>Portage is one of those locations (well actually all of Wisconsin) where all words, town names, rivers, lakes, signs, etc are either based on French or one of the many Indian languages. This is interesting:
>
>http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/0033.htm
>
>Also, Portage's history:
>
>The historical distinction of Portage lies in its unique geographical location between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Here, the two rivers, one flowing north to the St. Lawrence, the other south to the Mississippi, are separated by a narrow neck of land over which, for two centuries, Indians, missionaries, trappers, traders, adventurers and settlers traveling the waterway had to portage their canoes and heavy packs from one stream to another. The settlement which grew here because of the resulting traffic was first known as "Wau-wau-onah", Winnebago for "carry on the shoulder". During the French occcupation, it was simply "le portage" (from porter: to carry). This was eventually anglicized to Portage.

You people carry Winnebagos on your shoulder? Remind me to stay on your good side. I used Winnebago because I can't pronounce "Wau-wau-onah".

>
>http://www.ci.portage.wi.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={DA7CE3E0-6197-4F20-9EFF-B052FE12883E}
>
>Native American Indian tribes still in Wisconsin are mostly Chippewa (many tribes), Menominee, Mohican, Oneida, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk(Winnebago).
>
>
>>How charming. And the lack of cars.
>>
>>Judging by the amount of water about, I'd ask if the town was so named because it's a place convenient for carrying canoes between water courses?
>>
>>BTW, black faces are now allowed in the Queen's Guards: Coldstream, Irish, Scots, Grenadier but weren't up till recent years.
>>
>>>I looked at some old photos of Portage, WI (where i am from) recently.
>>>
>>>http://www.ci.portage.wi.us/vertical/Sites/{889D2199-3A6C-48F9-AB94-DE81D288EE40}/uploads/{8D7F7CC9-C532-4250-A1D6-633AB6539F15}.PPT#274,18,Slide 18
>>>
>>>Looking at slide 18 amazed me. The entire time I lived in Portage (60s-70s) there was not a single black family there. Almost all European immigrants (and those mostly Norwegians, Swedes, Danish, Polish, and English) or native americans. It is a small town anyway - around 8,000 people while in the late 1800s it was actually larger. There is a picture of the police force (slide 18) and there is a black member of the force.
>>>
>>>It was actually more diverse 50-100 years ago!
>>>
>>>>>I think a lot of people started building their own homes (in the old days) and never finished. So most municipalities consider it an unfinished dwelling. I found this for the city of Oshkosh:
>>>>>
>>>>>City of Oshkosh Municipal Codes
>>>>
>>>>T. Is that where Osh Kosh B'Gosh kids' clothes come from?
>>>>
>>>>...