There seems to be no known record of the first death in Portage. The first attempt to settle this valley was in 1855, when about 15 families came into the valley and settled on the east side of the Malad River, at that time it was known as Mound and Oregon Springs. Mound Springs was located about 6 miles south of the Idaho Border. These families tried to farm, having built an adobe fort and log houses. Their crops were destroyed by grasshoppers; they suffered Indian problems. The little settlement broke up in 1858.

The first white man permanently settled in the Malad Valley, served as a mail station at Mount Springs in 1863. In 1864, a log cabin and corral was built about a mile north of the old fort. Stock business and ranching started, and a lot of hay was farmed. In 1872 the settlers moved their log church and some of their homes across the Malad River to the west side where the town is at present. At one time it was known as Hay Town. Apostle Lorenzo Snow renamed it Portage after his birth place of Portage County, Ohio.

The years of 1872 to 1877 are spoken of as the grasshopper and cricket wars. On one occasion the men were making a wagon road, when they were called home to fight grasshoppers. As they arrived, they found the wheat flat on the ground. The grasshoppers had come like a dark cloud...

The first settlers and their families were:
Isaac Allen Jr
Isaac Allen Sr
William Anderson
Sarah Ann Ashton
Harrison L. Boothe
Thomas Davis
Thomas Green
James Greer
James John
William Leisham
Thomas Parkinson
William Sinclair Jr
William Sinclair Sr
John Tims
Henry Wells
John Wyatt

Shortly after, these families arrived:
Lydia Conley & son
John Conley
Charles Scott Hall
David Hall Miles Hall
John Heaton
John D. Gibbs
Robert Harris
Enoch Harris
Oliver Cromwell Hoskins
Joseph McKay
John Nicholas
Levi Thornton

I dedicate these records to all families that have loved ones buried in the three cemeteries [Portage, private cemetery east of Washakie, burials listed in memoriam (possibly buried on family lots)] that are included in this research. I have tried to to the best of my ability to assure accurate records. I have cross referenced early library records, information extracted from existing headstones, Portage Ward microfilm, existing town records, and contacted at least one member of each family involved that could be located. I thank you for your cooperation and your time. Many of you shared your family histories so I could glean as accurately as possible, the data to complete the entries. I have them in a special book as my sources, should anyone contact me for further research. It has truly been a labor of love for me.   by Joyce Lamb John