

Flames raged for hours and took all but two original fruit trees in the orchard. In 1934, a terrible fire turned the mill into dust. The mill has also faced great challenges. In that way, the Kickapoo saved the mill.” The mill experienced two decades of growth and expansion, including the acquisition of the Okeene Milling Company which is still in operation today under the direction of Bob Ford, executive vice president and brother of Bill Ford. Ford is our friend you leave him alone,’” Bill says.
SHAWNEE MILLS MINCO OK FULL
“They came down in their full regalia and told the troublemakers, ‘Mr. Lloyd called on his Kickapoo friends for help. Many of the locals fought to take the mill away from the Ford family, so J. However, the settlement was still relatively new and law had yet to be established. He and his wife also worked to carve civilization out of a rough area. Lloyd loved elevating people, and he especially enjoyed sharing his wood and food off the farm with the Kickapoo people. To this day, we learn to take care of the mill because we take care of our families.” J. “We continue to name all our facilites after the town. “He wanted the people to take pride in the company-it belongs to the people here,” Bill says. Instead of naming the company after his own family, he chose to honor his community of Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Lloyd was an interesting and gentle guy, according to Bill Ford, third generation miller and chairman of the Shawnee Milling Company board. He promptly renamed it Shawnee Milling Company and opened its doors for production a mere four days later. Lloyd used his life savings to buy that mill in 1906. Pioneers used horses, ropes and skids to bring it to the current location in 1895. The original wooden mill was built four years earlier and had to be dragged across the North Canadian River. With retail feed & grain locations in Shawnee, Ada, Minco, Cashion, Okarche, Arnett and Roll, Shawnee Milling Company is Oklahoma family owned and has been in. The Fords’ first home, a log cabin, was soon built by using the land’s native oak trees. Lloyd Ford, who had traveled five days in a boxcar on an emigrant train from Michigan to begin his family farm. On May 23, 1895, 10,000 individuals drew allotments in the Kickapoo Land Run settlement. Courtesy photo Like many stories of Oklahoma pioneers, it began with a land run. Lloyd Ford produced at the mill was the Shawnee Chief Flour. Courtesy photos The first brand of flour J. In addition, the company also maintains the Okeene Milling company facilities, retain feed centers in Minco, Cashion, Okarche, Shawnee and Arnett, and nine grain receiving stations. Below: The Shawnee Milling Company complex today. Above: The Shawnee Milling Company circa 1910.
