bluff of ierruginous So ndstone
above Van Buren: this blum of sandstone
Il y
stone; and on its height, which is broad
table land. are some OF the finest building-
sites to be found in its picturesque vallev-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 ). Is, I. 8, X. 80; opposite
the blum, 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 atflu.
ents; iron oXydes and carbonate are con
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is eXeee-
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 Barren. 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 buc-whch takes hold of the soil
and spreads rapidly and close tas 1t does, u-
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 pr. Il. 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 Greek 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 it,
tributaries, is probably wider than that OF
any other tributary running into the Arkan-
sas, on the north, within the State. but great