Dierks Forests

Dierks Forests, Inc., known until 1954 as the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company[1] and originally known as Choctaw Lumber Co.,[2] was a timber harvesting and processing company primarily in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Starting with a purchase of forest in 1903 in the Indian Territory, near Valliant,[3] the company became known for its concept of the “traveling timber town”, in which the houses, the school, the church, and other buildings for the workers and their families were moved periodically to stay close to the advancing logging site.[4] The company eventually owned 1.75 million acres of timberland, and was one of the largest family-owned landholding entities in the United States before it was sold to the Weyerhaeuser Company in 1969.[5]

Legacy

One of the Dierks timber-hauling steam locomotives, a 1917 wood-burning Baldwin 2-6-2 Prairie-type, was donated to the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma after its retirement, and still stands in front of the west parking lot for the Tulsa Fairgrounds.[6] That engine had “DIERKS FOREST” painted on the cab, while “207” was painted on the tender and on one of the locomotive domes.[7] When the engine was repainted around 2011 or 2012, the lettering was lost.[8]

Another locomotive, the Dierks Forest 360, is an oil-burning 4-6-0 ten-wheeler built in 1920 and originally run by a Dierks subsidiary, the Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad.[9] The engine is currently on display in Queen Wilhelmina State Park.[9]

The town of Dierks, Arkansas was named for Hans Dierks, the oldest of the four Dierks brothers associated with the company.[10]

The city of Broken Bow, Oklahoma started as a private development by a subsidiary of the Choctaw Lumber Company.[11] The Dierks sawmill in town was one of the largest mills in the United States.[11] The name of the town came about from Broken Bow, Nebraska, the previous home of founders Herman and Fred Dierks.[12] The Dierks family donated land for public uses, including churches and schools,[11] and a Dierks Elementary School continues in the city to this day.[13] The town also continues to have a Dierks Street.[14] Dierks Train #227 remains preserved in Broken Bow.[15] It is an oil-fired Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado which was built in May 1927, operated until 1963 when it was replaced by a diesel locomotive, and donated in 1972 to the City of Broken Bow.[15]

References
  1. "The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, article on Dierks Forests, Inc". Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  2. "Gene Curtis, "Only in Oklahoma: Logging towns were literally on the move," Tulsa World, May 17, 2007". Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  3. "Oklahoma Forestry Services brochure, "The Early Years of Forestry in Oklahoma," November 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  4. "Oklahoma Forestry Services brochure, "The Early Years of Forestry in Oklahoma," November 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  5. "The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, article on Dierks Forests, Inc". Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  6. "Radio Station KRMG Photo". Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
  7. "SteamLocomotive.com Photograph before painting". Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  8. "SteamLocomotive.com Photograph after painting". Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  9. "Historic Trains of Arkansas—Locomotives and Railcars". Julie Kohl, Only in Arkansas, February 5, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  10. "The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, article on Dierks (Howard County)". Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  11. "The Early History of Broken Bow". Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  12. "Broken Bow". G. Paulette LaGasse, Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  13. "Dierks Elementary". Broken Bow Public Schools. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  14. "Dierks St, Broken Bow, OK". Google Maps. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  15. "Dierks Train #227". City of Broken Bow. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
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