The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-10-22
-
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of Its Soil, Timber
Minerals, etc., etc.
AND THE
Attractions Offered to Immigrants.


cd on the extreme Western boundary o
| the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
] and contains an area of about 1862, 900
acres, good portion of which is rivel
e and creek bottom lands. There is in TIL,
Q County nearly 10000 acres subject te
. homestead or other entry, and about 10
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 aluvial 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 $4,000.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty-eight
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools ere taught from three to ten
months in the year
There are in the county eight Steam
! FIGURING Mills, two Wool carding ma
chimes, and q large number OF Steam
Cotton Gins, DC, 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 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 cx-
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 locali-
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 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-
sanee by Messrs j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II. Haney, to the l.. r. Il +. 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 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 If this county
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines. grap", and underground. Sprin rs
are common In parts and water obtained with
I .a"di..as~ ~ .'ir.,i.~ Thaaa i..a. $780,
derlaid by ferruginous shales 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 Creek
to the mouth of Mulberry. The greater part
Is high. dry, richly timbered, with luXurant
growth Oh Vine, sHTuD anu grass, Wtll.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 induces
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
a rule. is not as thick as 1t is In Franklin. On
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to tn.
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, s. 10, II 8, II. 80
coal has been dug for thirty-flve years, said
by smiths, who have worked 1t, to be the bes
coal in the region; 1t Is three feet thick ano
easy to quarry; it 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 praries skirt it with excellent
grasses and herbs.
! On Flat Rock, a stream eastward from Var
Buren, two miles, shale Is exposed, and Goa
has been found. The uplands, along thi,
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
This shale runs into Van Buren,; and in tn,
well sunk for the steam mill there. coal wa
struck, as, also, a very hard, blue. almost i'm
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
, fragments of crystal-as, also. on a low ridg,
OH the land Of II. Scott, s. 8, It. 8, II. 81, an,
4 along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
8 mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at tn,
base of the bluff of ferruginous st ndstone
above Van Buren,; this bluff of sandston,
D stone; and on its height, which is broat
s table land, are some of the finest building
; sites to be found In ITS picturesque Valley
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Thi
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, at its con
;. uence with the Arkansas. and runs along tina
:, stream into the adjoining hills the mouth o
4 this stream is In S. IT, 4. ., X, 80; opposite
the bluff, across the creek, is high hill, il
which lead was found many years ago-it wa
. probably drift. Fine springs gush out alon!
| the valley of this stream, and its many aflu
n cnts; iron xydes and carbonate are com
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is excee
dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron i
: the exception in this valley. The water ia
, this region Is very good, and the spring,
about and near Van Buren,. are accounted
4 the best in the country. The water is COLI
!, and sweet. These streams win all suppl,
a mills; and the county grows exeellen
c wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es
d peciallv blue--which takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close Gas it does, in
deed in other parts Of the valley -ciovcr an,
o fruits are all grown here in great perfection
T. and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especially
|. have been So thoroughly tested and cultivat
i ed by DR.. r. Thurston, near Van Buren,. tina
y it Is now demonstrated that the Arkansas vii
T. produce fruit equal to any other valley in til
J. world.
!. The Valley Of Lees Creek contains excel
! lent land, both bottom and high lands thes
last are, for the most part, broken rough an
u rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek, with il
> any other tributary running into the Arkan
=, sis, ON the north, within the State. bat grea
" hills and high bluffs of the millstone-gr
r