In the fall of 1916, E.W. Hayden, editor and publisher of the Lassen Advocate went on a rant when he discovered that in the Susanville stores there were 12 different brands of flour, but no Honey Lake flour. There were the obvious nearby producers of Adin, Alturas, Fall River Mills and Reno. Hayden was not pleased with flour from as far away as Stockton and Idaho.
There was one flour mill at Janesville that operated for a brief periods, but the aged owner, J.K.Gehring was not up to the task. In 1917, Fred Bagin established the Lassen Grain and Milling Company and once again there was home grown flour available.
