The Van Buren press., 1879-01-07
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
1 Brief Description Of It's Soil, Timber,
Minerals, ETC., etc.
Attractions offered TO Immigrants.

tEaHiolu tOHbtN, AlhdHSaS, 10 slJuas
ed on the extreme Western boundary 0
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area of about 1862 ,00
acres, a good portionaof which is rive
and creek bottom lands. There is in th
County nearly 10000 acres subject t.
homestead or other entry, and about 70
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which ar,
now in the market, and offered at from
81 to $500 per acre, according to quail
y. Other unimproYed lands can bt
bought at from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from 81 te
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 snscept
ible of cultivation. There are, within its
limits, more alluyial lands than most, il
not all the other western counties. We'll
watered, good timber, and capable oi
supporting n dense population. The
present population is estimated at $4,000.
Schools and Churches abound in all parts
of the county, there being forty ight
School Districts in the county, in which
free schools tre taught from three to ten
months in the year
There are in the county eight Steam
FIGURING Mills, two Wool cardng ma
chimes, and 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 exceIled
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 nayigable 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 reconnOis-
sanee by Messrs. J. NJ Washboutne and
j. II. Hancv, to the l.. X. Il f. S Rail
way, in 1851 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, CONF
nine miles north of westward from
Van Bufan, is one OF the greatest pneries
north of the Arkansas River. 1t Wsll hereat'
ter, be very valuable to your Road. The up
lands in the eastern section this county,
generally, are level and fertile. rich in grass
eS, vinee, gr"pn, ""d "n1o"4sa'"th Surin.r-
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are un-
derlaid by tcrruginous shales and clays. and
where unproductivc, can be made so by ma
terial existing there or in the bills. 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 timbercd, with luXuriant
growth of vine, shrub and grass wel-wa-
tered, and as productive as any land on the
Arkansas.
Shalcs are everywhere exposed, even in the
city in several places Coal, or coal indices
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, y. Is, L o, X. 80,
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
easy to quarry it extends quite distance
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. 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, 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 wa:
struck, as, also, a very hard, blue. almost i'm
penetrabie rock. Along this stream smai
fragments of crystal-as, also. on low rldgt
on the land of e. Scott, 5. ., L. g. K. 81. ant
along the hillside, near the Van Buren, steam
mill-are gathered. Limestone occurs at tht
base of the bluff of ierruginous st ndstone
above Van Buren; this bluff of sandstone
abuts on the river. and yields fine building
stone: and on its height which is a broaI
table land, are some OF the finest building
sites to be found in its picturesque valley
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant Thi
bluff fronts, also, on Lees Creek, at its con
uence with the Arkansas, and runs along tina
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth o
this stream is in 5. Is, I. 8, K. 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 alon
| the valley of this stream, and its many atllu
ents; iron oNydes and carbonate are con
mon every where, and the carbonate is eNcee
! dinghy heavy indeed the absence Of iron
the exception in this valley. The water /
this region is very good. and the spring
about and near Van Buren, are accounte
the best in the country. The water is col
and sweet These streams Will all suppl
mills; and the county grows eNcellen
wheat. The corn. cotton, cereals, grasses, es
peciallv blue-whch takes hold OF the sol
and spreads rapidly and close Gas il does, in
deed in other parts of the valley Glover an
fruits are all grown here in great perfectio
and quantity to the acre. Fruits especially
have been SO thoroughly tested and Cultivat
ed by DIR. Il. Thurston, near Van BurCu, tha
it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas wi
produce fruit equal to any other valley in th
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 it