A Glimpse into the past of Rural Crawford County
The following article was transcribed and donated
by Fran Warren
The Van Buren Argus
June 8, 1876
OUR TRIP IN THE COUNTRY-
What We Saw and Where We Saw It.
Feeling in need of a little recreation and rest from the monotonous
routine
of a printer's life, we started on Wednesday, May 31st, for the
mountains,
to see the crops, get better acquainted with the people, admire
the
beautiful scenery, and breathe the pure air of our mountain townships.
We
were fully armed and equipped with pencil and note book, (not
bank note),
and shaking the dust of Van Buren from our feet, we mounted our
"wiry,
unfamed steed" and started on our way, feeling a good deal
like a school boy
leaving school for the long summer vacation.
Passing Dripping Springs we reached Arkloe, a little village founded
last
fall by J B P BULLOCK. The citizens were enterprising and fully
alive to the
interests of their little community. They are making preparations
for the
4th of July in grand old-fashioned style. Mr. BULLOCK has a large
two story
stone grist mill in course of construction, which, when finished,
will
supply the wants of the country for miles around. Arkloe is now
the voting
precinct for Jasper Township, and efforts are being made to secure
a post
office. We are indebted to Mr. J C WOOD for information and substantial
favors extended to us during our stay at this place. Success to
Arkloe.
We next visited Cedarville, distant from Arkloe four miles. This
is a
flourishing little town, situated on the Fayetteville stage route,
11 miles
north of Van Buren. It is a good business point, commanding the
exclusive
trade of the country as far north as Natural Dam. It has two general
stores,
where most anything can be had at reasonable rates, one drug store,
and a
hotel, kept by C. CROWELL, Esq., which, by the way, is a most
excellent
place to get a square meal. The old man knows how to "dish
it up" in style.
Two miles north of this place is a large grist mill, owned by
Jesse BRANSON.
This mill turns out as good flour as is made in the State, and
lots of it.
The next place we stopped was at Natural Dam, about night fall,
and began
looking for a place to "hang up". Fortune favored us
and the first
application was successful. We had just sat down to the supper
table of
"Mine host",- Mr. H F BARKER, when a storm, which had
been brewing for more
than an hour, burst upon us. The wind blew a perfect hurricane,
terrific
peals of thunder followed the vivid lightening, and the rain poured
down in
torrents. It was truly a grand, imposing spectacle.
From Natural Dam we continued our wanderings to within three miles
of
Evansville, and we regret that we had not time to visit that place.
Returning to Natural Dam, we crossed the mountain to Lee's Creek,
and such a
road- is simply beggars description. Fortunately we reached Lee's
Creek
without breaking our neck and found it in a flourishing condition,
her
merchants all looking happy and contented. The night after our
arrival at
this place we had another storm almost equal in fury to the one
we
encountered at Natural Dam. But the next morning the sun with
its genial
rays soon dispersed the clouds, and after a hearty breakfast we
again
mounted and set our face toward home.
The Crops in the section of country we visited are doing splendid,
corn and
cotton never looking better, and the present prospects are good
for an
enormous yield of both. Wheat looked well but rather thin, owing
to the open
winter. The rust will not hurt any of the wheat in this section.
Some of the
farmers are busy harvesting, and others are preparing for the
work. Wheat
will not average more than half a crop, but there was two acres
planted this
year against one last year, so there will be fully as much in
the market as
there was last year, and prices will be about the same.
We return our sincere thanks to the country people generally for
their kind
and generous treatment of us when in their midst, and the handsome
manner in
which they entertained us. We found a large number of people taking
the
Argus, and expressed themselves well pleased with it and wished
us unbounded
success. We returned home late Saturday evening well pleased with
our trip
to the country, feeling refreshed and invigorated after our brief
respite
from office duties.