dodger, as he submitted a letter dated 4/8/43 to the Ausable Forks Record-Post: I never went to Cold River to dodge anything, unless it was from 1930 to 1940 when it might be said I dodged the American labor failure at which time I could not get enough in civilization to get along even as well as I could at Cold River under hard circumstances in the back woods. Since I'm not evading I did not make my first appearance at Cold River on the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed. What I'm doing toward the war effort looks like nothing, but that's all I can do and I'm doing it and it is this -- I'm self sustained. In 1947, Rondeau was flown to the National Sportsmen's Show in New York City by helicopter, starting a series of appearances at similar shows throughout the country. In 1950, the New York State Conservation Department closed the Cold River area to the public after a hurricane leveled the forest, forcing Rondeau from his home at age 67. He then lived around Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Wilmington, New York. Besides the sportsmen's shows, he worked for a time at Frontiertown and at the North Pole in Wilmington as a substitute Santa Claus. He did not return to a hermit's life and eventually went on welfare. He was buried in North Elba Cemetery, near Lake Placid, with a stone from his Cold River home marking his grave. Legacy The Adirondack Museum has materials concerning Rondeau, including his life size sculpture carved by Robert Longhurst, in its collections. References External links Noah John Rondeau, Mayor: Cold River City (Population 1) Noah John Rondeau, Adirondack Hermit Adirondack Museum: Adirondack Lives NCPR: Remembering Noah John Rondeau, the Hermit of Cold River William J. O'Hern: Life With Noah, North Country Books, 1997. New York Times, "Following a Hermit's Footsteps", October 7, 2005 William J. O'Hern: Noah John Rondeau's Adirondack Wilderness Days: A Year with the Hermit of Cold River Flow, The Forager Press, LLC, 2009. 1883 births 1967 deaths Adirondacks American hermits Simple living advocates