As our country continues the celebration this year for its 250th birthday, one of my favorite local nods to presidential history is our Kankakee River and adjoining marshland, which I cross via bridge nearly every day, twice a day, driving to and from our family farm.
During my decades of writing, historian John Hodson, the president of the Kankakee Valley Historical Society, always reminded me that the Kankakee River along Baums Bridge Road in Kouts is a stretch of rich history spanning the mid-1700s to the 1930s.
The Collier Lodge near the bridge, which Hodson purchased in 2000 when he discovered its state of disrepair, was erected in the late 1800s as one of the many elite sportsmen lodges that dotted this dense area of deep woods and swamp, a valued landscape because the bridge and Baums Road were one of the few clear ways to access the river.
Hodson and other historians shared my own late father Chester’s lament that the biggest impact and transition for the river during that past chapter came at the turn of the century when government agencies decided to drain the Grand Kankakee Marsh, natural wetlands terrain along the river, resulting in more than 500,000 acres of marshes and swamps drained along the 250-mile river.
Dad and others agreed that though the intent was to create more farmland, the change in the landscape and ecology was soon recognized as a mistake.
Today, the Collier Lodge is the final faded structure still standing from the “sportsmen era,” the classified years from 1880 to 1910, and a time when even 26th President Theodore Roosevelt journeyed to hunt and fish along the Hoosier river, along with other notables such as General Lew Wallace and our 22nd and 24th U.S. president, Grover Cleveland.
While visiting my niece Bethany last week, who lives in North Judson, I decided to take “the backroads” past our neighbor’s blueberry farm, which led me to pass the Kiwani Marsh, which is just a few miles from our farm along Toto Road.
Spanning more than 125 miles of revitalized wetland, the Kiwani Marsh is managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as a waterfowl observation area and a wonderful “restoration project for the Indiana Grand Kankakee Marsh,” which was restored starting in 2010 and dedicated in January 2012. As the Indiana DNR explains, it’s “a marsh alive with blue-and green-winged teal, wood ducks, mallards, Canada geese and other wetland wildlife.”
The Indiana DNR website explains further: “The Potawatomi Indians defined the word ‘kiwani’ to mean ‘lost’ and this wetland was just that, lost. This land was once part of the Grand Kankakee Marsh before the site was drained and row cropped for many years. This restored site will now be managed as a waterfowl resting area for the benefit of waterfowl, shorebirds and other wildlife. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has hired Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting wetlands, to survey the site and design it.”
The name of my older brother David’s only son Quentin, 23, was inspired by President Teddy Roosevelt and First Lady Edith’s youngest son Quentin, born in 1897 and killed at age 20 fighting as a pursuit pilot in World War I. Quentin Roosevelt continues to rank as the only child of a U.S. President to be killed in action.
A robust and barrel-chested build of a man, President Teddy Roosevelt, in the White House from 1901 to 1909, not only loved hunting and overseas safaris, but also eating. At his greatest weight, President Ted, standing at 5 feet and 8 inches, tipped the scales at more than 220 pounds at his greatest weight.
President Roosevelt loved his mom Martha’s recipe for fried chicken with pan gravy, the latter made with bacon drippings. The president always defended his appetite, saying that leading the “Rough Riders” (his cavalry regiment) required hearty and satisfying meals. President Roosevelt died at age 60 in 1919.
Meanwhile, President Roosevelt’s White House successor, 27th U.S. President William Howard Taft, would weigh in at more than 340 pounds during his presidency (1909-1913), which required a special larger bathtub be installed for his White House years. President Taft died at age 72 in 1930.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio host at WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
President Teddy Roosevelt’s Favorite Fried Chicken with Pan Gravy
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or bone-in pieces)
Brine:
1 cup buttermilk
More Top Picks Best Burger Presses
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Coating:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Frying:
4 cups peanut oil.
Gravy:
2 tablespoons bacon fat (or butter)
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Directions
Brine the chicken by first “pounding” thighs to a half-inch thickness.
Whisk buttermilk, egg, and salt in a bowl, then add chicken and chill for at least 4 hours.
Reserve brine.
Make the coating by mixing flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl.
Stir a couple of spoonfuls of the wet brine into the flour to create flaky bits.
To coat chicken, dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mix, pressing it into the meat.
Heat peanut oil in a heavy skillet to 400 degrees and fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through.
To make the gravy, melt bacon fat or butter in a pan and whisk in flour for one minute. Then slowly pour in milk. Simmer until thick, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.
Pour the warm gravy directly over the crispy fried chicken when serving.