The Van Buren press., 1879-01-25
CRAWFORD COUNTY.
A Brief Description Of It's Soil, Timber
Minerals, etc., etc.
Attractions Offered TO Immigrants.

| Crawford County, Arkansas, Is sitnat
| ed on the extreme Western boundary O
the State, adjoining the Cherokee Nation
and contains an area of about 362,oot
acres, a good portion of which is rive'
and creek bottom lands. There is in The
County nearly 10000 acres subject te
homestead or other entry, and about TO
600 acres of Railroad Lands, which are
now in the market, and offered at IRON
81 to 100 per acre, according to quall'
lty. Other unimproved lands can be
bought at from $3.50 to $1,000 per acre
and lands partly improved at from "a to
to $1,000, per acre,
The Lands of Crawford County are
the larger part of them, exceedingly fer
tile, and the greater pait of them snscept
ibe of cultivation. There are, within Its
limits, more alluyial lands than most, II
not all the other western counties. We'll
watered, good timber, and capable oI
supporting 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 ire 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 excelled
anywhere, aud 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 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 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 coun-
ties.
The description of Crawford County,
which we publish below, is taken from q
report made from an actual reeonnois
sance by Messrs. j. NJ. Washbourne and
j. H. Haney, to the l.. r. & f. S. Rail
way, in 1857, Since that time there has
been of course, vast improvements made
in the condition of the county, in mos,
all respects:
"Very little pine is found in this County
but in the adjoining Cherokee Country, com
mencing 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 f this county
generally, are level and fertile, rich in grass
es, vines. grap", and underground. Sprin -
are common in parts and water obtained with
readiness by digging. These lands are un-
derlaid by terruginous slales and clays, and
where unproductive, can be made so by ma
teral existing there or in the hills. One o
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 luXuriant
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 indicc.
are found all over the county, but the coal, a.
rule, is not as thick as it is in Franklin. On
Frog Bayou. n considerable tributary to til,
Arkansas. at Phillips bank, ). Is, L .. r. 30
coal has been dug for thirty five years, said
by smiths who have worked it, to be the bes
coal in the region it is three feet thick ans
easy to quarry; it extends quite a distanc,
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. 4
few small prairies skirt it with eXcclen
grasses and herbs.
On Flat Rock, stream eastward from Val
Buren two miles, shale is exposed, and Goa
has been found. The uplands. along thi
stream, are fine for fruits grapes and berries
This shale runs into Van Buren,; and in til
well sunk for the steam mill there, coal wa
struck. rs, also, Il very hard. blue. almost i'm
penetrable rock. Along this stream sma
fragments of erystal-as also, on low ridg
on the land of f. Scott, s. 0. I. 8, X. 81, an
along the hillside, near the Van Buren steal
mll-are gathered. Limestone occurs at tn
base of the bluff of ferruginous st ndston
above Van Buren, this blntf of sandston
abuts on the river and yields fine building
stone; and on its height, which is a broa
| table land, are some OF the finest building
| sites to be found in its picturesque valley
is tempting to the wealthy immigrant. Th
bluff fronts, also on Lees Creek, at its cor
uence with the Arkansas. and runs along thu
stream into the adjoining hills; the mouth
| this stream is in 5. Is. Il. 9, X. 80: oppoSit
the bluff, across the creek, is high hill. i
which lead was found many years ago-it Wa
probably drift. Fine springs gush out alon
the valley OF this stream, and its many ailu
ents; iron oXydes and carbonate are con
mon everywhere, and the carbonate is excet
dinghy heavy; indeed the absence of iron
the exception in this valley The water i
this region is very good, and the spring
about and near Van Burcn. are accounte
the best in the country. The water is col
and sweet. These streams will all suppl
mills; and the county grows eXcelel
wheat. The corn. cotton, cereals grasses e.
peciallv blue-whieh takes hold OF the sol
and spreads rapidly and close Gas it does, in
deed in other parts of the ey)--clovera an
fruits are all grown here in great perfectio
, and quantity To the acre, Fruits, especiallr
have been 50 thoroughly tested and cultiva
ed by DIR. Il. Thurston, near Van Buren,. tn;
it is now demonstrated that the Arkansas wi
: produce fruit equal to any other valley in tt
:, world.
The Valley of Lees Creek contains exec
lent land, both bottom aud high lands; the,
last are. for the most part, broken, rough an
rocky. The Valley of Lees Creek, with i
tributaries, is probably wider than that
any other tributary running into the Arkar