ROBERT N. LA FONTAINE.

ROBERT N. LA FONTAINE.
Robert N. La Fontaine is well known in industrial circles in Cheyenne as a leading general contractor and is recognized also as an influential factor in political circles. He was mayor of the city, to which he gave a businesslike and progressive administration. A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mr. La Fontaine was born on the 24th of December, 1869, a son of Robert and Mary (Matthews) La Fontaine. The family came to Wyoming in 1895 but Robert N. had already been a resident of the state at that time for five years. The father is now deceased. He was a soldier of the Civil War, having gone to the front with Company I of the Twelfth New York Cavalry, with which he did active service on many a southern battlefield. In the family were three daughters and four sons, of whom Robert N. is the eldest. The family having removed to Kearney, Nebraska, during the boyhood days of Robert N. La Fontaine, he there acquired his education in the public schools and was graduated from the high school. He afterward pursued a two years’ course in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and after putting aside his textbooks he spent fifteen years in the government mail service, becoming a resident of Wyoming during this time. Since 1905 he has been engaged in general contracting in Cheyenne. His excellent workmanship, his thoroughness and his entire reliability in business matters have been the salient features in his career, winning for him substantial and growing success. Between 1906 and 1911 he constructed a part of the addition to Fort A. D. Russell and many important contracts have been awarded him for the construction of public and private buildings, evidences of his skill and handiwork being seen in many of the substantial structures of Cheyenne. On the 20th of June, 1900, Mr. La Fontaine was united in marriage to Miss Florence Bradley, a daughter of Robert W. Bradley, and they now have one child, Margaret Mary. Mr. La Fontaine belongs to the Industrial Club and is interested in all of its well defined plans and purposes for the upbuilding of the city. Fraternally he is a Mason and has taken the various degrees of the Scottish Rite up to and including the thirty-second and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine and Wyoming Consistory, No. 1. His military record covers service as a sergeant of Company A of the Wyoming Light Artillery during the period of the Spanish-American war. He organized and became captain of Company G of the First Regiment, Wyoming National Guard, and commanded the organization from 1899 until 1901. His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party and in 1908-9 he was a member of the city council of Cheyenne. In the latter year he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and was a member of the lower house of the Wyoming general assembly for two years. In 1912 he was made chairman of the republican central committee of Laramie county and so served for two years. In 1914 he was elected the first mayor of Cheyenne under the commission form of government and served a second term in that office. His record as chief executive of the city was one which gained uniform endorsement from his fellow townsmen, as he recognized the fact that the demands of his municipal office were for a businesslike administration and the wise care and protection of municipal interests. He stands for all those things which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride and in every possible way has safeguarded the interests of the community which he represents.

Robert N. La Fontaine is well known in industrial circles in Cheyenne as a leading general contractor and is recognized also as an influential factor in political circles. He was mayor of the city, to which he gave a businesslike and progressive administration.
A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mr. La Fontaine was born on the 24th of December, 1869, a son of Robert and Mary (Matthews) La Fontaine. The family came to Wyoming in 1895 but Robert N. had already been a resident of the state at that time for five years. The father is now deceased. He was a soldier of the Civil War, having gone to the front with Company I of the Twelfth New York Cavalry, with which he did active service on many a southern battlefield. In the family were three daughters and four sons, of whom Robert N. is the eldest.
The family having removed to Kearney, Nebraska, during the boyhood days of Robert N. La Fontaine, he there acquired his education in the public schools and was graduated from the high school. He afterward pursued a two years’ course in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and after putting aside his textbooks he spent fifteen years in the government mail service, becoming a resident of Wyoming during this time. Since 1905 he has been engaged in general contracting in Cheyenne. His excellent workmanship, his thoroughness and his entire reliability in business matters have been the salient features in his career, winning for him substantial and growing success. Between 1906 and 1911 he constructed a part of the addition to Fort A. D. Russell and many important contracts have been awarded him for the construction of public and private buildings, evidences of his skill and handiwork being seen in many of the substantial structures of Cheyenne.
On the 20th of June, 1900, Mr. La Fontaine was united in marriage to Miss Florence Bradley, a daughter of Robert W. Bradley, and they now have one child, Margaret Mary.
Mr. La Fontaine belongs to the Industrial Club and is interested in all of its well defined plans and purposes for the upbuilding of the city. Fraternally he is a Mason and has taken the various degrees of the Scottish Rite up to and including the thirty-second and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine and Wyoming Consistory, No. 1. His military record covers service as a sergeant of Company A of the Wyoming Light Artillery during the period of the Spanish-American war. He organized and became captain of Company G of the First Regiment, Wyoming National Guard, and commanded the organization from 1899 until 1901.
His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party and in 1908-9 he was a member of the city council of Cheyenne. In the latter year he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and was a member of the lower house of the Wyoming general assembly for two years. In 1912 he was made chairman of the republican central committee of Laramie county and so served for two years. In 1914 he was elected the first mayor of Cheyenne under the commission form of government and served a second term in that office. His record as chief executive of the city was one which gained uniform endorsement from his fellow townsmen, as he recognized the fact that the demands of his municipal office were for a businesslike administration and the wise care and protection of municipal interests. He stands for all those things which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride and in every possible way has safeguarded the interests of the community which he represents.