The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-11-26
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description Of Its Soil, Timber
Minerals, etc., etc.
AND THE
Attractions offered 10 Immigrants.

q
Z Crawford County, Arkansas. is situat
ed on the extreme Western boundary o
the State. adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains IN area of about 362, e0t
acres, good portion Of which is rive
and creek bottom lands. There is in thu
County nearly 10000 ceres subject tc
homestead or other entry, and about 10
/ 600 acres of Railroad Lands, which ere
now in the market, and offered at froH
! 90 to 81, 90 per acre, according to quail
| tv. Other unimpfoved lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to 1890 per acre
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
TO $1a,00, per acre.
The Lands OF Crawford County are,
the larger part OF them, exceedingly fer
lille, and the greater part of them suscept-
ihle Of cultivation. THERE are, within its
limits, more ailuvial lands than most il
net all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, and capable Of
supporting dense population. The
present population is estimated at $4,000.
Schools end Churches abound in al! parts
Of the county, there being forty light
School Districts in the county in which
free schools ,re taught from three 20 ten
months in the year.
There are in the county eight Steam
Flourine Mills, two Woo! earding ma
chimes, aud a large number Of Steam
Cotton Gins, &c, &c, az 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 egcelled
onvwhere. 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 loeali-
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 rs are
not enjoyed by many of her sister coun-
ties.
The description of Crawford County,
which VIC publish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reeonnois-
sance by Measrs. J. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II. Hauev, to the l.. r. d f. s. Rail
way, in 1857, Since that time there has
been of course, vast Improvement 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 viii hereaf.
ter be very valuable TO your Road. The up
lands in the eastern section this county,
generally, are level and fertile, rich In grass
uipaa- t,-,ss.s' s'r,stgr ''efi. SprfiEs
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are nm
dernid by ierruginous shaes and clays, and
where unpaoductive, 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 luxnriant
growth of vine. shrub and grass; Wel-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, rs
q rale, Is not rs thick as IL isin Franklin. On
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to the
| Arkansas, at Phillips bank, y. Is, r 8. Il. 30
coal has been dug for thirty-ive 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 it extends quite distance
along this Bayou. and is 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 1t with excellent
| grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, stream eastward from Var
| Buren, two miles shale Is exposed, and Goa
| has been found. The uplands, along this
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
This shale runs into Van Buren,; and in the
well sunk for the steam mill there. coal wa
struck, as, also, u very hard, blue almost i'm
penetrable rock Along this stream small
| fragments of crystal--as. also, on a low ridg'
on the land Of 4. Scott, s. 8, I. ., r. 81 ant
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
| mill-arc gathered. Limestone occurs at TIKI
base of the bluff of terruginous 81 sandstone
above Van Buren,, this bluif Of sandston
! abuts on the river. and yields a fine building
stone; and on its height, which is a hroat
| table land are some of the finest building
sites to be found in its picturesque valey-i
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Thi
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Greek. at its con
uenee with the Arkansas, and runs along tina
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth o
this stream isin ). is, I. 3, II. 80, opposite
the bluff across the creek, is a high hill, il
which lead WAS sGGnd many years ago-it wa
probably drift. Fine springs gush out alon!
the valley of this stream, and its many atu
ents; iron cxydes and carbonate are com
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is exeee
dinghy heavy, iadee3 the absence OF iron I
the exception in this valley. The water il
this region Is very good, and the SPRING
| about and near Van Buren,. are accounted
! the best in the country. The water is coli
and sweet. These streams will all suppl
mills; aud the county grows eNcellen
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses. es
peciallv hlue-which takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close tts IL does. in
deed in other parts of the valley )--clover an,
fruits are all grown here in great perfection
and quantity TO the acre. Fruits. especially
have been SO thoroughly tested and eultivat
ed by DR.. K. Thurston, near Van Barren, tina
IL is now demonstrated that the Arkansas Wi
produce fruit equaito any other valley in tn
world. 5. ."t
The alley of Lees Greek contains excel
lent land both bottom and high lands; thes
last are. for the most part, broken, rough an
rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek. with il
tributaries, Is probably wider than that c
any other tributary running into the Arkan
ti ,yit hin on b,tt