The Van Buren press., 1878-10-29
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description Of Its Sell, Timber
Minerals. etc., etc.
Attractions offered to Immigrants.

Crawford County, Arkansas, Is sltuat-
I ed on the extreme Western boundary OF
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation,
and contains an area of about 1862, 600
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 70.
coo acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered ut from
so to $500 per acre, according to quail
ty, Other unimproved lands can be
bought at from 50, so to $1,000 per acre !;
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
to S15,00, per acre.
The Lands of Crawford County are,
the larger part of them, exceedingly fer
tile, and the greater pant of them suscept-
ible of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more allnvial 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 Ii, 900.
| Schools and Churches abound in all parts
| of the county, there being forty eight
| School Districts in the county, in which
free schools are taught from three to ten
months in the year
2'here in trio ooaatr oislst Stoa,,s
| FIGURING Mills, two Wool.carding ma
chimes, aud a large number of Steam
Cotton.Gns, &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 exeelled
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
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 navigabe 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
report made from an actual reconnois-
sance by Messrs. J. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II. Haney, to the l.. Il. d f. 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
avery little pine is found in this County
but in the adjoining Cherokee Country, com
meneing nine miles north of westward from
Van Buren,, is one Of the greatest pineries
north of the Arkansas River. 1t will hereaf-
ter, be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands in the eastern section f this county,
generally, are level and fertile. rich in grass
es, vines, grape. aud undergroWth, springs
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are UNI
derlaid by ferruginous shales and clays, and
where reproductive, can be made so by ma
teral existing there or in the hills, One OF
the finest tracts of bottom land begins in the
city of Van Barren, 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 timbered, with luxnriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass well-wa-
| tered, and rs 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 as it is in Franklin. On
! Frog Bayou, considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, s. Is, T o. X. 30,
coal has been dug for thirty-five years, said
| by smiths, who have worked it, to be the best
coal in the region; it is three feet thick. and
] to- Il. IT
along this Bayou. and is a 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 praries skirt it with excellent
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, 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 the
well sunk for the steam mill there. coal was
struck, as, also, very hard blue, almost inn
penctrablc rock. Along this stream small
| fragments OF crystal-as, also, on a low ridge
on the land of +. Scott, ). 8, T. 8, Il. 81. and
along the hillside, near the Van Barren steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at the
base of the bluff of ferruginOus 50 ndstone
above Van Buren,; this hiul 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 be found in its picturesque valley it
il tempting to the wealthy immigrant. This
blnil fronts, also, on Lees Creek at its con-
uence with the Arkansas, and runs along that
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth OF
this stream is in 5. Is, L. 8, r. 80: opposite
the BLUFF, across the creek, is high hill, in
which lead was found many years ago-it was
| probably drift Fine springs guSh ont along
the valley of this stream, and its many ailu-
ents; iron oXy DIES and carbonate are com
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is cXcee-
Tdngiy 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 will all supply
mills; and the county grows excellent
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es-
| pecalv blue-whieh takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close Gas IL does in-
deed in other parts of the valley --cloyer and
! fruits are all grown here in great perfection
and quantity To the acre. Fruits, especially.
have been SO thoroughly tested and cultiyat-
ed by DIR. 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 its
tributaries, Is probably wider than that of
any othertributary running into the Arkan-
sas, on the north. within the State. but great