Cargill

19th century

Cargill was founded in 1865 in Conover, Iowa, by William Wallace Cargill. A year later William was joined by his brother Sam, forming W. W. Cargill and Brother. Together, they built grain flat houses and opened a lumberyard. In 1875, Cargill moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and their brother James joined the business.

Sam Cargill left La Crosse in 1887 to manage the office in Minneapolis, an important emerging grain center. Three years later, the Minneapolis operation incorporated as Cargill Elevator Co.; some years after that, the La Crosse operation incorporated as W. W. Cargill Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 1898, John H. MacMillan Sr. and his brother, Daniel, began working for W. W. Cargill.

20th century

Upon Sam Cargill's death in 1903, William Cargill became the sole owner of the La Crosse office. John MacMillan was named general manager of Cargill Elevator Company and moved his family to Minneapolis. William Cargill died in 1909, with Cargill's debt creating a fiscal crisis for the company. The company issued $2.25 million in Gold Notes, backed by Cargill stock, to pay off its creditors. The Gold Notes were due in 1917, but record grain prices during World War I enabled all debts to be paid by 1915. MacMillan worked to resolve the credit issues and to force his brother-in-law, William S. Cargill, out of the company.

John MacMillan ran the company until his retirement in 1936. Under his leadership, Cargill opened its first East Coast offices in New York in 1923. He was also the architect of the company's strategy of internationalism. He opened the company's first Canadian, European and Latin American offices in 1928, 1929, and 1930. He was also noted for his involvement in the controversial commercial rapprochement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.