Travel through time in Deering Oaks’s Sacred Grove.

Story by Nancy English

When Major Ben Church charged into battle in 1689 against the Wabanaki and their French allies in what is now Deering Oaks Park, the Witness Tree stood on a rise carved out by a historic inlet from the sea.

Portland was called Falmouth, and Maine was Massachusetts. Campfire smoke alarmed farmers at the Brackett homestead, who alerted the English troops; they had to get themselves and their ammunition across that water. Ten died in battle, including Captain Brackett, George Bramhall, and an enslaved man who worked for Captain Tyng; Brackett, Bramhall, and Tyng have streets named after them in Portland’s West End. And the enslaved person, as of now, remains nameless.

Read the full story in the digital magazine above.