RUNNING BEAR

RUNNING BEAR

And the Haunted Lake

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A lake is any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size.

I’m sure most of you remember the song, Running Bear” by Johnny Preston.

On the banks of the river, stood Running Bear, young Indian brave.

On the other side of the river, stood his lovely Indian maid.

Little White Dove was her name. Such a lovely sight to see.

But their tribes fought with each other, so their love could never be.

It's a song, right? Nothing but a song some writer thought the words made a beautiful but sad tale of love, life, and death.

Yeah, it’s a song, right?

Not if you live in or near Ronkonkoma, New York.

As of today, September 2023, Ronkonkoma is host to about 19,000 full time residents. Many others make the small town a highlight of their vacations.

I should know. I lived within ten miles of the quaint little town.

My parents are the ones who introduced me to the area. As a child, during the summer, my parents would take my brother and me out to Long Island for a Sunday picnic. As a child, I ever asked where we were going or why. We had fun playing in the sand on the beach. The water was cool but not cold and romping in the lake was delightful. Yet, my mother always cautioned us to stay near the shore. Without question, we always needed her advice. Well, heck! We were only little kids, and I couldn’t swim, anyway!

As time went by, many of the picnics ended. My parents opted for a week’s family vacation in another part of Long Island. For many years, we ended up in Centereach where the small resort had an inground pool – not a lake. But this isn’t about Centereach, or my family, or family vacations.

It is about the infamous LAKE RONKONKOMA!

So then, what does Lake Ronkonkoma have to do with the song, Running Bear that was made famous by Johnny Preston back in 1959.

In the song, as determined as they were to be together, they threw caution to the wind and jumped into the river to meet half-way. Through the turbulent waters, they swam toward each other. Sheer determination brought their bodies closer together. As their hands touched, exhaustion took over and now, too tired to fight the weather and the waves, they drowned.

As I said, such a sad song. However, truth is very often stranger than fiction. Let me elaborate.

Lake Ronkonkoma is Long Island’s largest and deepest lake. It’s surrounded by woods, a few (very few) private homes and several sandy beaches. It’s a beautiful sight and such a great place for a picnic. It’s also rumored to be bottomless. AND it’s also rumored to be haunted.

Many, if not most residents, while they enjoy the peaceful scenery of the lake, refuse to swim there. There are more who are so afraid of the lake, they won’t even wake up to their ankles in it.

No, it isn’t because of bacteria or any other kind of algae bloom.

They’re afraid of ghosts!

Yeah, you read that right. I did say ghosts!

The legend about the lake is that back in the 1600s, a young Indian princess named Tuskawanta fell in love with a white English settler, who had blond hair and beard and striking blue eyes. Hugh Birdsell was a woodcutter.

While there are many versions of the legend, the most popular is that the woodcutter and the princess, while never actually meeting in person, fell desperately in love. Her father, the Chief was furious and forbade her from trying to cross the lake to meet the love of her life.

Over the next several years, Tuskawanta found a way to send letters and notes to her woodcutter. Yet, he never responded. Why, we’ll never know. Did he tire of never meeting his Indian Maid? Did her father send out a party of braves to chase him away? Or maybe, instead of chasing him away, eliminating him so completely that there would never be a chance for his daughter to meet him?

We can only speculate. But speculation isn’t part of the legend.

The Chief, in his own dismal way to try and erase his daughter’s heartache, arranges a marriage between Tuskawanta and a Brave from their own tribe.

In inconsolable sorrow and desperate to avoid a loveless marriage, the maid takes her canoe to the middle of the lake and in comfortless misery, stabs herself in the heart. There she lays until her body is found the next day, her body, now buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on the shoreline surrounding the magnificent lake she loved so much.

Since that woeful day when Tuskawanta’s body was laid in the ground, legend has it that each year, a young male would be pulled under the lake’s surface. Their bodies would never be found.

Sounds a bit too difficult to be true?

As I said, I lived within ten miles of the lake and saw my share of search parties looking for someone who went under and never resurfaced.

Many locals believe that buried in the waters of the lake are the many untold lost bodies, victims of a centuries-old ghost who regularly drags young men to their graves while looking for her only true love.

How true is the legend of Tuskawanta and the lake? We many never know for sure, but I can tell you that more than 160 young men have died in that lake.