Piasa facts for kids
 A modern reproduction of the "Piasa Bird",
on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in Alton. Wings were not described in Marquette's 1673 account. |
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| Grouping | Cryptid |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Thunderbird |
| Other name(s) | Paillissa Piasa Bird Piesa |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Illinois |
The Piasa ( PY-ə-saw) or Piasa Bird is a Native American dragon 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 chain of limestone bluffs in Madison County, Illinois at present-day Alton, Illinois. The original Piasa illustration no longer exists; a newer 20th-century version, based partly on 19th-century sketches and lithographs, has been placed on a bluff in Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin. The location of the present-day mural is at 38.898055, -90.19915. The limestone rock quality on the new site is unsuited for holding an image, and the painting must be regularly restored. The original site of the painting was a high-quality (6–8 foot thick) layer of lithographic limestone, which was predominantly quarried away in the late 1870s by the Mississippi Lime Company.
Images for kids
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A Thunderbird petroglyph at Washington State Park in Missouri
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Underwater Panther, George Gustav Heye Center, National Museum of the American Indian
See also
In Spanish: Piasa para niños
