Here an image is displayed of the fabled Duluth General Mills facility located in the great city of Duluth. So named after its founder the late General Cadwallader Mills, a rough and tough veteran of the War of Westward Expansion often forgotten in American textbooks. Known affectionately throughout the Nation of Minnesota as “Granpappy Pillsbury”, General Mills established many grain-smashing facilities along the Mississippi River. These grain-smashers, now known as “mills” allowed the general public to process their coveted grains though an early 19th century form of hydro-electric power.
Readers of “All Things Historical”, a quarterly circular published by the General Assembly of the Nation of Minnesota, will remember of the adventurous spirit of the white haired General. For instance, did you know that he publicly condoned the 1870 proposal to dig a tunnel underneath the Falls of St. Anthony? As a matter of public record it should be noted that he personally funded the construction of the current “apron” seen today by the visitors to St. Paul.
Yet the majestic General Mills facility is not without its own problems. Few there are who know the function or purpose for such a large structure. You might ask, “Why the large cylindrical shapes?” The answer is easy: to protect the flakes of corn from rats. You might also ask, “Then why allow the corn to cool in large piles outdoors?” Again, a simple answer: to allow the corned flakes to absorb essential nutrients. Though some may feel that this “air grazing” method is in poor taste, General Mills found it to be the most effective method to imbue his Corn Flakes with precious carbonated oxygen. Plentiful in the vast forests of the Nation of Minnesota, carbonated oxygen later proved to be a valuable resource in trade with the United States during the Second War to End All Wars.
Now a relic of a bygone society, the General Mills facility still stands proud of its heritage and importance to the Nation of Minnesota.
