The Van Buren press., 1878-07-02
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered TO Immigrants.

the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation,
and contains an area of about 3G2 600
acres, a 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.
600 acres Of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered mt from
50 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 s 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.
ible 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 a dense population. The
present population is estimated at 5000.
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.eardne ma
chimes, and 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 eXcelled
enyWhcre, 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 exhibitcd the contesting ex-
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 navigablc 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 recohnos-
sauce by Messrs. j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. Ii. ilaney, to the l.. Il. d f. S. Rail
way, in 1887, 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, Il one of the greatest pineries
north of the Arkansas River 1t will hercaf-
ter, be very valuable to your Road, The up
lands in the eastern section this county
generally, are level and fertile. rich in grass
cs, vines, Crap &, and underground. Springs
are common in parts ana waterobtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are I'M
| derlnid by ierruginous shades and clays, and
where unproductiyc, can be made so by ma
tcrial 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 timbercd, with luXuriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass; well-wa-
tered, and rs productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
Shalcs are everywhere exposed. even in the
city in several places Coal or coal indice-
are found all over the county, but the coal, as
a rule, is not as thick rs it is in Franklin On
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to the
Arkansas, at Phillips bank 5. Is. 4 ., K. 30
coal has been dug for thirty-fye 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; IL extends quite distance
along this Bayou, aud is a part of the Arkan-
Sas coal field. This stream has long been ia.
med for It's fine, wide, high and rich Lands. A
few small pralries skirt it with excellent
grasses ana herbs,
On Flat Rock, stream eastward from Van
Buren two miles, shale is exposed, and coal
has been found, The uplands, along thi,
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes aud berries
This shale runs into Van Buren, and in the
we'll sunk for the steam mill there, coal was
struck, as, also, Il very hard, blue, almost inn
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
fragments of crystal--as, also, on low ridge
ON the land of L. Scott, 5. o. L. ., K. 81, and
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
; mill--are gathered. Limestone occurs at the
base of the blun of ferruginous 81 ndStone
above Van Buren; this bluff of sandstone
abutS on the river, and yields fine building.
stone; and on its height, which is a broad
| table land. are some of the finest building
sites to he found in its picturesque valley-it
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
bluf fronts, also. ON Lees Creek. at its con-
uence with the Arkansas and runs alOngthat
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth of
this stream is in ;. 49, I. o, X. 30; opposite
the blun, across the creek. is hiwh hill in
which lead was found many years ago-it was
probably DRIFT Fine springs gush ont along
! the valley of this stream, aud its many atllu-
: 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 Buren, are accounted
/ the best in the country. The water is cold
, and sweet. These streams win all supply
mills; and the county grows excellent
wheat. The corn, cotton. cereals grasses es-
peciallv blue-whch takes hold OF the soil,
and spreads rapidly and close ,as it does, in
deed in other parts OF the valley clover aud
: fruits are all grown here in great perfection
, and quantity 10 the acre. Fruits especially
have been so thoroughly tested and eultivat-
cd 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 Creek 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 1t,
tributaries is probably wider than that oi
, any other tributary running into the Arkan-
sas on the north, within the State. but great
hills and high bluffs of the millstone-gri
| sandstoncs everywhere intersect 1t; and vel