The Van Buren press., 1879-01-21
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
4 Brief Description of its Soil, Timber,
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered TO Immigrants.

/ d
Crawford County, Arkansas. is stuat
ed on the extreme Western boundary o
the State adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area of about 362, ,00t
acres, good .portion-of which is riyel
and creek bottom lands. There is in tht
County nearly 10000 acres subject te
homestead or other entry, and about ~
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at from
81 to 81, 90 per acre, according to quail
ty Other nnimpfoved lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to ST. 100 per acre
and lands partly improved at from VI to
to SIo, 90, per acre.
The Lands of Crawford County are,
the larger part Of them, exceedingly fer
tile and the greater pait OF them suseept,
| ble of cultivation. There are, within its
/ limits, more alnyial lands than most, II
not all the other western counties. Well
watered, good timber, ard capable OF
supporting q dense population. The
present population is estimated at $4,000,
/ Schools and Churches abound IN all parts
of the county, there being forty light
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 .earding ma
chimes, and large number of Steam
| Cotton. Gins, &e, &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 exeelied
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 eontesting ex-
hibits being large and numerous. ln
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 havisable 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
| ada frrp, nntIiu1 Is
sance by Messrs. J. NJ. Washbourne and
j. II, Haney, to the L. 4. q 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 Ruren, Is one OF the greatest pinelies
north of the Arkansas River. 1t will hereaf
ter. be very valuable to sour Road. The up
lands in the eastern section af this county
generally, are level and FERTILE rich in grass
es, vines. grap', and underground. Sprin IS
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are an
derlad by terruginous shaes and clays, and
where unproductive, can be made SO by ma
terial existing there or in the hills. One ol
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 Greek
to the mouth of Mulberry. The greater part
is high, dry, richly timbered, with luxuriani
growth of vine, shrub and grass; well-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 indce,
are found all over the county, but the coal. a,
a rule, is not as thick as it is in Franklin. Or
Frog Bayou, a considerable tributary to thu
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, ). Is, I o. r. 30
coal has been dug for thirty five years, said
by smiths, who have worked il, to be the bcs
coal In the region; it is three feet thick anC
easy to quarry; it extends quite distanc,
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.
few small prairies skirt it with excellen
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, a stream eastward from Val
Barren two miles, shale is exposed, and Goa
has been found, The uplands, along th
stream, are fine for fruits, grapes and berries
This shaie f;tHs into Van Bttfen and in tn,
well sunk for the steam mill there coal wa
struck, as, also il very hard, blue. almost inn
penetrable rock. Along this stream smal
fragments of crystal-as, also on low ridge
on the and Of Il. Scott, ). ., L. 8, Il, 81. an,
along the hillside, near the Van Buren steam
ilill@-dFt 2utttHFtN, Limestone occurs Ut IIlt
base of the bluff of tprruginous 81 ndstone
above Van Buren; this blum of sandston,
abuts on the river and yields fine building
stone; and on its height, which is hroat
table land, are some of the finest building
sites TO be found in its picturesque valley-i
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Thi
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, at its con
uence with the Arkansas, and runs alongtha
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth o
this stream is in ;, Is, I. o, r. 30; opposit,
the bluff, across the creek, is high hill, il
which lead was found many years ago--it wa
probably drift. Fine springs gush out alons
the valley of this stream, and its many aillu
ents; iron oxydes and carbonate are CON
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is excee
dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron /
the exception in this valley. The water il
this region Is very good, and the spring
about and near Van Buren, are aceounte,
the best in the country. The water is col,
and sweet. These streams will all suppl
Mills and the county grows excellen
wheat. The corn cotton, cereals, grasses, es
peciallv hlue-whch takes hold OF the sol
and spreads rapidly and close (as it does, in
deed in other parts of the valley )-clover an
fruits are all grown here in great pertectio
and quantity to the acre. Fruits, especial,
have been so thoroughly tested and cultivat
ed by DIR. r. Thurston, near Van Buren, tina
it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas wi
produce fruit equal to any other valley in TIL
world
The V alley of Lees Creek contains excel