On the night of November 26, 1898, with a killer storm of historic proportions approaching, the steamer Portland set out from Boston. By the following night, the winter hurricane had sent the vessel to the depths of Massachusetts Bay off Cape Cod, claiming nearly two hundred lives. On the Cape, a few dozen victims of the Portland disaster washed ashore, while ships piled up in harbors, high tides swept away railroad tracks and the landscape and beaches were changed forever. Several Cape Cod mariners went to sea and never returned, caught in the gale’s evil clutches. Local author Don Wilding revisits this disaster and the heroic deeds of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the Cape’s citizenry in what came to be known as “the Portland Gale.”
About Author Don Wilding
Since the start of the millennium, Don Wilding has been telling stories of Cape Cod Outer Beach history through lectures, video, and the written word.
Don is the author of four books on Cape Cod history. His most recent book, "Cape Cod and the Portland Gale of 1898," was published in May 2023. His earlier books are: “Henry Beston’s Cape Cod: How ‘The Outermost House’ Inspired a National Seashore,” "A Brief History of Eastham: On the Outer Beach of Cape Cod," and "Shipwrecks of Cape Cod: Stories of Triumph & Tragedy." His fifth book, "Historic Storms of Cape Cod," is scheduled to be released on May 20, 2024.
Don has worked as a Cape tour guide and is a regular speaker on Cape Cod lore in Massachusetts and across New England. He was an award-winning newspaper editor, writer, and designer in Massachusetts for 36 years, including a recent stint as a contributing history columnist and photographer for Cape newspapers. Don has also led history walks for the Harwich Conservation Trust since 2018 and was recognized as one of their "Conservationists of the Year" in 2023.
Don has also been an instructor of Cape Cod history courses for the Open University of Wellfleet and Nauset Community Education.