Dierks Forests, Inc., known until 1954 as the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company and originally known as Choctaw Lumber Co., was a timber harvesting and processing company primarily in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Starting with a purchase of forest in 1903 in the

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, near Valliant, 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. 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 The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

in 1969.

Legacy

One of the Dierks timber-hauling steam locomotives, a 1917 oil-burning

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The maj ...

Prairie-type, was donated to the City of Tulsa,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

after its retirement, and has been standing since 1983 in front of the west parking lot for the Tulsa Fairgrounds. That engine had “DIERKS FOREST” painted on the cab, while “207” was painted on the tender and on one of the locomotive domes. When the engine was repainted around 2011 or 2012, the lettering was lost. However, the locomotive was repainted again by June of 2024 with the lettering restored, and with the hope additional funds could be found to make the engine operative once more. 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 The Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad owned by Patriot Rail Company of Jacksonville, Florida, with 39.3 miles of track in southeastern Oklahoma. It is operated along with its affiliate, the De Queen and Eas ...

. The engine is currently on display in Queen Wilhelmina State Park. The town of

Dierks, Arkansas Dierks is a city in Howard County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 916 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,133 in 2010. History Dierks was formerly known as "Hardscrabble.” It was changed to "Dierks" after Hans Dierks, the oldest ...

was named for Hans Dierks, the oldest of the four Dierks brothers associated with the company. The city of

Broken Bow, Oklahoma Broken Bow is a city in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,228 at the 2020 census. It is named after Broken Bow, Nebraska, the former hometown of the city's founders, the Dierks brothers. History The land that w ...

started as a private development by a subsidiary of the Choctaw Lumber Company. The Dierks sawmill in town was one of the largest mills in the United States. The name of the town came about from

Broken Bow, Nebraska Broken Bow is a city in Custer County, Nebraska, Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,559 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. History Broken Bow was platted in 1882. Its ...

, the previous home of founders Herman and Fred Dierks. The Dierks family donated land for public uses, including churches and schools, and a Dierks Elementary School continues in the city to this day. The town also continues to have a Dierks Street. Dierks locomotive #227 remains preserved in Broken Bow.{{cite web, url= http://cityofbrokenbow.com/dierks-train-227/ , title= Dierks Train #227, publisher=City of Broken Bow, accessdate=July 13, 2020 It is an oil-fired

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wh ...

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.

References

Defunct companies based in Arkansas Defunct companies based in Oklahoma Defunct forest products companies of the United States