[Greenperson]

Some of these drawings resemble the Piasa Bird:
http://www.altonweb.com/history/piasabird/

Before anyone thinks this is simply myth, there were news reports from the 1800s concerning children picked up and carried by huge, unidentifiable birds (aka thunderbirds). Here’s a link: http://www.prairieghosts.com/thunderbirds.html

Way cool photos, Fred. Thanks for sharing. Wish I could see them in situ!

[Fred Nerks]

The Piasa Bird (pronounced Pie-a-saw), is a local legend in the Alton area. Its foundings go back to 1673 when Father Jacques Marquette, in recording his famous journey down the Mississippi River with Louis Joliet, described the "Piasa" as a birdlike monster painted high on the bluffs along the Mississippi River, where the city of Alton, Illinois now stands.

According to the diary, the Piasa "was as large as a calf with horns like a deer, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face like a man, the body covered with green, red and black scales and a tail so long it passed around the body, over the head and between the legs."

thanks for the link, it looks like another version of the 'water-monster' doesn't it?