Comments on: 5 Feisty Presidential Daughters

By: John the Strong Guy

John the Strong Guy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:04:11 +0000

What a lousy list. Out of 40+ presidents, you could only come up with 5 daughters from the far past?

By: Tan The Man

Tan The Man — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:04:00 +0000

I’m not going to deny that this article turned me on a little…

By: John Mundt, Esq.

John Mundt, Esq. — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:59:17 +0000

Once called La Prairie des Chiens, the origin of Prairie du Chien’s name is something of a mystery. The most widely accepted story is that an early French trader, in about 1670-something, named the prairie above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers after Alim, a local Fox Indian chief, whose name translates as “Big Dog” in English, or “Chien” in French. The truth may never be known, though. In a fit similar to the one in which “French Fries” became “Freedom Fries,” much of our heritage was shunned, covered up, or otherwise altered during the French and Indian War. Locals wanted to show their allegience to the British colonies, so they changed the town’s name (and “Chien” is even pronounced “Sheen,” unlike the French “Shane”), and French surnames “Americanized.” Names like Brisbois and Rollette are, in PdC, properly pronounced as “Briz-boyz” and “Roll-et.” Oops. I’ve run a little long. Sorry, but thanks for asking!

By: David H.

David H. — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:38:48 +0000

John –
The town has such a pretty name. How was it chosen?

Josh–
No problem. I really should have double-checked the color of the dress. Hopefully that was my biggest mistake here.

By: John Mundt, Esq.

John Mundt, Esq. — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:09:32 +0000

Greetings from above-mentioned Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The local legend has Knoxie Taylor and Jeff Davis once attempting to elope before he was transferred. The spot where they were supposedly “apprehended” before saying “I do” is still noted by old-timers. On a side-note, Prairie du Chien, a remote community of only 6,000 residents, has seen visits from more than half of our Presidents.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:57:36 +0000

That’s what I get for having the window open since 8 this morning and just now getting around to reading the article. Sorry to seem to pile on. Thanks for the correction.

Josh

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:54:12 +0000

Cool article… nice addition of Jefferson Davis’ wife. One quick question: were you making a Clinton reference when you wrote “Harding, the 29th president, left more than a stain on a red dress.”? If so, I’m pretty sure the dress was blue.

Josh

By: David H.

David H. — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:25:50 +0000

Yes, it was a blue dress. And that was my mistake. Thank you for the correction.

That’s what I get for going for the easy laugh.

By: FWIW

FWIW — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:40:28 +0000

4. … blue dress.

By: David H.

David H. — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:52:03 +0000

You make a good point, What. I was thinking about Princess Alice as I wrote this piece. I didn’t include her here because I wrote about her earlier, in a piece about White House weddings (see link).