ThePiasa(/ˈpaɪ.əsɔː/PY-ə-saw) orPiasa Birdis a Native American mythical creature depicted in one of twomuralspainted byNative Americanson bluffs (cliffsides) above theMississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a chain of limestone bluffs in Madison County, Illinois at present-dayAlton, Illinois. The original Piasa illustration no longer exists; a newer 20th-century version, based partly on 19th-century sketches and lithographs, has been placed on a bluff in Alton, Illinois, several hundred yards upstream from its origin.