The Van Buren press., 1878-06-04
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description Of its Soil, Timber.
Minerals, ctc., ctc.
Attractions Offered TO Immigrants.

the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
aud contains an area Of about 362, 600
acres, a good portion Of which Is tigel
and creek bottom lands. There is in The
County nearly 10000 acres subject &c
homestead or other entry, and about 20.
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which arc
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 $50 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from Isl to
to Sl5,00, per acre.
The Lands of Crawford County are
the larger part of them, exceedingly fer.
tile, and the greater paIt Of them suscept'
ible of cultivation. There arc, within its
limits, more alluvial lands than most, il
not all the other western counties Well
watered, good timber, aud 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 ire 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, rs 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 end
second premiums were awarded Crawford
County for the best and largest display
of Apples exhibited, the contesting ex-
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 local..
ty in the Union.
The Little Rock and Fort Smith Rail.
way, runs through the entire breadth of
the county from east to west. Aud 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 a
report made from an actual reeonnois-
sance by Messrs j. NJ. Washbourne aud
j. II. lIaney, to the l.. Il. d +, S. Rail.
way, in 1857 Since that time there has
been Of course vastimprovements 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 f 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 nn-
derllid by ferruginous shales and clays. and
where unproductive, can be made SO by ma
terial existing there OF 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 timbarcd, with luXtIriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass; well-wa-
tered, and as productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
Shades are every where exposed, even in the
city in several places Coal, or coal indces
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, 8, r. 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-tlVe years, said,
by smiths, who have worked it, to be the best
rnnl h, thp rapjAt. II Ia fhrnp thick un1
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, Il 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
we'll sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
struck, rs, 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 +. Scott, 5. ., T. o, Il. 81, and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs ut the
base Of the buN of terrugin0us 81 ndStone,
above Van Buren,; this bluil Of sandstone
abuts on the river. and yields fine building
stone; and on its height which is a brood
! IdblS iallt, are some OF Inc HuGSt NultUlnW-
sites to be found in its picturesque valcv-it
is tempting TO the wealthy immigrant This
! bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek at It's con-
uence with the Arkansas, and runs aIougthat
stream into the adjoining hills the mouth of
this stream is in ;, is, I. O. L. 80; opposite
| the BLUM, across the creek, Il ahigh 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 aillu-
ents; iron oNydes 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 Buron, 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-
pecialV hlne--which takes hold of the soil
and spreads rapidly and close ,as it does, in.
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 cutiYat-
cd by Dr. II, Ihurstou, near Van Barren. that
! il is now demonstrated that the Arkansas will
4 produce fruit equal to any other valley in the
world
| The Valley of Lees Creek contains excel
| lent land both bottom aud high lands: these
| last are, for the most part, broken, rough ant
| rocky, The Valley of Lees Greek. with it,
tributaries, Is probably wider than that o
any other tributary running into the Arkan
| saS on the north. within the State, but grea
! hills and high bluffs of the milestone ri
4 i I, t,,t, -.