“a local legend in the Alton area”
The Piasa Bird (pronounced Pie-a-saw), is a local legend in the Alton area. Its foundings go back to 1673 when Father Jacques Marquette, in recording his famous journey down the Mississippi River with Louis Joliet, described the "Piasa" as a birdlike monster painted high on the bluffs along the Mississippi River, where the city of Alton, Illinois now stands. According to the diary, the Piasa "was as large as a calf with horns like a deer, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face like a man, the body covered with green, red and black scales and a tail so long it passed around the body, over the head and between the legs." The creature was given its name by the Illini Indians, "The Piasa", meaning a bird that devours men.
Awesome to see the painting. Even COOLER when you take the trail to the right of the historic sign. Go back about .25 a mile and you'll see the other entrance to the cave and a small water stream coming from the very top of the cliff
You're probably not supposed to, but if you go to the right, there isn't a guard rail and you can play in the cave.
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The Piasa Bird
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