Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 21: Legend of the Piasau, 1912

Prof. John Russell s Version - Another Version of the Legend - Ancient Mark for Arrow and Bullet - How Legend is Perpetuated - The Legend of Lovers' Leap.

Reference has been made to the picture of the Piasau Bird portrayed on the Alton bluffs and which inspired the first French explorers with terror as they descended the Mississippi in June, 1673. There were various Indian legends connected therewith which were cur¬ rent among the tribes at the time of the first settlements by white men.

Many thousand moons before the arrival of the pale faces, when the great megalony and the mastodon, whose bones are still dug up, were yet in the land of the green prairies, the numerous and powerful nation called the Illini, inhabited the state which now bears their name and over the greater portion of which their hunting grounds extended. For many years they continued to increase in numbers and prosperity, and were deemed the bravest and most warlike of all the tribes of the great valley. At length in the most populous district of their country - near the residence of their greatest chief - there appeared an enormous creature, - part beast and part bird, - which took up its abode in the cliffs, and banqueted daily on numbers of the people whom it bore off in its immense talons. It was covered with scales of every possible color, had a huge tail with a blow of which it could shake the earth. From its head, which was like that of a fox with the beak of an eagle, projected immense horns, and its four feet were armed with powerful talons, in each of which it could carry a buffalo. The flapping of its enormous wings was like the roar of thunder and when it dived into the river it threw the waves high up on the land.

cording to some 'The bird which devours men') In vain did the Medicine men use all their power to drive away this fearful visitor. Day by day the numbers of the tribe diminished to feed his insatiable appetite. Whole villages were depopulated and consternation spread among all the tribes of the Illini. At length the young chief of the nation, Ouatoga, or Wassatoga, beloved of his people and es¬ teemed their greatest warrior and whose fame extended even beyond the great lakes, called a council of the priests in a secret cave, where, after fasting many days, they slept. And the Great Spirit came to the young Chief in his sleep and revealed to him that the only way to rid his people of their destroyer was to offer himself as a sacrifice.

"Ouatoga awoke, aroused the slumbering priests, and, informing them of what had oc¬ curred, announced his intention of making the required sacrifice. Ouatoga then dressed him¬ self in his chieftain's garb, put on his war paint as if going to battle, and taking his bow and arrows and tomahawk, placed himself on a prominent rock overhanging the river (now called Lovers' Leap), and awaited the coming of the monster bird. Meanwhile, as had been directed in his vision, a band of his best braves had been concealed in the interstices of the cliffs, waiting, each with his arrow drawn to the head, until their chief should be attacked, to wreak their vengeance on their enemy. High and erect stood the bold Ouatoga chant¬ ing his death song with a calm and placid coun¬ tenance, when suddenly there came a roar as of awful thunder, and in an instant the bird of the Piasau, uttering a wild shriek that shook the hills, swept down upon the chief. At that moment Ouatoga dealt it a blow with his tomahawk, and every bow of the braves, sprung at once, sent its arrow quivering up to its feather into its body. The Piasau uttered a shriek that resounded far over the opposite shore of the river and expired. Ouatoga was safe. Not an arrow, not even the talons of the bird had touched him.

"The Master of Life, in admiration of the generous deed of Ouatoga, had held over him an invisible shield. The tribe now gave way to the wildest joy, and to commemorate their deliverance painted the figure of the bird on the side of the cliff on whose summit the chief¬ tain stood, and there it has endured for ages, a mark for the arrow or bullet of every red man who has since passed in ascending or de¬ scending the great father of waters."

Another version of the same legend, nar¬ rated in a volume published in 1838 by A. D. Jones, entitled "Illinois and the West," differs somewhat in detail as to the sacrifice of Oua¬ toga, and is as follows: "At length it was levealed to Ouatoga that a mode was possible by which the dread visitant might be destroyed. First, a noble victim was to be selected, from among the bravest warriors, who, by religious rites and ceremonies, was to be sanctified for the sacrifice. Second, twenty warriors, equally as brave, with their stoutest bows and swiftest arrows, were to conceal themselves near the place of sacrifice. The victim was to be led forth and singly to take his stand on an ex¬ posed point of rock, where the ravenous bird would be apt to note and seize upon him. At the moment of descent the hidden warriors were to let fly their arrows with the assurance that the monster would fall.

"On the day appointed the braves, armed ac¬ cording to the instructions in the vision, safely reached their hiding places which commanded a full view of the fatal platform. The name of the victim had been kept secret up to the sacrificial hour. Judge, then, the consterna¬ tion, when, dressed in his proudest robes, Ouatoga appeared, himself the voluntary vic¬ tim. The tears and shrieks of the women, and the expostulations of the chiefs availed

" 'Brethren and children,' he addressed them, 'the Great Spirit is angry with his chil¬ dren. He hath sent us the scourge to punish us for our sins. He hath demanded this sacri¬ fice. Who so fit as your chief? The blood of my heart is pure. Many moons have I been your chieftain. I have led you to conquest and glory. I have but this sacrifice to make and I am a free spirt. I am a dry tree, leaf¬ less and branchless. Soon I shall lie upon the wide prairie and moulder away. Cherish and obey the sapling that springs up at my root. May he be braver and wiser than his sire. And when the Great Spirit smiles upon you and delivers you, forget not the sacrifice of Ouatoga. Hinder me not - I go forth to the sacrifice.' "

How much of the "Legend of the Piasau" was tradition and how much imaginary with Professor Russell is a point of contention. That there was a legend connected with the painting on the cliffs seems indisputable. That it was connected with some great event or notable deliverance seems equally certain. It was known to the early settlers to be the sub¬ ject of superstitious awe to the Indians re¬ maining in the vicinity, and this superstition was not local but was wide-spread among the tribes of the Mississippi valley.

A. D. Jones further says, in his "Illinois and the West:" "The spot became sacred from the time of Ouatoga's sacrifice and no Indian ascended or descended the river, at any time, without discharging his arrows at the man-destroying bird. After the distribution of fire arms among the Indians bullets were substituted for arrows, and even to this day (1838) no savage presumes to pass that magic spot without discharging his rifle and raising his shout of triumph. I visited the spot in June, 1838, and examined the image; and the ten thousand bullet marks upon the cliff seemed to corroborate the tradition related to me in the neighborhood. So lately as the pas¬ sage of the Sac and Fox delegations down the river on their way to Washington, there was a general discharge of their rifles at the Piasau Bird. On arriving at Alton they went ashore in a body, and proceeded to the bluff where they held a solemn war council, concluding the whole with a splendid war dance, manifesting all the while the most exuberant joy."

This record of Mr. Jones is confirmed by old residents of Alton who recall this Indian council and dance, though some credit the cere¬ mony to a delegation of Chippewas. The council must have taken place on the bluffs at the west end of what is now Prospect street. The painting on the bluff side, a few yards west of what is now known as "Lovers' Leap, was immediately below the present residences of Mr. H. M. Schweppe and George D. Hayden. In the march of progress the painting of the Piasau Bird was quarried away and burned into lime - greatly to the disgust and dismay of anti¬ quarians. Pioneer settlers relate that in early times, there was a cave in the bluffs near by, which was found full of bones. The presence of these bones was accounted for by the tradi¬ tion that it was here the Piasau repaired with its victims and feasted on their flesh. Why such a gifted and ravenous monster, typical of the demons of the earth, the air and the water should have left any bones is not explained.

The name of the Piasau (shortened to Piasa but pronunciation retained) is perpetuated at Alton in hotels, associations and clubs, and in one of the main streets of the city, while the self-sacrificing chieftain, Ouatoga, is recalled to remembrance in the name of the handsom¬ est pleasure yacht on the Mississippi, owned by Dr. W. A. Haskell, of Alton. The name, also, of the storied tribe of which Ouatoga was the chieftain is perpetuated in the Illini Club House at Clifton Terrace and the splen¬ did Illini Hotel at Alton. Thus does the pres¬ ent generation pay tribute to a traditional or mythical past, and enshrine it not only in song and story but in milestones of material prog¬ ress.

interesting of any that cluster around the vicinity of Alton. The point described is located at the southernmost extremity of Prospect street, in the city of Alton, where it ends in a sheer bluff rising two hundred feet from the bank of the river. It is one of the few landmarks of special interest in this vicinity that have escaped the defacing hand of civilization, and commands one of the most