ALTON, Ill. (First Alert 4) - An iconic painting with centuries of history sits on the riverside bluffs in Alton, Illinois. The story of Piasa Bird dates back to French explorers in the 1600s.

The first recorded writing of the Piasa Bird comes from a 1670s journal entry by French explorer Jacques Marquette. Marquette, along with Louis Joliet, was traveling the Mississippi River when they came across the painting on the bluff of what will later become Alton.

Marquette described the painting as a beast with wings like an eagle, the body of a lion, the claws of a bird of prey, with a snake’s tail, antlers on its head and the face of a man.

The original painting that Marquette described has been lost. It was destroyed in the 1840s due to the quarrying of limestone. However, since Marquette’

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