Land speculation and banking In 1844, Washburn formed a partnership with land agent
Cyrus Woodman. Together the two men developed a number of companies, such as the Wisconsin Mining Company. The most successful business venture undertaken by the men was land acquisition. In May 1855 they established Washburn's and Woodman's Mineral Point Bank. Washburn and Woodman dissolved their partnership amicably in 1855.
Minneapolis Mill Company In 1856, the
Minneapolis Mill Company was chartered by the Minnesota territorial legislature. Among the incorporators were Washburn's cousin
Dorilus Morrison, and
Robert Smith, an Illinois congressman who had acquired the rights to the water power at the west side of
St. Anthony Falls in
Minneapolis. The company struggled initially, and several of the early investors sold out. Washburn bought in and eventually became president. His brother William moved to Minneapolis about that time, and actively managed the company. The company built a dam, a canal and a complex set of water transfer tunnels which were then leased, along with land that the company owned at the foot of the falls, to a variety of mills – cotton mills, woolen mills, sawmills and grist/flour mills. Eventually the work and investment of the two brothers paid off well, and they used their new-found capital to invest in mills themselves.
Lumber In 1853, Washburn built a mill at Waubeck on the
Chippewa River. In 1859 Washburn moved to
La Crosse, Wisconsin, and after his war time service, he engaged in a project to clear the
Black River to make it easier to drive logs. In 1871 he formed the La Crosse Lumber Company, which eventually sawed 20,000,000
board feet of lumber annually. He also had the largest shingle mill in the upper Mississippi valley.
Flour In 1866, he built his own Washburn "B" Mill, which was thought at the time to be too large to ever turn a profit. However, he succeeded and in 1874 built an even larger
Washburn "A" Mill. The original "A" mill complex was destroyed, along with several nearby buildings, in a
flour explosion in 1878, but was later rebuilt. In 1877, Washburn teamed with
John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company. At the same time, Washburn sent William Hood Dunwoody to England to open that market for spring wheat. Successful, Dunwoody became a silent partner and went on to become one of the wealthiest millers in the world. Dunwoody became a philanthropist endowing hospitals, educational facilities which became
Dunwoody College of Technology, and a charitable home which ultimately became
Dunwoody Village. The corporation eventually became known as
General Mills. ==Politics and military career==