I was showing the Theriault web page to a brother in law (Meaux) yesterday afternoon, and remarked that it was interesting to me that Jehan was skilled in building dikes and the aboiteau, because when the Louisiana Cajuns began cultivating rice in southwest Louisiana, they built levees in the rice fields in order to flood and drain the fields as needed.

And my dad (Theriot) designed an irrigation pump for the rice farmers, using an impeller instead of a propeller.  There are still a few of these around, I think, because before the last local election, a candidate went by to see my son Danny.  Danny was telling the man who he was (who's your mom and dad?), and when Danny told him that his mother was the daughter of Alex Theriot, the visitor exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, that was the Mr. Theriot who built those irrigation pumps for the rice farmers a long time ago!"  I was amazed.

~ Mizmo