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| In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette saw a pictograph of dragon on a limestone bluff overlooking the Mississippi River |
"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."
- Father Jacques Marquette, 1675
The mural seen by Father Marquette no longer exists, but a much newer painting of a Piasa Bird now looks over the Mississippi River from Piasa Park, upstream from Alton, Illinois.
In 1836, college professor John Russell published an article claiming rhe Piasa Bird was a man-eating dragon that terrorized locals until their chief bravely risked his own life to kill the monster. Whether the legend was fabricated by Russell or handed down by natives, it makes a nice story and helps attract tourists to the Alton area.
