The Yankee Gale: One of the Most Deadly Natural Disasters in Island History

The Yankee Gale. Some of you may have never heard of it. But you may have seen the PEI shipwreck map, seen here.

Shipwrecks and Pioneer Cemeteries of Prince Edward Island
Produced by The Seagull Line, Kingston, PEI 1982
Artwork by JoDee Samuelson, Clyde River, PEI
Many of the shipwrecks on the north coast are from 1851. This does not mean every one of them sank due to the Yankee Gale but many did.

The Yankee Gale was a major two-day storm that began the evening of Friday, October 3, 1851, and continued through the weekend. One of the reasons the Yankee Gale was so deadly was because of how it started. On Friday, the sky darkened, but there was no wind. As a result, fisherman stayed out. One of the mysteries of the Yankee Gale is when the swell from the east began, there was barely any wind! By the time sailors realized how dangerous the weather was becoming, it was dark and the waters were rough and only getting worse. Some tried to make it to port and others anchored and tried to ride the storm out.

Memorial to the victims of the Yankee Gale by the Anglican Parish of Alberton-O'Leary
Image from The Anglican Parish of Alberton-O'Leary.

On October 6, the Royal Gazette reported that about 70 ships were wrecked, this included those that sank and those that were driven ashore. While it does not provide exact numbers for the number of men who died, it does say that "some crews were saved, many sailors drowned; some ships lost all hands." Most of these ships were from New England.

 When the storm was over, wrecks could be found along the coast from North Cape to Cable Head. According to Dr. Edward MacDonald, although official estimates say about 74 ships and 160 lives were lost, these numbers are likely higher due to there not being an official count done when the Yankee Gale occurred. There was just too many ports, ships, and conflicting reports. Therefore, these numbers could be closer to 110 ships lost and 250 dead. It is also estimated that the Gale left 83 women widowed and 330 children fatherless.

In the days after the Gale, reports varied, some claimed that over 100 vessels sank. As more information became available, the number decreased to 75. But reports of sailors washing up on the shore continued into January.

One of the saddest letters I have read for this post came from a letter to the publisher or editor of the Island's Royal Gazette. James Goodwin wrote to the PEI Royal Gazette because he did not know anyone on PEI who could help him. He had read an account from the Gazette, in the Boston Times, that bodies from the storm were still washing up on shore and three of them were described in the article. He went on to describe how one of the descriptions closely matched his son. He provided a description of his son in hopes of finding out if one of these men was his son. If not, he requested that if anyone matching his son's description was found that he be informed. The Royal Gazette tried to find this information for Goodwin, but they publish his letter in May of 1852 to appeal to the public for more information.

On May 24, the Royal Gazette wrote to Goodwin to inform him that a man had recently been interred in New London matching the description of his son. The boots from the sailor had been removed prior to his burial and would be available to help identify him.

The Yankee Gale also damaged numerous homes and buildings on the Island. Streams and dams overflowed and flooded fields due to heavy rains. Some stories even tell of small boats being relocated to fields by tidal surges. But, understandably, this is not the damage remembered.

Beach in Cable Head East. (Image Credit: Kay Trainor, Century 21)

But what is not as easy to understand is why the Yankee Gale is remembered, or at the very least many have heard the term, whereas the August Gale of 1873 is not as well remembered... despite it being recorded that, according to some reports, about 1,032 ships (about 435 were small fishing vessels) were destroyed or wrecked throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On PEI, there were fewer wrecks (about 25-35) than the Yankee Gale, but because crews were larger the death toll was estimated to be between 115-150. There was also damage throughout the Island - wharves were ruined and buildings, bridges, and homes were damaged.

There was also more Island fisherman at sea during the August Gale than the Yankee Gale, yet it quickly faded from memory. Canadian writers like L.M Montgomery, James Lawson, and Walter Simpson all wrote about the Yankee Gale, despite having little or no memory of it as Walter was four years old in 1851 and Lawson and Montgomery were born in 1852 and 1874, respectively.

So why has the August Gale faded from our memory compared to the Yankee Gale? Dr. MacDonald has argued that human memory tends to exaggerate memories over time, therefore, by the time the (technically worse) August Gale occurred, the memory of the Yankee Gale had already been exaggerated and was remembered as being worse than the August Gale, leaving the latter to fade from memory. Plus, as events fade further into the past, it becomes easier to "slip into hyperbole" (exaggerated statements or claims, usually not meant to be taken seriously).

August Gale by Joan Suzanne Salter.

On the other hand, the Yankee Gale was a very localized event and the August Gale was more regional. In 1902, James Lawson wrote about how some Islanders could remember survivors weeping over fallen sailor and how women and children were nervous at night as there could possibly be sailors washing up on the beaches.

As Dr. MacDonald points out, perhaps the question shouldn't be why do we remember the Yankee Gale, but rather, why don't we remember the August Gale?



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Sources

MacDonald, E. (2010). The Yankee Gale, the August Gale and Popular Culture on Prince Edward Island: A Meditation on Memory. The Dalhousie Review 90(1), 95-110.

Rossiter, J. (2000). Gone to the Bay: A History of the St. Peters Fire District Area. Publisher not stated.

"The Yankee Gale of 1851." Island Register. From http://www.islandregister.com/yankeegale.html

"The Yankee Gale." The Friends of Covehead Lighthouse. From http://www.coveheadlighthouse.com/the-yankee-gale