The Modoc Lumber Company was formed in 1918 by J. O. Goldthwaite. It operated in a company town called Pine Ridge, located on the Klamath Indian Reservation about 2 miles from Chiloquin. It changed name and ownership over the years, until it was purchased by the Exchange Sawmill Sales Company in 1925. The Forest Lumber Company was formed as a result. In 1936 the Company moved some of its operations to the North Marsh Unit, located 30 miles from the mill in the Klamath Marsh. Pine Ridge was destroyed by fire in 1939. The Company lost all its buildings during the fire, along with several million feet of lumber. Neither the Company nor Pine Ridge were rebuilt after that, and the remaining assets were purchased by other lumber companies. The Company used railroads to transport logs, the most successful method at the time. It was more cost effective to bring the rails to the lumber. That is how temporary railroads, connected to the mainline, were built. As the lumber sites moved away from the tracks, it became more cost effective to use trucks, which in time replaced the railroads completely.