John F. Kroutil was born in Czechoslovakia and came with his parents and brother, Frank, to the United States in 1881 and settled in Nebraska. They later moved to El Reno around 1890 and John and Frank worked on farms around Yukon and Banner. John moved to Ponca City to become a grain buyer and bought the city’s grain elevator for $5,000. After he and his brother succeeded in the business there, they decided sell it in 1905 and return to Yukon to establish a flour mill. They bought a small mill and gradually transformed it into the period’s largest independent flour mill in the southwest. They exported “Yukon’s Best Flour” to every state in America and many countries around the world. John Kroutil became Yukon’s leading business man, serving as president of the flour mill, as well as Yukon National Bank, Yukon Electric Company, and Progress Brewing Company.