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The Brule, Wisconsin Presidential Guard Medal

Over many years of collecting Wisconsin medals I have run into some very unusual medals like this one, all of which will be listed in my forthcoming book.

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. One famous visitor was President Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge 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 many 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 Third Infantry Regiment from Fort Snelling, Minn. Local sources state that medals where given to the soldiers of the Presidential Guard by the city of Brule. Local history records the guard as 60 men but regimental records list 90 men who served on Presidential Guard Duty that summer and break that number down by the companies from which the men were drawn. The guard unit may have been sixty men at any one time but over that long period of time there must certainly have been a number of replacements. Therefore I will stick with the regimental records and estimate that 90 medals may exist. The only example of these medals that I have ever seen has an antiqued finish with a bright silver edge and can mark paper like a lead pencil.