Mayor.

Noah John Rondeau was a hermit living in the Adirondack mountains in upper New York state. He left home in his teens with little education but didn't take up the life of a recluse for a while yet. He travelled around the Adirondacks working fixing things, doing odd jobs, local guide and serving as handyman for more than one hotel. He learned his wood lore from several Canadian Natives of the Abenaki Tribe: Daniel Emmett, Sabael Benedict and Lewis Elijah.

Well versed in hunting and trapping he took to the woods full time around 1946. He chose a favourite spot, Cold River for his hermitage. Although known by the locals as the Cold River Hermit, he did receive visitors and seemed quite to enjoy occasional company.

An avid reader, despite little formal schooling, he had a collection of books. His special subject was astronomy. He played the violin and kept many journals. The vast majority of them were written in code. He developed letter substitution ciphers and constantly revised them. The end result of course is much of his writings were a blank book.

Because of his secrecy it was suspected, wrongfully, that he was a draft dodger. In actual fact he was near 60 when he could have been drafted. I think he just pissed off the local conservation officers with his hunting and trapping.

As self proclaimed mayor of Cold River City he set up a town hall building, (his house), a Hall of Records (where the ciphered journals were kept) and a small "city" of numerous tee pee shaped buildings used for fire wood to burn during the winter months. He cleverly notched the longer pieces so he could simply rap them on the ground and break off a fireplace sized log.

In an irony great enough to rival any, he gained his only fame outside of the Adirondacks by being invited by the Conservation Department to the National Sportsman Show in New York City. They actually flew him there where he was an instant hit.