Robert Nelson Stanfield Jr was born near the city of Umatilla, in Eastern Oregon on July 9, 1877,[1] the first son of Harriet Thankful Townsend and Robert N. Stanfield Sr, the owner of a livery stable and freighting company.

[2] He lived in Umatilla until 1882 when his family moved to Pendleton, where his father ran a freight forwarding business.

In 1885, the family moved to the former Buel Atwood place on Butter Creek, near Echo, Oregon.

He left school in 1897, after completing two years, and took over management of the Stanfield ranch on Butter Creek from his mother.

[1] The next year, he ran against Charles L. McNary for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, losing in the May primary.

[9] After Congress he returned to Oregon and resumed his former business pursuits, and in 1945 died in Weiser, Idaho.