Icons and animal pictographs such as falcons, thunderbirds, bird men, and monstrous snakes were common motifs of the Cahokia culture.

These paintings were photographed by Professor William McAdams and were to be placed in his book Records of Ancient Races in the Mississippi Valley.

Author Hutchins, Thomas, 1730–1789" clearly shows the place name "PIASAS" where the present day City of Alton is located and bounded by the Wood River to the east.

He recorded the following description: "While skirting some rocks, which by their height and length inspired awe, we saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made us afraid, and upon which the boldest savages dare not long rest their eyes.

"[7]The French cartographer Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin compiled a map titled "The Mississippi" in about the year 1682, from Louis Jolliet's description of his 1673 journey with Father Marquette.

Author A. D. Jones, in his book "Illinois and the West" c. 1838, also describes the ravages of weapons (firearms) upon the images, and further refers to the paintings as being named "Piasua".

[citation needed] The monster depicted in the mural was first referred to as the "Piasa Bird" in an article published c. 1836 by John Russell of Bluffdale, Illinois.

Russell claimed that this creature attacked and devoured people in nearby Indian villages shortly after the corpses of a war gave it a taste for human flesh.

In the book Records of Ancient Races in the Mississippi Valley ... Chapter 2, 1887, by W. McAdams, the author says he contacted John Russell, who admitted the story was fabricated.

Costa's research in 2005 led to a Miami-Illinois Indian's tale of the malevolent twin dwarves (the "Payiihsaki"), the underwater panther, and the supernatural culture hero known as the Illinois Trickster, "Wissa Katch Akwa" who encounter a French trader.

The Underwater Panther origin is supported by research by Dr. Mark J. Wagner, Director, Center for Archaeological Investigations and Professor, Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.