Legend of the Piasa Bird - Alton IL - Ghosts and Hauntings on Waymarking.com

The legend of the Piasa Bird dates back to long before the white man came to region. It has been traced to a band of Illiniwek Indians who lived along the Mississippi in the vicinity north of present-day Alton. This tribe, led by a chief named Owatoga, hunted and fished the valley and the river and lived a contented life until the "great beast" came.

One morning, Owatoga's son, Utim, and a friend were fishing when they heard a terrible scream. They looked and saw a huge bird rising from the edge of the river. The legend states that the bird was of such dimensions that it could carry away a full-grown deer in its talons, and that once it obtained a taste for human flesh, it would eat nothing else. The creature the two men saw had a young man gripped in its claws and it carried him away and out of sight. Quickly, the two young men returned to their village and found their people very frightened. They waited all day for the young man to escape from the bird and return, but he never did.

After that, nearly every morning, the great bird would appear in the sky and carry away a member of the tribe, a man, woman or a child. Those who were carried off were never seen again. The people began to call the bird the "Piasa", which meant "the bird which devours men". Owatoga realized that they were powerless against this beast and he retreated to his lodge to fast and to pray for guidance. He emerged the next day with a plan that had been revealed to him in a vision.
According to his vision, Owatoga was to take six of his finest braves and climb to the top of one of the highest bluffs. The young men were to carry with them only their bows and a quiver of poisoned arrows. They were to hide themselves while Owatoga stood on the edge of the bluff and waited for the Piasa to appear. When the monster came, the chief was to throw himself down on the rocks and hold on while the bird attempted to carry him away. As it did so, the braves would appear with their bows and slay the beast.

Source: (visit link)

Public access?: Located at Piasa Park in a pull off on IL 100 Visting hours: Open all the time Website about the location and/or story: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:

• Please submit a photo(s) taken by you of your visit to the location (non-copyrighted photos only). GPS photos are also accepted with the location in the background, and old vacation photos are accepted. Photos you took of paranormal activity are great. If you are not able to provide a photo, then please describe your visit or give a story about the visit
• Tell your story if you saw, felt, or smelled anything unusual. Post pictures of what you saw.
• Add any information you may have about the location. If your information is important about the location, please contact the waymark owner to see if it can be added to the description.
• Be careful and do not enter areas which are off limits or look dangerous. No waymark is worth harm. Use your 6th sense, because sometimes there are unseen things which are telling you to stay out.
• Use care when using your camera flash so you do not disrupt any possible nearby residents. Time lapse can be the best tool on your camera in many circumstances.

 

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   11/12/2017 kJfishman visited it 09/03/2015 YoSam. visited it 06/23/2015 adgorn visited it

View all visits/logs