Piasa
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 A modern painting of the "Piasa Bird", on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in Alton. Wings were not present in the original painting. |
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| Creature | |
|---|---|
| Grouping | Cryptid |
| Data | |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Illinois |
The Piasa or Piasa Bird is a legendary creature that was depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on bluffs (cliffsides) above the Mississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a limestone bluff in Madison County, Illinois near present day Alton, Illinois. The original Piasa Bird illustration no longer exists; a newer version, based partly on 19th century sketches and lithographs, has been placed in Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin. The limestone rock quality on the new site is unsuited for holding an image and thus the painting must be revived occasionally. The original site of the painting was a high quality layer of lithographic limestone that was mostly quarried away in the late 1870s by the Mississippi Lime Company (source: Miss. Lime Co. records).
The ancient mural was created prior to the arrival of any European explorers in the region. It may have been an older residual iconograph from the large Native American cultural center of Cahokia. The location of the image was at the actual river bluff "gate" to the American Bottoms valley were the Cahokian mound Mississippian culture peaked. The bird icons such as falcons and bird men were a common motif of the Cahokia culture, and the Piasa Bird images may have been a symbolic message to strangers traveling down the Mississippi River that they were entering the territory of the Mound Builders.
Since the geographic area was first historically explored and settled by Europeans of French descent, the name Piasa is likely a corruption of the Old French pronunciation Paillissa. Meaning palisade or river bluff. Thus Paillissa Bird, is simply corrupted to American English as Piasa Bird: the bird on the cliff. This is evidenced by the 1797-1798 map of French explorer Nicolas De Finiels where he clearly labels the cliffs above the Piasa Bird location as "Hauteurs De Paillisa" (source archives Versailles, France "Carte d'une Partie Du Cours Du Mississippi"). (Partial source:See Costa 2005: 297)
Another interpretation of the name "Piasa", pronounced in English /ˈpaɪ.əsɔː/ PYE-ə-saw, is the Miami-Illinois word páyiihsa (cf. Anishinaabe: apa'iins(ag), "little people(s)"),[1] the name for a type of small supernatural dwarves said to attack travelers. Claims that the word "Piasa" means "the bird that devours men" or "bird of the evil spirit" are impossible, and are not rooted in the Illinois language.
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[edit] Discovery
In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette discovered the painting on a limestone bluff overlooking the Mississippi River while exploring the area. He recorded the following description of his discovery:
- "While Skirting some rocks, which by Their height and length inspired awe, We saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made Us afraid, and upon Which the boldest savages dare not Long rest their eyes. They are as large As a calf; they have Horns on their heads Like those of a deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard Like a tiger's, a face somewhat like a man's, a body Covered with scales, and so Long A tail that it winds all around the Body, passing above the head and going back between the legs, ending in a Fish's tail. Green, red, and black are the three Colors composing the Picture. Moreover, these 2 monsters are so well painted that we cannot believe that any savage is their author; for good painters in France would find it difficult to reach that place Conveniently to paint them. Here is approximately The shape of these monsters, As we have faithfully Copied It."
[edit] John Russell account
The monster depicted in the mural was first referred to as the "Piasa Bird" in an article published in 1836 by John Russell of Bluffdale, Illinois. The article was entitled "The Bird That Devours Men." According to the story published by Russell, the creature depicted by the painting was a huge flying monster that lived in the cliffs. Russell claimed that this creature attacked and devoured people in nearby Indian villages. The legend, as related by Russell, claims that a local Indian chief, named Chief Ouatoga, managed to finally slay the monster using a plan that was given to him in a dream from the Great Spirit. The Chief ordered his bravest warriors to hide near the entrance of the Piasa Bird's cave. Outoga then used himself as bait to lure the creature out into the open. As the monster flew down towards the Indian Chief, his warriors slew it with a volley of poisoned arrows. Russell claimed that the mural was painted by the Indians as a commemoration of this heroic event.
Some sources report that this account was likely simply a story created by John Russell. The bird imagery is not reported in Father Marquette's description, which makes no mention of wings. It is also possible that Marquette's description and Russell's account were both accurate for their respective times, and that the image had been repainted at some point between 1673 and 1836 to revise its appearance and iconography.
When contemporary historians, folklorists, and tourism promoters are looking for a narrative description of the "story" behind the Piasa Bird, they often rely on Russell's account. This version of the tale can be adapted to allow a wide range of interpretation and allow other cities and counties to claim promotional rights to the legend.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Costa, David J. 'Culture-Hero and Trickster Stories'. In: Brian Swann, ed., 'Algonquian Spirit'. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2005.
- O'Conner, Mallory McCane. "Lost Cities of the Ancient Southeast." The University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 1995. ISBN 0-8130-1350-X
- Coleman, Loren and Clark, Jerome. "Cryptozoology A-Z". Fireside. 1999. ISBN 978-0684856025
[edit] External links
- Piasa Bird legend from Alton, Illinois - picture of mural
- History of Piasa Bird painting
- Another version of the history of the Piasa Bird
- A slightly different version of the Piasa Bird legend
