Encounter Atlas
The Piasa takes its name from a Native American rock painting high on the limestone bluffs above the Mississippi River at present-day Alton, Illinois. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet saw paintings of two monsters there in 1673 and described a creature as big as a calf, with horns, red eyes, a man-like face, scales and a very long tail ending in a fish's fin. Scholars now see it as an underwater panther, a powerful water being in the region's Native traditions.
In 1836 writer John Russell published a dramatic story of a man-eating 'Piasa bird' defeated by a chief, and later pictures gave the creature wings. Many folklorists regard Russell's tale as invented.
The original painting was destroyed by quarrying in the 19th century. A large modern replica now stands on the bluff at Alton.
What witnesses report
- In the old painting: horns, a bearded man-like face and red eyes
- Scales and a very long tail
- Wings in later retellings
Famous cases
- 1673Marquette and Jolliet see the painted monsters
Alton, Illinois
Seen the Piasa?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
