THE MARQUETTE MONSTER

Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend for Halloween Month.

THE MARQUETTE MONSTER

Near what is now Alton, IL a monstrous man-eating monster was first sighted by Jacques Marquette in the 1670s. Sightings of the creature continued until the 1860s. The celebrated drawing of this monster by Native Americans was dated to around the year 1200 CE.

The monster is also known as the Piasa Bird, named after Native American terms for dragon-like creatures that supposedly inhabited the region in the ancient past. Over the decades the description varied but overall the Marquette Monster was said to have the body of a horse-sized cougar, the wings of a bat and the head of a human but adorned with antlers like a deer.  

Through the years the Marquette Monster preyed on men, women and children throughout the region, swooping down on its prey and flying off before any passersby could react.

In the 1790’s an expedtion to catch and slay the beast was reputed to have succeeded at killing it … only to learn there was more than one such monster when they fell prey to its mate.

They may have been the last or near the last in their line, because by the end of the 1860’s actual deaths caused by the Marquette Monster seem to have ended. From that point on there were reports of nothing but “sightings” like with Bigfoot, Mothman, etc.

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