Portage (Schooner), 31 Aug 1872

      The Last of the Line. - The schooner PORTAGE, which has just taken her departure from here, is, we believe, the last of a line of vessels which not many years since held considerable prominence on the lakes, and were more especially known as the "Red Bird Line," hailing from Oswego. In appearance they were of the usual canal build, straight stem, with what is termed in sailor parlance a horn in the room of bowsprit and jibboom, and were painted red. They were fine sailors, and of them we remember the ALBION, CHARLESTON, BELLE SHERIDAN, ROMAN, TITAN and the PORTAGE, recently here. The ROMAN took out her last cargo at Detroit in the fall of 1858, took her departure and was never heard of afterward. The ALBION was also lost with all hands on Lake Erie, and the TITAN, during a terrible storm in the fall of 1870*, was lost, with all hands, on Lake Michigan.
      Detroit Free Press
      August 31, 1872

*Actually Nov 5, 1869. ROMAN was formerly the early propeller OSWEGO and was lost about Oct 10, 1858, while ALBION foundered just two days before that. Only one sailor survived of the 26 men composing the three schooners' crews.