The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1878-04-09
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Bret Description OF Its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

Crawford County, Arkansas, il stua
> ed on the extreme Western boundary G
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Natior
aud contains an area Of about 1862 90
acres, good portion of which is rive
and creek bottom lands There is in til
County nearly 10000 acres subject t
homestead or other entry, and about &c
; 600 acres of Railroad Lands, which ar
} now in the market, and offered at fron
81 to 500 per acre, according to quail
ty. Other unimproved lands can b
bought at from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from 81 tt
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
ible of cultivation. There are, within it!
limits, more alluvial lands than most, i
not all the other western counties. Wei
watered, good timber, and capable o.
supporting a dense population. The
present population is estimated at Is, 600
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 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 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 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 navgable 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
report made from an actual reconnos-
sance by Messrs. j. NJ Washbourne and
j. II. llaney, to the l.. Il. 4 +. S. Rail
way, in 1857. 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 Buren,, Is one of the greatest pineries
north of the Arkansas River. II will hereaf-
ter, be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands in the eastern section If this county
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines. grap", and underground. Springs
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands arc un-
derlad by ferruginous shales and clays. and
where unproductive, 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 luxuriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass; well-wa-
tered, and as productive rs any land on the
Arkansas.
Shales are everywhere 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 us thick as it is in Franklin. On
Frog Bayou, n considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, ). Is, Il o. r. 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-iive 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 a distance
along this Bayou, aud is part of the Arkan-
sas coal field. This stream has long been la
med for its fine, wide, high and r,ch lands A
few small praries skirt it with excellent
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, a 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 shale runs into Van Buren, and in IT,,
we'll sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
struck. as. also, n very hard, blue. almost i'm.
penetrable rock. Along this stream SIN Al
! fragments of cry stal--as, also. on a low ri do
on the land of +. Scott, s 8, L. $, X. 81 ant
| along the hillside near the Van Buren, steam
| mill-are gathered. Limestone oc en- RS at tn,
base of the bluff of ferruginous sandstone
above VAN Buren,; this bluff of sandston,
| ahuts on the river and yields tine building
stone; and on its height, which is a broa,
table LAND. are some OF the iiuest building
sites to Ire found in its picturasqu valley-i
il tempting TO the wealthy Immigrant trhi
| bluff fronts, also, on leu's Greek. at its con
ueHee with the Arkansas, and runs along tina
| stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth O
shis stream IL in ). Is T. 0, X. 80; Opposite
the bluff. across the creek, is high hill, /,
I which lead was found many years ago-it wa
probably drift. Fine springs gust out alon!
/ the valley OF this strG..1n and its many anIu
ents; iron XydeS and carbonate are com
4 mon everywhere, and the carbonate is eNeee
/ dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron |
the exception in this valley. The water I,
this region is very good, and the spring
about aud near Van Buren,. are accounted
the best in the country. The water is col,
and sweet. These streams will all suppl'
mills; aud the county grows excenen
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses. es
peciallv blue-which takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close Gas t ,iaes, i'm
deed in other parts of the valley)-cover an,
fruits are ADJ grown here in great perfectio,
and quantity To the acre. Fruits especially
have been 50 thoroughly tested and eu!tisat
ed by DIR. II. Thnrston. near Van Buren,. tina
it Is now demonstrated that the Arkansas vii
produce fruit equal to any other valley in tn
world.
! The Valley Of Lees Creek 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
4 =; h,tartoc L. wilar th,, 49,. :,