We sometimes think of Oklahoma as a vast prairie and forget that it has about 12 million acres of forest. Seven million of those acres are considered “timber land” suitable for harvest, and support 76 tree species, including loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, post oak, winged elm, American elm, eastern redcedar, and hickory. The usefulness of these forests was not ignored by our ancestors. Small sawmills were set up to satisfy local needs for milled lumber for houses and barns and as the railroad invaded the Territory, the need for lumber increased and profits were made from shipping timber to our neighbors in Kansas and Texas.