Tradition: Haudenosaunee, American Mythology
Alternative Names: Queen Esther, Esther Montour, The Weeping Maiden of Queen Esther’s Pond
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Queen Esther’s Ghost is a haunting figure associated with the legend of Esther Montour, a Haudenosaunee leader who lived in colonial Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century. According to local tradition, Esther’s village stood near the present-day communities of Sayre, Athens, and Waverly, and was home to hundreds of people. Her story became connected to the violence of the American Revolutionary War and the destruction of her community. Although historical accounts of the events differ, local legend remembers Queen Esther as a tragic figure whose death and the killing of her people left a lasting supernatural curse upon the land.
According to the legend, Queen Esther sought revenge after her son was killed during a violent confrontation with a drunken settler. A raid followed in September 1778, during which Arthur van Rossum and his wife Janna were reportedly killed and scalped. In response, a military expedition led by Colonel Thomas Hartley advanced up the Susquehanna River toward Tioga Point. After fierce fighting, the Haudenosaunee warriors were defeated, and Queen Esther attempted to escape into the surrounding forests with the women and children of her village. The widely repeated version of the story claims that Hartley’s men captured the fleeing villagers and brought them to a nearby pond, where the women and children were executed. Their bodies were thrown into the water, denying them the proper burial rites practiced by their people. Queen Esther was allegedly lynched from an oak tree, dismembered, and thrown into the pond alongside the other victims.
The legend of Queen Esther’s curse claims that, before her death, she pronounced a curse upon white settlers who would later occupy the land. During the early nineteenth century, residents of the surrounding community reportedly began hearing unexplained screams from the nearby forests, believed to be the cries of the massacred villagers. Hunters have also told stories of encountering a young girl weeping as she hangs from the branches of an oak tree. When they approach her, the apparition suddenly vanishes, leaving no trace behind. Some hunters believe that their weapons subsequently fail to fire unless carefully checked, interpreting these malfunctions as the spirit’s attempt to prevent further deaths. The haunting remains part of local legend, linking the landscape to memories of violence, dispossession, and the restless spirits of those who died there.
Sources
“Ghost of Queen Esther.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 16, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_of_Queen_Esther