The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-11-19
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, etc.. etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

I Crawford County, Arkansas, is situat
ed on the extreme Western boundary 0
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area of about 362, 0Ul
acres, good portion of which is rive
and creek bottom lands. There is in tht
County nearly 10000 acres subject It
homestead or other entry, and about 70
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at from
81 to 90 per acre, according to quail
| ty Other unimproved lands can bt
| bought at from 500 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-
ihle Of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more aluyial lands than most, il
not all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, and capable of
supporting n dense population. The
present population is estimated at 600.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty light
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools Ere taught from three TO ten
months ia the year.
There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool carding ma
chimes, and large number of Steam
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 exeelea
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 contestng ex-
hibits beng 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 And the
Arkansas River, which is nayigahle tie
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. Il, Haney, to the l.. X. d r S. Rail.
way, in 1851 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
nine miles north of westward from
Van Buren,, l. one of the greatest pineries
north of the Arkansas River. 1t viii 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-
e., vines. Rfapr, aHd underground. springs
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are un-
uefidid by ictruginoHs shales and Clays, and
where unpruduetige, 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.
pdSi lnt hlbhtH VI .FIbP nay VA Ut 'itui tFttk
to the mouth of Mulberry. The greater part
Is high dry, richly timbered, with luxuriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass; wcll-Wa-
tered and us productive us any land on the
Arkansas.
Shules 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 it is in Frsnklin. On
Frog Bayou, IA considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, s. Is, Il 8, K. 30
coal has been dug for thirty-tive years, said
by smiths, who have worked it, to be the best
coal in the region; 1t is three feet thick, and
easy to quarry; IL 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 aud rich lands. A
few small prairies skirt ii with excellent
grasses and herbs
On Flat Rock stream eastward from Nar
Buren, two miles. shale Is exposed. and Goa
has been found The uplands, along thl,
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
| This shale runs into Van Buren, and in tht
| well sunk for the steam mill there coal va,
| struck, as, also, very hard, blue. almost inn
| penetrable rock. Along this stream smal
| Fragments Of erystal--as, also. ON low ridg,
on the land of Il. Scott, ). .. 7. ., Il. 81. an,
along the hillside near the Van Buren, steam
| mill--are gathered. Limestone occurs Mt tn,
| base of the blum of ferruginous 81 ndstone
abuts on the river and yields fine building
! stone and on its height, which is broat
! table land, are some OF the finest building
/ sites to be found in its picturesque valley-i
/ II tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Thi
! blun fronts, also, On Lees Creek. lit its con
uence with the Arkansas. and runs alongtha
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth o
! this stream Is in ,. Is, I. ., K, 80; oppoSit,
/ the hluil, across the creek, is high hill il
which lead wasfound many years ago-it wa
/ probably DRIFT. tine springs guSh out along
/ the valley of this stream, aud its many atilu
! ents iron uXydeS and carbonate are com
! mon everywhere, and ti,e carbonate Is excce-
DINGHY heavy; indeed the absence OF iron i.
the exception in this valley. The water il
this region is very good, and the springs
about and near Van Buren,, are accounted
! the best in the country. The water is coiG
! and sweet. These streams will all suppl,
mills; and the county grows eNcellen
wheat The corn. cotton, cereals grasses, es
peeiallv blue-whch takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close las it does, in
| deed in other parts OF the valley Glover an,
! fruits ARE all grown here in great perfection
! aud quantity TO the acre. Fruits. especially
have been 50 thoroughly tested and cultiyat
| ed by Or. K. Thurston, near Van Buren,. tina
/ it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas viii
produce fruit equal to any other valley in th
world,
The Valley of Lees Creek contains excel
lent land, both bottom and high lands; thps
last are. for the most part, broken, rough AM
rocky, The Valley Of Lees Creek, with it
tributaries, is probably wider than that O
any other tributary running into the Arkan
. T.