Jean Hoffmans age 10, of Blan woo , W is., for her question:

How did Wisconsin get its name?

Wisconsin is an Indian name which means the meeting of the waters ‑ or so we believe. Whether this meaning of the old word is correct or not, it certainly suits the green and blue state of Wisconsin. The green acres of meadow dairyland and the darker green forest land is spattered with a multitude of blue lakes. What's more, the whole area of Wisconsin is made almost an island by the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River,

Almost all the western border of the state is bounded by the St. Croix River to the north and Old Mississippi, Father of Waters, to the south, Lake Superior cuts into the northern border and Lake Michigan digs bays and inlets down the eastern border. Wisconsin is certainly surrounded by waterways,

Some of Wisconsin’s streams and rivers drain into the Great Lakes and some into the Mississippi. The city of portage stands between the headwaters of the streams going to the lakes and those going to the big river, A drop of rain falling at this point might go either to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. For the headwaters of the streams that feed the lake are only a mile and half from the headwaters of the streams that feed the Mississippi.