French Bulldog "Squantum kennel"

No account of those who have made a distinct impression upon French bull dog history in America would be complete without reference to Dr. W.G. Kendall of Boston, who, as proprietor of the Squantum Kennels, is one of the oldest continuous breeders and exhibitors in this country. As early as the Spring of 1899 he imported Diavolo, Paulus, Julie and Melba, and first showed these well remembered specimens under Mr. W.C. Codman at Providence in the following August.
From that time on for a decade or so he was one of our largest exhibitors, while his kennels since has never held less than a dozen specimens of the breed. Of late he has been content to show once or twice each season some new individual and usually he gets the blue. At the late show of the French Bull Dog Club of New England he brought out a beautiful bitch in Caschcasch, which in hot competition won in both of her classes as well as several specials.
Dr. Kendall will always be best known in French bull dog circles through his connection with Ch. Rico. This really remarkable dog, viewed either from show ring record or his value as stud, was imported by Mr. Shirley Marston of Boston, who sold him to Mr. George N. Phelps, who later disposed of him to Dr. Kendall for $1,000.00, the highest price up to that time which had been paid for a French bull. Dr. Kendall was greatly attached to this dog which became his inseparable pal and companion. Refusing the most tempting offers for him he kept his beloved pet until he died, because, as he touchingly stated in a recent letter to the writer, "there was not enough money in any one city to buy from me the one dog I knew had a soul".
Rico was the first French bull dog to be made a champion in this country. For years he was fearlessly shown at all the big shows in New York. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and others places, and was never defeated through-out his show ring career. He stood in reality in a class by himself, being a dog of remarkable bone and substance, grand skull and foreface, low to ground, cobby and well coupled up, and of a general type and conformation we are still aiming to attain. It is not too much to say of him, that, notwithstanding the improvement in the breed which many of us believe we see in the best specimens of the present, that he, of all the earlier dogs that figured in the beginning of the breed in this country, could have held his own, were he living, with any of our champions of today.
As a sire Ch. Rico was no less remarkable than were his exploits as a show dog. Many of the best dogs of the present show in their pedigree the Rico strain. His union with Follete produced Maurice, the first American-bred dog to become a champion, while many of his direct progeny from other matings attained prominence in the show ring.