The Piasa Bird

   Anyone from southern Illinois, near the St. Louis area, has probably heard the legend of the Piasa Bird.  I can't remember when I first heard this story.  For me, it's one of those things that I just know.  I feel like I grew up with it.  Now, I'm from a town about 30 minutes south of Alton, where the Piasa was originally located, so I'm sure I'm not as familiar with it as some people are.  I still got to see it, though, since it is painted on the bluffs along the Mississippi River.  My family would sometimes go up that way to watch the bald eagles in the winter time.  Plus, every summer I would go to Pere Marquette State Park (just north of Alton) for Christian Family Camp.  You can see the Piasa bird from the river road that runs along the cliffs on the way to the park.  Not to mention that the group camp we usually stay in is called Camp Piasa. 
   By now you're probably wondering what the heck the Piasa Bird actually is.  I've copied this information from the Alton webpage.  http://www.altonweb.com/history/piasabird/  So, here you go:

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.

There are many legends regarding its origin.
One of the more popular accounts goes like this ... 

Many moons ago, there existed a birdlike creature of such great size, he could easily carry off a full grown deer in his talons. His taste, however, was for human flesh. Hundreds of warriors attempted to destroy the Piasa, but failed. Whole villages were destroyed and fear spread throughout the Illini tribe. Ouatoga, a chief whose fame extended even beyond the Great Lakes, separated himself from his tribe, fasted in solitude for the space of a whole moon, and prayed to the Great Spirit to protect his people from the Piasa.
 
On the last night of his fast, the Great Spirit appeared to Ouatoga in a dream and directed him to select 20 warriors, arm them each with a bow and poisoned arrow, and conceal them in a designated spot. Another warrior was to stand in an open view, as a victim for the Piasa. When the chief awoke in the morning, he told the tribe of his dream. The warriors were quickly selected and placed in ambush. Ouatoga offered himself as the victim. Placing himself in open view, he soon saw the Piasa perched on the bluff eyeing his prey. Ouatoga began to chant the death song of a warrior. The Piasa took to the air and swooped down upon the chief. The Piasa had just reached his victim when every bow was sprung and every arrow sent sailing into the body of the beast. The Piasa uttered a fearful scream that echoed down the river, and died. Ouatoga was safe, and the tribe saved.

When I was young, I always learned that the Piasa bird particularly liked to carry off the tribe's children.  The painting is no longer located in its original place.  It was moved to some cliffs farther upriver.  If you want to read more about it, here's a Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasa.  I really wanted to to share this legend since it's a cool piece of history from my area, and I'm oddly proud of it.  I hope you find it as interesting as I do.