Piasa

Lore & Background

The original petrographs were described by Marquette and Jolliet in 1673 as a multicolored human-faced creature with a long tail terminating in a fish-like fin, and a sketch was preserved in maps by cartographer Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin (1678, 1681), and 19th century copies thereof. The creature is identifiable as the underwater panther of native lore, with concentric rings on its body purported to be scales. Subsequent French explorers and missionaries learned of a second mural location painted with tritons (mermen), but claimed not to be able to find either, or that only red-colored horse pictures remained on lower walls by 1698. The monster paintings were the object of Indian worship, with natives offering tobacco to appease the Manitou great spirits at Cape St. Anthony, where the Miami and the Matsigamea (Mitchigamea) clashed. Later reports claimed the mural was still well preserved and visible into the first half of the 19th century, and was called 'piesa' in 1812. A painting published in 1857 and a sketch published in 1887 (claimed drawn 1825) depicted the creature with wings added, but many folklorists deem the eyewitnesses not earnest, and consider the attached legend of the chieftain Ouatoga to be fakelore by John Russell (1836, 1848). A separate legend published by Perry A. Armstrong (1887) contends a monster bird took sides in a historic tribal conflict between the local natives. The wall where the original paintings existed was probably destroyed ca. 1850s, and the mural has been restored with replicas a number of times in the 20th century.

Reader's Guide

The Piasa's significance lies in its contested history between genuine Native American mythology and later fabricated folklore. The original 1673 descriptions by Marquette and Jolliet depict a wingless, underwater panther-like creature, an identification supported by scholars such as J. P. Dunn (1917) and more recent researchers like Dr. Mark J. Wagner. However, the creature became famous through later winged depictions and the fictional tale of Chief Ouatoga, created by writer John Russell in 1836 and 1848. Folklorist Wayne C. Temple (1956) wrote the most comprehensive account, dismissing the winged paintings as too dragon-like and the famous sketch as a reconstruction based on Marquette's writing. Temple concluded the Ouatoga tale was fiction, though some researchers allow for the possibility that genuine native folkloric material had been transmitted. The original mural was quarried away around 1846 or 1847, and a 20th-century replica based on the famous drawing was installed on the Piasa bluff at Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin. The limestone rock quality is unsuited for holding an image, requiring regular restoration. The term 'Piasa' itself is unattested in Marquette's journal, first appearing as a geographical label on Hutchins's map (1789) and later as 'piesa' for the painted monsters in 1812. Linguist Ives Goddard did not think the term was attested in Algonquian languages, suggesting it could only derive from native terms via implausible distortions.

Did You Know?

• The original Piasa mural was wingless and described as a scaly quadruped with a man-like face and a long tail ending in fishlike fins.
• The creature is identified by scholars as the underwater panther (mishibizhii) of Ojibwe and related tribes.
• The famous winged depiction of the Piasa was published in 1857 by painter Henry Lewis and in 1887 by McAdams, but many folklorists consider these inauthentic.
• The original mural site was quarried away around 1846 or 1847, and a 20th-century replica was placed upstream from the original location.