Eastern white pine was used for building in huge quantities from prior to 1800 until 1920. It was lightweight, strong, shrank very little and was plentiful. In Wisconsin alone, billions of BF were manufactured and used without intentional drying. With the rail system development in the 1860s and later, lumber could be cheaply shipped beyond its growing area.
But back to the original question about using oak for a deck...
When using a high shrinkage wood like oak, the fastening system is key. Fasteners should not be on both edges as they would see the maximum amount of shrinkage. Rather, nail on one edge or near the center. This movement is why board and batten and also lap siding was developed...movement of the loose edge did not cause a failure. But with so,many better species of wood available, oak would not often be used for siding or decking...rather cedar, redwood, some local softwoods, and similar had widespread use...low shrinkage, lightweight, decay resistant, widely available, etc.
For framing, oak could be used, but again, the widespread availability of and a grading system for syp, DF and other strong softwoods post WW II encouraged their use. Chestnut was also widely used prior to 1920 or so. After WW II, the popularity of oak furniture made production of furniture lumber more profitable than structural or construction oak lumber. Likewise, red oak ties were very popular and profitable.
I assume that an oak deck would be made with fairly knot free wood...lots of knots would cause bad warping and not look nice. However, the value of such lumber for cabinets, furniture, etc., especially compared to treated pine, is very high, so oak decks would be so expensive compared to pine. Plus the high shrinkage of oak, thickness and width, including cupping, warp around knots, etc., would make the deck rather "un-smooth."
Red oak would also be very susceptible to decay when used as a deck, so generally, with better species being available, oak would not be used for a deck. Of course, we do not know what oaks the original post referred to...red or white.