The Brule Presidential Guard Medal
Northern Wisconsin has been a vacation destination for a long time. Many of the rich and famous found it a good place to beat the heat. Some of the most famous names were Al Capone and John Dillinger. Another lesser known visitor was Calvin Coolidge one of my favorite presidents who is best remembered for his statement that “The business of America is business.” He also liked to take long vacations and stayed at an estate on the Brule River known as Cedar Island from June to September 1928. Besides doing a lot of fishing, the Coolidges took part in a varied array of local activities like picnics, rodeos, mine tours and attended church services regularly. When a President travels it is always major event. Coolidge’s entourage reportedly included 10 Secret Service agents, 14 servants, 75 press reporters plus 90 soldiers of the 3rd infantry regiment from Fort Snelling, Minn. Local sources state that medals where given to the soldiers of the Presidential Guard by the city. Local history records the guard as 60 men but regimental records list 90 men and break that number down to which companies the men were drawn from so I will stick with the regimental records on this one and say that 90 of these medals were made. The medal illustrated below has an antiqued finish with a bright silver edge. The medal looks like it is silver plated base metal. The obverse has the 3rd Inf. Insignia and the reverse has a name space in the center with legends and inscriptions above and below explaining what the medal is for. This is the only one of these that I have ever seen which makes me wonder how many have survived.
