Fig. 23-2 Fig. 23-3

. The United States Dept. of Interior refers to common areas on historic Portage routes as “Portage Terminals”. They served as highly developed rest and refitting stations, some developed into trading posts. This “Portage Terminal” shows signs of squared foundations as well as a large rectangular rise in the terrain, which has been documented by the Iowa office of state archeology researching a culture referred to as ”The Great Oasis” (900-1200 A.D) to be an earth covered lodge collapsed to form a large rectangular mound (Tumuli?) Cache sites were common, with pits or rock cairns being indicative of storage sites used to secure items for future use. (Food, warm clothes, weapons)

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