Chasing Dragons: The True History of the Piasa

While exploring the Mississippi River in 1673 Pere Marquette came upon an awesome sight-two great dragons painted upon a towering bluff near present-day St. Louis. The intrepid father reported that €œ€¦no savage is their author; for good painters in France would find it difficult to paint so well€¦€

Marquette was right, for the painting-later to become known as the Piasa-was executed by skilled men of Admiral Zheng He€s legendary Treasure Fleet.

In CHASING DRAGONS the authors uncover the true history of the Piasa directly from the earliest records, including an almost forgotten written Chinese account of an incredible voyage to America in 1433!

FROM THE BACK COVER:

In 1433, Imperial China ruled the seas. The God-chief of Cahokia ruled the lands along the Father of Waters. And, the Piasa was about to be created where the destinies of these two empires would collide on the banks of the Mississippi. By the time the second half of the 1400's dawned, the Piasa stood alone as a testament to the dangers of "unintended" consequences, in a world changed forever.

In the 1673, Father Marquette & Jolliet were the first Europeans to record seeing the Piasa, and in the 1840's, Henry Lewis included its image in his book on the American frontier. By 1856, it would be gone forever, a victim of the fledgling United States of America's passionate pursuit of westward expansion.

For the first time in 600 years, remarkable evidence has been uncovered which explains how the long-forgotten, tragic events behind the creation of this enigmatic artifact and its eventual destruction are an integral part of the string of events that created the world we know today...