The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-06-11
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, etc., etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

/ the State, adlotnlHg tue ib0t9kee Nlttol,
and contnins an area of abont 362,0OO
acres, good portion of which is river
and 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
50 to 800 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 s to
to $500, 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, if
not all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, and capable Of
supporting dense population. The
present population is estimated at 10000,
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, &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 eXcelled
anywhere, and in this connection we may
state that Mt 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 contrasting ex-
hibits being large and numerous, In
short tho agricultural products of our
fertile lands will VIC in richness and quail
ty with those of the most i,,VofeG !oeaii-
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 eoun-
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
- A. ii"neY' W WV - ~, y ~, ~
way, III 1921. since thal lliie there mas
! been of course, vast improvements made
- tbe condition of the conptv Ia =.
II. Il, - me-
all respects
"yery little pine l. fopnd /, fhis Courtv
| nut in the adjoining Cbernl,na Cn@nt,.r com,
mencinm nine miles north Of vesfyyaId from
| Van Hnren, IA one Of thn rr"atest rjnar;es
! north of the Arkansos Rirer II IyiIl herasf
ter, be very valupole TO yonr Road, The nm
| lands In the bos,arn eactinu T. + His nouuty
generally. nrn invel ana Gnrtiln rich in ora
| es, vines. gran,, and underrrowtb. Snrin *
| are cc,m,oou In nartsand wStaro btained With
ree,ainnss NV ai~ains. Thnse lands are nm
! ae,iai1 nv terrnginons shales ana claws, ana
] ,,,,oro ur1pruru1ttve, 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 timhered, 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 induces
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
a rule is not as thick rs it is in Franklin On
Frog Bayou, considerable tributary to the
Arkansas, at Phillips bank, ). Is, L Q. Il. 80
coal has been dug for thirty five 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 distance
along this Bayou, and Is Il part of the Arkan-
sas oal-lield. 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, a stream eastward from Van
} Buren, two miles, shale is exposed, and coal
t has been found. The uplands, along This
stream, are line for fruits, cranes and berries
This shale runs into Van Buren, and i'm the
well sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
J struck, as, also a very hard, blue. almost i'm
panetrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments of crystal-as, also, on a low ridre
on the land of Il. Scott. SAT. a. r Il. and
along the hillside. near the Van Rurnn steam
, mill~-are gathered. Limestone ncenrs At the
base of the bluff of ferrupinous 81 ndstoue
above Van Burcn tIis bInn of Sondstnn,
abnts ON rhe rivor" md yiel6s n Gno h',ildin,,
stone. and on H. heje3t which i a hrosf
fable land orn some az Tho t;nast bniIdinr.
Sites ia he fnnnd in its ptrtnra"nne yalIevEi
. il ton, otin,r TO tGe meol,hr in,,lfyr,nt mi
MIN frarts o}sn nn nns nrnnt st. H. enn
,,,.ao LII ,ba ,y,',,ss - - Ntnre,ha
NA'iNs NitAi ''al'' "'N = 49,