Cadwallader Washburn came a long way from Maine to Minnesota -- in miles, in prestige, and in wealth. He caught a lucky break in the form of the Civil War, which put dunning creditors on hold and allowed him to practice busting up river impediments on the Yazoo Pass.

He marshaled the power of St. Anthony Falls near Minneapolis for milling, and figured out how to marry the wheat that would grow on the northern plains with what consumers desired: fine, white wheat that made bread rise high. Nutritional content and environmental damage did not enter into his vision of food processing.

What he did calculate included: Industrial espionage, huge investments in new milling technologies, wheat futures contracts, railroads, marketing, and scalability. His giant Washburn-Crosby mill eventually became the conglomerate General Mills.

Think of C.C. Washburn as the Man Who Made White Flour Cheap.