The Van Buren press., 1879-02-01
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, etc.. etc.
Attractions offered 10 Immigrants.

Crawford County, Arkansas, is sitnat
ed on the extreme W Western boundary OF
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area OF about 302,OUo
acres, Il good portien-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, aad offered at from
81 to 90 per acre, according to quail
ty. Other unimproyed lands can be
bought at from 81, 30 to 90 per acre
and lands partly improved at from 81 to
to $1,000, 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 10, 600.
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
There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool carding ma
chimes, and a large number of Steam
| Cotton Gins, dc, &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
enywhere, 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 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 coun-
ties
The description Of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from a
report made from an actual reeonnois-
/
j. H. IIaney, to the l.. R. 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:
VERY 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 hcreaf-
ter. be very valuable to your Road. The up
| lands in the eastern section t this county,
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines, grape, and undergrowth. Sprin -
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are nm
derlaid by ierruginous shales and clayS and
| where unproductye, can be made SO 10y ma
| terial existing there or in the hills, One OF
| the finest tracts of bottom land begins in the
| past the mouth OF Frog Bayou or Clear Creek
| to the mouth of Mulberry. The greater part
| is high. dry richly tmbcred, with IuXurant
growth of vine, shrub and grass; wcll-wa-
| tered, and as productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
| Shnles are everywhere exposed, even in the
! city in several places Coal, or coal iudiccS
are found all over the county, but the coal. ~
| a rule. is not rs thick as it l. in Franklin. On
| Frog Bayou, considerable tributary to the
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, 4. Is, I o. K. 30
coal has been dug for thirty five wears, 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 a distance
along this Bayou. and is par; of the Arkau-
sas coal field. This stream has long been Ia
med for its fine, wide, high and rich lands \
few small prairies skirt it with excellent
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, Il 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 tor the steam mill there. coal was
| struck, as also, "A very hard. blue. almost inn
penctrable rock. Along this stream small
! fragments OF crystal-as, also, on low ridge
cn the land Of f. Scott, ;, 9, 7. .. Il. 81, and
along the hill near the Van Bureu steam
mill-arc gathered. Limestone occurs at the
| base of the blutf of ferruginous sandstone
above Van Buren,; this blutt of sandstone
| ahuts on the river and yields fine building
stone: and on its height, which is broad
/ table land, are some of the finest building.
| sites to be found in its picturesque yal.cy-it
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Thi,
| bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, ut its con,
| uence with the Arkansas, and runs along that
/ stream into the adjoining hills the mouth o
/ this stream is in ;. Is L. 0, II. 30; opposite
/ the bluil across the creek. Is a high hill, il
| which lead was found many years ago-it wa,
probably drift. Fine springs gush out along
the valley of this stream. and its many ailiu,
cnts: iron oNydes aud carbonate are com
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is eXcet
| dinghy heavy indeed the absence OF iron i,
the exception in this valley. The water it
! this region is very good, and the spring,
about aud near Van Buren,, are accounted
! the best in the country. The water is colo
and sweet. These streams will all suppl,
mills and the county grows eNccllen
wheat. The corn, cotton, cereals, grasses, es
peciallv blue-which takes hold OF the soil
and spreads rapidly and close (as il does. in.
deed in other parts of the yalley)-clovcr ant
fruits are all grown here in great perfection
and quantity to the acre. Fruits. especially
have been So thoroughly tested and cultfyat.
ed by Dr. X. Thurston, near Van Buren,. thai
it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas vii
produce fruit equal to any other valley ia tht
| world.
The Valley of Lees Creek contains excel.
lent land. both bottom aud high lands: these
last are, for the most part, broken, rough and
| rocky, The Valley of Lees Creek with Ii,
tributaries is probably wider than that o
any othertributary running into the Araan-