{{Short description|American timber company}}
{{Infobox company | name = Dierks Forests, Inc. | logo = | former_name = Choctaw Lumber Co. (original)<br>Dierks Lumber and Coal Company (until 1954) | type = Formerly Family-owned | traded_as = | ISIN = | industry = Timber harvesting and processing | genre = | predecessor = Choctaw Lumber Co. | incorporated = | founded = {{Start date|1903}} | founder = Dierks brothers (Herman, Fred, Hans) | defunct = | fate = Acquired by Weyerhaeuser Company | hq_location_country = | num_locations = | num_locations_year = | area_served = Oklahoma, Arkansas | key_people = | products = Lumber, coal (formerly) | production = | production_year = | brands = | services = Timber harvesting and processing | owner = Dierks family (until 1969) | subsid = Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad }}
'''Dierks Forests, Inc.''', known until 1954 as the Dierks Lumber and Coal Company<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=8188|title=The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, article on Dierks Forests, Inc. |accessdate=2017-08-11}}</ref> and originally known as Choctaw Lumber Co.,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/only-in-oklahoma-logging-towns-were-literally-on-the-move/article_49792da9-ca29-5765-a271-45232819bb8b.html|title=Gene Curtis, "Only in Oklahoma: Logging towns were literally on the move," Tulsa World, May 17, 2007|accessdate=2015-07-06}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forestry.ok.gov/Websites/forestry/Images/CentennialBrochure.pdf|title=Oklahoma Forestry Services brochure, “The Early Years of Forestry in Oklahoma,” November 2007|accessdate=2015-07-06}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forestry.ok.gov/Websites/forestry/Images/CentennialBrochure.pdf|title=Oklahoma Forestry Services brochure, "The Early Years of Forestry in Oklahoma," November 2007|accessdate=2015-07-06}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=8188|title=The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, article on Dierks Forests, Inc. |accessdate=2017-08-11}}</ref>
==Legacy==
One of the Dierks timber-hauling steam locomotives, a 1917 oil-burning Baldwin 2-6-2 Prairie-type, was donated to the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma after its retirement, and has been standing since 1983 in front of the west parking lot for the Tulsa Fairgrounds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.krmg.com/photo/news/local/steam-locomotive-tulsa-fairgrounds/pDSKg/|title=Radio Station KRMG Photo|access-date=2015-07-06|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707103216/http://www.krmg.com/photo/news/local/steam-locomotive-tulsa-fairgrounds/pDSKg/|archive-date=2015-07-07|df=}}</ref><ref name=Repaint>{{cite web|url= https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/catching-steam-the-effort-to-save-and-resurrect-a-classic-tulsa-locomotive |title=CATCHING STEAM: Effort to save, resurrect classic Tulsa locomotive |publisher=2News Oklahoma, June 24, 2024|accessdate=January 10, 2025}}</ref> That engine had “DIERKS FOREST” painted on the cab, while “207” was painted on the tender and on one of the locomotive domes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steamlocomotive.com/whyte/2-6-2/USA/photos/dierks207-unknown.jpg|title= SteamLocomotive.com Photograph before painting|accessdate=2017-08-11}}</ref> When the engine was repainted around 2011 or 2012, the lettering was lost.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steamlocomotive.com/whyte/2-6-2/USA/photos/dierks207-wessel1.jpg|title= SteamLocomotive.com Photograph after painting|accessdate=2017-08-11}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Repaint/>
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.<ref name=Kohl>{{cite web|url= https://onlyinark.com/culture/trains-arkansas-locomotives-railcars/ |title=Historic Trains of Arkansas—Locomotives and Railcars|publisher= Julie Kohl, Only in Arkansas, February 5, 2019|accessdate=October 23, 2020}}</ref> The engine is currently on display in Queen Wilhelmina State Park.<ref name=Kohl />
The town of Dierks, Arkansas was named for Hans Dierks, the oldest of the four Dierks brothers associated with the company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=897|title=The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, article on Dierks (Howard County)|accessdate=2017-08-11}}</ref>
The city of Broken Bow, Oklahoma started as a private development by a subsidiary of the Choctaw Lumber Company.<ref name=Dierks>{{cite web|url=https://www.brokenbowchamber.com/history.php |title=The Early History of Broken Bow|publisher=Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce|accessdate=July 13, 2020}}</ref> The Dierks sawmill in town was one of the largest mills in the United States.<ref name=Dierks /> The name of the town came about from Broken Bow, Nebraska, the previous home of founders Herman and Fred Dierks.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=BR020 |title=Broken Bow|publisher= G. Paulette LaGasse, Oklahoma Historical Society|accessdate=July 13, 2020}}</ref> The Dierks family donated land for public uses, including churches and schools,<ref name=Dierks /> and a Dierks Elementary School continues in the city to this day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbisd.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Dierks%20Elementary|title=Dierks Elementary|publisher=Broken Bow Public Schools|accessdate=July 13, 2020|archive-date=July 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713194436/https://www.bbisd.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Dierks%20Elementary|url-status=dead}}</ref> The town also continues to have a Dierks Street.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dierks+St,+Broken+Bow,+OK+74728/@34.0321551,-94.7368766,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x86356acefa598271:0xf87ae627cb66f4e8!8m2!3d34.0321551!4d-94.7346826 |title=Dierks St, Broken Bow, OK|publisher=Google Maps|accessdate=July 13, 2020}}</ref> Dierks locomotive #227 remains preserved in Broken Bow.<ref name=Train>{{cite web|url= http://cityofbrokenbow.com/dierks-train-227/ | title= Dierks Train #227|publisher=City of Broken Bow|accessdate=July 13, 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Train />
==References== <references />
Category:Defunct companies based in Arkansas Category:Defunct companies based in Oklahoma Category:Defunct forest products companies of the United States