Isaac M. Yost, commonly I. M. Yost, or "Ike", was a miller and

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

industrialist who led the development of

flour milling A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

in the settlement of

Hays City, Kansas Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 21,116. It is ...

. Even though he was the leading miller in Hays for decades, he was particularly remembered there for co-founding the short-lived United States Portland Cement Company and the associated townsite of Yocemento. I. M. Yost was born in

Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 7 ...

in 1848. In 1871, Yost married Sallie T. Johnson. Sally was a cousin of William Cody (Buffalo Bill), who, just before his buffalo hunting fame, had co-founded a short-lived town, Rome, Kansas, a rival of Hays City. At the Centennial Exposition of 1876, Cody persuaded Yost to move to the then vacated Rome townsite and build a dam and flour mill there. Although the dam was soon destroyed and the mill burned, Yost persevered, rebuilding in neighboring Hays City, and rebuilding again each time after 2 more fires. By 1910, he operated several mills in the railroad towns ranging of a distance of about 94 miles from

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

to Hays to Collyer.

Erasmus Haworth Erasmus Haworth (1855–1932) was an American geologist. Born on a farm near Indianola, Iowa, he graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1881 and received a master's degree there in 1884. He received his docto ...

, the first director of the

Kansas Geological Survey The Kansas Geological Survey (KGS), a research and service division of the University of Kansas, is charged by statute with studying and providing information on the geologic resources of Kansas. The KGS has no regulatory authority and does not t ...

, came to Ellis County in 1906, seeking to continue his study of western Kansas geology. For a local guide, he sought out the respected "Ike" Yost. Yost drove Haworth out to the Ellis County Hog Back, the local name for the limestone bluffs a few miles west of

Fort Hays Fort Hays, originally named Fort Fletcher, was a United States Army fort near Hays, Kansas. Active from 1865 to 1889 it was an important frontier post during the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century. Reopened as a historical park in 1 ...

. Pooling their knowledge of geology and industry, the two partnered to found the successful but short-lived United States Portland Cement Company and the supporting town, Yocemento, at the base of the bluff. The company made a rapid start, but struggled and failed under intense competition with established cement manufactures in Denver and Missouri. With the company sold to the Denver competitor in 1916, Yost moved to Kansas City, then to Denver. However, he remained a booster of the community. He consulted in the WPA mapping project of Rome. In later years, Yost made his home with a son, Ed, in California, passing away at the age of 96.

References

1848 births 1944 deaths People from Norristown, Pennsylvania People from Ellis County, Kansas Millers History of Kansas {{Kansas-stub