The Van Buren press., 1878-08-20
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description Of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals. etC., etc.
attractions 0Gtred 10 Immigrants.

/ Crawford County, Arkansas, is sitaat
ed on the extreme Western boundary Of
the State adjoining the Cherokee Nation,
and contains an area Of about So, GOO
acres, a good portion of which is river
and creek bottom lands. There is i'll the
County nearly 10000 acres subject to
homestead or other entry, and about 70.
600 acres Of Railroad Lands, which arc
now i'll the market, and offered at from
S2 to 81 90 per acre, according to quail
ty. Other unimproyed lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre;
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
to s1a,00, per acre.
The Lands Of Crawford County are,
the larger part Of them, exceedingly fer.
tile, and the greater part of them suseept-
! 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 al l5 ,000
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty-eight
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools tre taught from three to ten
months in the year.
There are Ia the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool carding ma
chimes, and a 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 exeelled
anYWhefe, and in this connection we may
state, that at the Arkansas State Fair,
held AZ 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
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 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 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 reeonnois-
sanee by Messrs, j. M. Washboune and
j. II. IIanev, TO the l., Il. IL +. 5. 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
menting nine miles north of westward from
Van Baren, Is one of the greatest pineres
north of the Arkansas River. 1t 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 Crap, and underground. Springs
are common In parts and water obtatred WITH
readiness by digging. These lands are un-
derlad by tcrruginous shacs 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; 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 indiees
are found all over the county, but the coal, As
a rule. Is not as thick as it is in Franklin On
| Frog Bayou, n considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank. >. Is, L ., X, 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-tlyc years, said.
1 k,I,N I,N rlsNl fol In
coal in the region; it is three feet thick. and
easy To quarry; it extends quite distance
| along this Bayou, and is u part of the Arkan-
sas coal Held. This stream has long been ia
med for It's 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, aud coal
| has been found. The uplands, along this
stream, are line for fruits. grapes and berries.
This shade runs into Van Buren,; and in the
| well sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
! struck, as. also. q very hard, blue almost im-
penetrable rock. Along this stream small
| fragments of crystal-as, also on a low ridge
on the land of e. Scott, ;. ., T. $, r. 81, and
| along the hillside near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered Limestone occurs at the
base of the bluf of lerruginous ss ndstone,
above Van Buren; this bluH of sandstone
i abuts on the river and Yields Il fine building
table land, are some OF the finest building
sites to he found In its picturesque valley--it
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
blaif fronts, also, on Lees Greek. at its con-
ueuee with the Arkansas, and runs along that
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth OF
this stream IL In s. Is. T. Q, Il, 80; opposite
the BLUM across the creek, is Il high hill, in
which lead waslound many years ago-it was
probably drift. Fine springs gush ont along
the valley Of this stream, and its many ailu-
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 Barren, are accounted
j the best IN the country. The water Is cold
and sweet. These streams will all supply
mills; and the county grows excellent
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es-
! peeiallv blue--which takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close (as it does, in.
deed in other parts Of the valley Glover an1
frdits are all grown here In great perfection
and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especially
, have been 50 thoroughly tested and cultivat,
ed by Or. K. Thurston, near Van Buren,, tina
il Is now demonstrated that the Arkansas vii
produce fruit equal to any other valley in tht
world
| The Valley Of Lees Creek contains excel
s lent land both bottom and high lands; thest
last are, Tor tie most part. broken, rough an,
rocky, The Valley of Lees Creek. with 1t
n tributaries, is probably wider than that @
any other tfihutayy runuiuU into tho RI