In spring of youth it was my lot To haunt of the wide earth a spot
The which I could not love the less—
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that tower’d around.
But when the Night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot, as upon all,
And the mystic wind went by
Murmuring in melody—
Then—ah then I would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.
Yet that terror was not fright,
But a tremulous delight—
A feeling not the jewelled mine
Could teach or bribe me to define—
Nor Love—although the Love were thine.
Death was in that poisonous wave,
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his lone imagining—
Whose solitary soul could make
An Eden of that dim lake.
Edgar Allan Poe
The Master of the Macabre Edgar Allan Poe Certainly does paint A picture of water we all know I'll know in his poem simply titled The Lake. The lake is beautiful enchanting, and endearing by day and mysterious and dark at night. Poe plays on the fondness and thrill of this serene and wild place. But then haunts us later as he describes his "delight" at waking to "the terror on the lone lake."
But what else would expect from this writer who has been fighting us with scary tales such as the Ravin, Murder in Rouge Morgue, and The Telltale Heart?
And while the location of Poe's dedication remains unidentified. Historians have suggested, Poe could have written the poem about Lake Drummond, a lake outside Norfolk, Virginia, also known as the Great Dismal Swamp. One of only two natural lakes in Virginia, Lake Drummond offers a jungle atmosphere of lush and beautiful scenery and dark waters of unsolved mysteries.
Poe is said to have visited the lake and possibly could have been inspired by the lake's creepy history.
According to legend, the lake is haunted by the supernatural canoeing spirits of two star-crossed lovers and the ghostly Lady of the Lake.
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| Edgar Allan Poe |
First, it's the tragic story of a young Native American couple who lost their lives on the lake. The young woman had died on their wedding day. Mad with grief, the young man has a vision of her paddling her canoe in the distance. He fashions together a raft that comes apart while on the lake and drowns while attempting to reach her. It is said that at night one can see this ghostly bride and groom floating together in the moonlight.
Over the years, many have also claimed to see the Lady of the Lake paddling a white canoe holding a firefly lamp.
Could Poe have heard these tales to inspire his poem or perhaps have seen them for himself? The answer is unknown. But what we do know is folklore has a way of spilling into our waterways, especially after dark.
So whether you're courageous or skeptical, here are a few of our nation's haunted waters you just might want to paddle (if got the nerve) this Halloween or anytime for your chance to see a ghost.
Saco River, New Hampshire & Maine
The Saco River is a popular recreational river that draws canoeists and kayakers across the northeast. While there are a few rapids, for most of its 136 miles, it's steady, calm, and it's cursed. Most of the locals have already heard the story that dates back to 1675. It's been told, three white-drunken sailors were rowing upriver when they came upon a Native American pregnant woman and her young son in a canoe. According to the story, the sailors believing in a myth that all baby natives could swim, attacked the canoe, grabbed the baby, and much to the horror of the child's mother, tossed the baby into the river. The infant sank, and the mother dove in and retrieved him. However, it was enough, and the baby and pregnant mother would tragically die not long afterward.
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| Saco River |
As it turned out, the husband and father of the baby was the chief of a local tribe by the name of Squando. He was in despair and rage at the death of his pregnant wife and his young son. The incident would soon ignite violence between the tribe and white settlers. But Squando would conjure a more sinister type of vengeance. He asked the spirits to lay a curse over the waters of Saco saying, the river would "claim three lives a year until all white men fled its banks" to replace the lives of the three lost that day.
For the record, there are no official records of drownings and deaths on the Saco River, but locals swear that “Curse of the Saco River” is real and do not go near the river in fear of the ominous prophecy. Skeptics say it's just an old superstition. They say the river can be dangerous because it flows through many deep gorges with stronger currents. Over time accidents are bound to happen. However, in 1947 the Maine Sunday Telegram proclaimed that the curse was broken with the headline, "Saco River Outlives Curse of Indian Chief," after no deaths were reported that year.
Squandro eventually made his peace with the whites, but he never rescinded his curse. News of deaths is still reported during the summer months as the curse still looks for victims up and down the length of the Saco River.
Pocantico River, New York
The Pocantico River in western New York was made famous by Washington Irving's Halloween classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Ever since people have been keeping a keen out for the Headless Horseman. Who, as the story said, would ride alongside the river looking for hapless victims.
The Pocantico is a nine-mile-long tributary of the Hudson River following an urban setting, But even today, it has a dark and unnerving nature. "The Pocantico winds its wizard stream among the mazes of its old Indian haunts, sometimes running darkly in pieces of woodland," wrote Irving.
He had obviously had heard the tales surrounding the Old Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and Spook Rock to inspire his story of the Headless Horseman.
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| Pocantico River |
Spook Rock, sit on the eastern side of Rockefeller State Park, next to the Saw Mill River Parkway. Just its name conjures up ghosts. The history of Tarrytown tells the legend of the Lady in White who haunts the rock after dying in a snowstorm. It's said you can still hear her cries of the howling of the wind and see her gestures to warn of impending winter storms.
It also tells of the ghost of a colonial girl, who jumped to her death there to escape a Tory raider during the revolution. As well as the heartbreaking tale of Star Girl the spirit of an Indian girl who roams the area lamenting her death of for her lover and son.
It is said that even today, on a quiet spring night, one can stand on the banks of the Pocantico River and still hear Star Girl crying out for her lover and child.
The Tar River, North Carolina
Known as a river for large catfish and kayak fishing, but if you encounter The Tar River Banshee and live, you'll tell a different tale of the one that got away.
The Tar River meanders past the farm fields and small towns for some 200 miles through the northeast part of North Carolina toward the estuary of Pamlico Sound. The river gets its name when the British Navy used the area's dense longleaf pine forests to provide much of the tar, turpentine, and pitch needed for shipbuilding. The name stuck when it became a major shipping route for tar-laden barges transporting goods throughout the colonies and abroad.
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| Tar River |
It's also about that time when the legend of the river's banshee, was spawned. It was during the Revolutionary War when British soldiers gunned down an Irish miller on the banks of the river. His crime, supplying aid to the patriot militia and not being loyal to the crown. As the water turned red with the Irishman's blood, he swore his revenge on the soldiers. He told them that they would be visited by a Banshee, a wailing and shrieking messenger of death. They shot him again, and he disappeared under the murky brown water.
Later that night, true to the Irishman's words, the British soldiers were awakened by the sorrowful wailing of the Banshee, the female apparition told them they did not have long to live and, they would soon all die in battle. And Not long after, the soldiers were all shot and killed in a skirmish with North Carolina militiamen.
Area folklore says the Tar River Banshee still roams the river shore. To this day, anyone unlucky enough to wade into the waters where the Irishman died so long ago, will be visited by the Banshee, who will wail her sorrowful song into the night and foretell their deaths.
The Wolf River, Tennessee
One would think that a section of the Wolf River in west Tennessee fittingly called the “Ghost river.” would be haunted, and you would be right. The Wolf River is a paddling favorite. The river is known for beautiful pristine and unspoiled countryside that meanders through bottomland hardwood forests, cypress-tupelo swamps, and open marshes. One missed sign on the 8-mile Ghost River canoe trail, and you could find yourself hopelessly lost drifting the cool and dark swampy waters shaded among spooky 100-foot moss-draped cypress tree on a river with no current. Some suggest that this eerie stop of flow is how the river section got its name. Others, however, point to the river's forlorn history. A Native American scout vanished without a trace in these waters in 1682. While on December 4, 1863, Union and Confederate forces clashed in a desperate struggle on a railroad bridge over the river.
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| Wolf River |
Pvt. Augustus Hurff of the 6th Illinois Cavalry described what happened, "We had no sooner crossed the bridge than were fired upon from ambush. This threw our forces into a panic. They forced us back to the river; we were ordered to draw our sabers and charge... but the rebels were reinforced. We dismounted and fought as infantry. Many of our horses were shot in the river, as were a great number of our men. The rivers seemed like running blood instead of water."
In the disorienting maze of willow, cypress, and tupelo, you will have to figure out on your own how the Ghost River section got its name. Is it because the river seems to get lost while running through a swamp? Or as others claim, because they still see ghosts of Civil War soldiers wandering about the shores.
Chicago River, Illinois
You will be traveling through the heart of the Windy City when paddling down the Chicago River. Looking up, you will find yourself surrounded by Chicago's legendary skyline. However, while gazing into the river's dark waters, you might see a strange reflection that is not your own staring back and possibly hear sounds of Screams, moans and splashes coming over the calm waters. Local paranormalists say without a doubt, they are the ghosts of the sinking of the SS Eastland.
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The Eastland Disaster on the Chicago River
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The morning of July 24, 1915, passengers were boarding the Eastland for a summertime excursion at a dock in downtown Chicago when the ship began listing on the starboard side. To correct the imbalance, the ship’s crew let water into the ship’s ballast tanks. Only to have the vessel began listing again, this time on the port side. By this time, the boat had reached its limit of 2,500 passengers. Minutes later, the ship began taking on water. The vessel drifted away from the dock. At approximately 7:30 AM, the Eastland rolled onto its side. Onlookers were horrified as hundreds of people began to drown before their eyes.
"I looked across the river," reported one witness, "As I watched in disoriented stupefaction a steamer large as an ocean liner slowly turned over on its side as though it were a whale going to take a nap. I didn’t believe a huge steamer had done this before my eyes, lashed to a dock, in perfectly calm water, in excellent weather, with no explosion, no fire, nothing. I thought I had gone crazy."
On the upper deck, the panicking passengers, many holding children, spilled into the river. While below deck, other passengers were crushed by heavy furniture as the water poured inside the capsized ship.
Despite the Eastland being in just 20 feet of water and just a few yards from shore, its sinking killed 844 people, ranking it as one the worst maritime disasters in American history. It was among the city’s deadliest catastrophes. Hundreds of more died in the Eastland disaster than in the Chicago fire of 1871.
For years now, people have sensed paranormal activity along the river. Pedestrians on a river walk stroll have heard what sounds like a loud commotion coming from the water. Screams and splashes accompany the murmurer of a large number of people are floundering around in the water. Of course, they look to the river, and the water is perfectly calm. Some have seen a large wash of water suddenly overflow the area, while others have been shocked to see the ghost-like reflections staring back at them from the depths of the Chicago River.
Medina River, Texas
It is hard to scare Texans. But the tale of the Donkey Lady Bridge over the Medina River south of San Antonio for over a century has had them shaking in their boots. The Medina River is one of the gentlest rivers in the Texas Hill Country. Paddlers will enjoy amazing views and face very few hazards while journeying down this 120-mile waterway, that is until they approach the Donkey Lady Bridge. "It is extremely scary, very frightening. It's the most haunted places of ALL haunted places," wrote one visitor.
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| The Donkey Lady Bridge |
In one of Texas' legendary ghost stories, it's told that a man went mad and murdered all of his children and set his nearby farmhouse on fire. Escaping the house, the wife ran away, burning alive and throwing herself over the bridge into the water to extinguish the flames. Her body was left horribly disfigured. Her face was charred, and her hands had been melted into hoof-like stumps of a donkey. Over the years, she has become one of Texas' most terrifying apparitions in all of Texas.
Witnesses have report screeches, screams, and the sound of braying coming from the bridge. Others have said they were attacked by the menacing specter while driving over the bridge. It has been told that the Donkey Lady would jump on the hoods of cars, leaving dents and broken windshields behind.
Since the bridge has been converted pedestrian bridge as part of the Medina River Green Way Trail System, but paddlers still might consider crossing under the bridge.
Missouri River, NebraskaBlackbird Hill is a distinctive 300-foot-high landmark on the west side of the Missouri River in northeastern Nebraska. It was well known to river travelers throughout the 19th century. In 1804, Lewis and Clark climbed the rise to visit the grave of an Omaha chief, while famed frontier artists George Catlin and Karl Bodmer painted it in the 1830s. Traditional Native American accounts say that Chief Big Elk is buried at the site. It is also said to be haunted by the spirit of a young woman who was murdered on the hill more than a century and a half ago.
According to local folklore, a young couple fell in love and agreed to marry. But first, the boy had to make his fortune, promising her he would return for her. But after years of waiting, the young girl finally gave up, thinking her husband-to-be was dead. She married another man and settled atop Blackbird Hill.
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Blackbird Hill by Karl Bodmer
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As the story goes, it was years later when the former lovers were once again reunited, when the young man came looking for her on the banks of the Missouri River. Overjoyed to see him, she confessed that she had never stopped loving him and only married another because she thought he was dead. Surely, it was fate that brought the long-lost lovers back together. She told him that she would go home to tell her husband that she wanted out of their marriage, so they could leave together in the morning.
When the girl returned to the cabin, she explained the situation to her husband, saying she did not love him and intended to leave him to marry her first love. At first, the husband begged her to stay. But when she refused, he went into a bitter rage and attacked her with his hunting knife. Mortally wounding her and with nothing to live for, he carried her to the cliff of the hill overlooking the river and leaped with her into the river far below. The woman’s death scream pierced the air until it was silenced by the muddy waters of the Missouri River. The young lover witnessed the couple tumble and drowning in the river, and he also became a victim as he later died of a broken heart.
A century and a half later, the river no longer touches the base of the hill Blackbird Hill, but the young woman’s restless soul remains. According to the legend, on October 17th the anniversary of the murder-suicide, the woman’s chilling screams can be heard at the top of the hill. Over the years, dozens of people reportedly have heard her cries of terror.
The Colorado River, Lake Mead & Hoover Dam, Nevada and Arizona
The massive concrete arch-gravity Hoover Dam spanning the Colorado River is an American icon. It's 660 feet thick at its base, over sixty stories tall, and over 1,200 feet wide. It supplies both significant amounts of hydroelectric power and irrigation water to the southwest United States. Many maintain that the dam is haunted by the workers who lost their lives while building the colossal structure.
Built during the height of the Great Depression between 1931 and 1935. It's said, some 112 people died during its construction. The deaths were all typical industrial accidents such as drowning, most common in dam construction, being struck by equipment or debris, and of course, accidental falls. A traditional story often told says that a few of those killed fell into the concrete while it was being poured and now encased the dam itself. While a popular myth, it isn't true. Experts say having human bodies mixed within the concrete would make the dam structurally unsound.
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| Hoover Dam by Ansel Adams |
However, the construction company said 42 workers not listed in the body count died of pneumonia. Most think that they actually perished from carbon monoxide poisoning while operating vehicles inside the diversion tunnels, and the company made up the pneumonia story to avoid any lawsuits.
No matter what the actual number of people who died may be, many think the dam is a harborage for all the lost souls. Dam workers and visitors have reported experiencing temperature drops in hallways and flickering lights and hearing footsteps in empty corridors of the Hoover Dam facility. Some have even been startled by the creepy apparition of men dressed in old-fashioned worker's clothing wandering the area.
This year, with Lake Mead forecast to be at 34 percent of full capacity, the lowest level since the completion of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s, the lake too is a ghost of what it should be.
Pinto Lake, California
Native American legends, a history of tragic drownings, and an unsolved murder plague this Northern California lake. Add in a paranormal activity along with massive algal toxin blooms will only add to the creepiness of Pinto Lake.
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| Pinto Lake |
Pinto Lake is a 120-acre recreational lake in Watsonville, CA. It's a great place to bring your kayak or canoe for an afternoon float, but according to the local folklore, you might want to be off the water after the sunsets. Allegedly it was an old Native American burial ground. Over the years, both artifacts and remains have been found in and around the lake. Some believe the spirits of those Indians still reside along the banks.
Over time several drownings have also taken place at the lake. Many think these lost souls walk the shore after dark. It's said, the apparition of the young woman in a white nurse's uniform dating back to World War II. In the 1970s four locals, all claimed to have seen the phantom nurse from across the lake.
“Talk about being scared," reported one witness, "This silhouette of this girl chased us all the way until we got out. We swore never again to be caught there after dark.”
However, the ghost of whom some people think is Bonnie Brashers will send shivered down anyone's spine. In 1973, Bonnie, a local housewife, and mother of nine went out for a walk along Pinto Lake and never returned. Her husband was the main suspect in disappearance yet never was charged for her murder since her body was never found. Many believe, Bonnie was murdered by her husband. They say, he threw her body in the murky waters of the lake. Her ghost now roams the shores there on occasion seeking justice and waiting for her body to be finally found to solve the mystery.
So what do you believe? Are these just good old-fashion ghost stories passed down over the years?
Or are there really haunting spirits out there at the edge of the water?
Whatever you believe, these tales have intertwined with the history and folklore of these waterways. They have captured our imaginations and can provide us, that is if you’re feeling especially brave, a spooky paddling adventure where you can go see for yourself. But, only if you dare.
Happy Halloween
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Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
