Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1860-05-18
The Piasa.

The Piasa.
AN INDIAN TRADITION OF ILLINOIS.
Written in 1886, for New York magazine]
In descending the Mississippi river
to Alton, the traveller will observe,
between that town and the mouth of
the Illinois, . narrow ravine, through |
which small stream discharges its wa
ters into tho Mississippi. That stream
is the Piasa. Its name is Indian, and
signifies, in the language of the Illini,
ssThe Bird that devours Men," Near
the mouth of the stream, on the smooth
and perpendicular face of the bluff, at
an elevation which no human art can
reach, is cut the figure of an enormous
bird, with its wings expanded. The
bird which this figure represents was
called by the Indians the Piasa-and
from this is derived the name Of the
stream. Z 'a5 70 sst-1aA
The tradition of the piasa is still
current among all the tribes of the Up
per Mississippi, and those who have in
habited the valley of the Illinois, and is
briefly this: Many thousand moons be-
fore the arrival Of the pale faces, when
the great magalonyx and mastodon,
whose bones are now dug up, were still
living in this land of green prairies,
there existed bird Of such dimensions
that he could easily carry in his talons
q full-grown deer. Having obtained a
taste Of human flesh, from that time he
would prey upon nothing else. He was
artful as he was powerful would dart
suddenly and unexpectedly upon an In
dian, bear him off into one of the caves
Of the bluff, and devour him. Hundreds
Of warriors attempted to destroy him,
but without success. Whole villages
were nearly depopulated, and conster.
nation spread through all the tribes Of
the 1llini. At length, Ouatoga, a chief
whose fame as warrior extended even
beyond the great lakes, separating him
self from the rest of his tribe, tasted in
solitude for the space Of whole moon,
and prayed to the Great Spirit, the
Master of life, that he would protect
his children from the Piasa. On the
last night of his fast the Great Spirit
appeared to Ouatoga in a dream, and
directed him to select twenty Of his
warriors, each armed with bow and a
poisoned arrow, and conceal them in a
designated spot. Near the place OF
their concealment, another warrior was
to stand in open view as a victim fol-
the Piasa, which they must shoot the
instant that he bounced upon the prey.
I When the chief awoke in the morning
he thanked the Great Spirit, and return.
ing to his tribe, told them his dream
The warriors were quickly selected anc
placed in ambush as directed. Ouato'
60 offered himself as the victim. HI
was willing to die for his tribe Pla.
cling himself in open view of the bluff
he soon saw the Piasa perched on the
cliff cycling his prey. Ouatoga drew W
his manly form to its hight, and plant
, ing his feet firmly upon the earth, be-
gan to chant the death song Of a war
rior. A moment after, the Piasa ros'
into the air, and, swift as the thunder
bolt, darted down upon the chief
} Scarcely had he reached his victim
when every bow was sprung and ever,
arrow sent to the feather into his body
The Piasa uttered wild, fearful
scream, that resounded far over the op
posite side Of the river, and expired
, Ouatoga was safe. Not an arrow, no
even The talons Of the bird, had touches
him. The Master Of life, in admira
ton Of the generous deed of Ouatoga
had held over him an invisible shield.
-. In memory of this event, the imag
of the Piasa was engraved on the fac
of the bluff. Such is the Indian ira
dition. Of course I do not vouch TO
its truth. This much, however, is Ger
tain; the figure Of large bird cut int
t solid rock, is still there, and OF high
that is perfectly inaccessible. Ho,
0 and for what purpose it was made,
leave for others to determine; even a
e this day, an Indian never passes tina
$ spot in his canoe without firing his gul
at the figure Of the bird. The mark
of balls on the rock are almost innu
merable. Near the close CT March o
the present year, was induced to visi
+ the bluffs below the mouth Of the Hin
, ois and above that Of the Fiass. NJ,
curiosity was principally directed to tn
examination Of cave connected will
the above tradition, as one Of those t.
which the bird had carried his human
victims. Preceded by on intelliyen
guide who carried a spade, / set cut OF
nv excursion. The cave was extreme
ly difficult Of access, and at one poin
of our progress I stood at an elevation
} Of more than one hundred aad fifty
feet on the face Of the bluff, with bare
ly room to sustain one foot. The un.
broken wall lowered above mt, while
below was the river. After long anc
perilous clambering, We reached the
cave, which was about fifty feet abo1f
tie surface of the water. By the aid
of long polo placed on the projecting
rock, and the upper end touching the
mouth OF tae cave, We succeeded in en-
tering it. Nothing could be more i'm
pressive than the view from the en-.
TRANCE of this cavern. The Mississippi
was rolling in silent grandeur beneath
us !; high above our heads single &C.
dar hung its branches over the cliff, on