The American Monster : The Piasa Bird , page 1

I grew up in Alton Illinois and use to play near the bluffs that line the Mississippi, the image below of the Piasa, a creature that some claim actually existed , is a retouch of the original that some idiot sprayed graffiti on. The original image looked more ancient. This is not some "mythical" creature, this is not Bigfoot or the Swamp Monkey, this is the REAL monster the once existed on US soil....

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"The Piasa bird is said to have flown over the "Great Father of Waters" thousands of moons before the white man came, when magolonyn and mastodon were still living." The Piasa, or Piusa, means "the bird that devours men" or "bird of the evil spirit". Early drawings depict it as part bird, reptile, mammal, and fish. The colors used in early paintings symbolize war and vengeance (red), death and despair (black), and hope and triumph over death (green).

Marquette and Joliet recorded in their diaries a description of an image of this creature incised into the limestone bluffs 40 to 50 feet above the water near their historic landing site at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. This image was later painted, and has been relocated several times. Today a painting of the Piasa Bird can be seen on the bluffs near Alton, Illinois. The most enduring and fascinating legend about this bird was written by John Russell in 1836. It follows:

Before the village of the Illini, the mighty river swept to the south, clear and fresh. The surrounding woods were rich with game. The bluffs and the mighty trees shielded the Illini from the harsh winds that sometimes swept in from the north. Their village was a secure and happy place. Chief of the Illini was Ouatoga (Watoga). He was old and had led his tribe in the ways of peace for most of his lifetime. Ouatoga and his people loved their home and their way of life. Then one morning, as the sun began to climb towards the summit of its cloudless sky, terror touched the Illini. The village stirred. A number of younger braves were leaving on an early morning fishing expedition. Some were already on the river in their canoes, others preparing to embark, when suddenly the very earth seemed to shudder with the sound of an alien scream.

Out of the Western sky came a gigantic flying monster. Its body was much the size and shape of a horse; long, white fangs stabbed upward from the protruding lower jaw and flames leaped from its nostrils; two white, deer-like horns angled wickedly from its head. Its huge wings pounded the air with such force the trees bent; its stubby legs held dagger-like talons and its spiked tail wound around the grotesque body three times.

Almost before the braves realized their danger, the beast, soon to be named the Piasa Bird, swooped across the beach and carried one away. From that moment on, the Illini were terrorized by this incredible and blood-thirsty monster. Each morning and afternoon thereafter, the Piasa Bird came, shattering the peace of the village with its blood-chilling screams and the thunderous beat of its wings. More often than not, it returned to its lair with a victim.