Piasa
 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. |
|
| Grouping | Cryptid |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Region | Illinois |
Coordinates: 38°53′52″N 90°11′56″W / 38.897833°N 90.199°W
The Piasa (/ˈpaɪ.əsɔː/ 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.
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