{"id":129569,"date":"2023-10-27T19:44:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T23:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/?p=129569"},"modified":"2024-05-22T19:48:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T23:48:13","slug":"the-mystery-of-le-griffon-the-first-great-lakes-shipwreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/the-mystery-of-le-griffon-the-first-great-lakes-shipwreck\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery of Le Griffon: The First Great Lakes Shipwreck"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\"TheAs the chilly winds of Halloween stir, tales of the paranormal come to life. In the darkest corners of Michigan’s history, a ghost story has lingered since the 17th century. It weaves a chilling tale around the 17th century French explorer Ren\u00e9-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle<\/a>. La Salle was, a man obsessed with discovering the mythical Northwest passage to China and Japan through the treacherous Great Lakes.<\/p>\r\n

\"Le<\/a>First full-sized sailing ship<\/h3>\r\n

La Salle commissioned the first full-sized sailing ship on the Great Lake, the Le Griffon. The Le Griffon was built at Fort Conti<\/a> near Cayuga Island<\/a> on the Niagara River in 1679. Le Griffon had a crew of 32<\/a>, was armed with seven cannons and had a capacity of 45 tons. It was about 30 to 40 feet long and 10 to 15 feet wide.<\/p>\r\n

The Le Griffon embarked from Ft. Conti on August 7, 1679<\/a>.<\/span> The explorers passed the Straits of Detroit on August 11, 1679<\/a> and arrived at <\/span>Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron 25 August 1679. They then sailed north to Mishi-Mikinaak (Ojibwe) at East Moran Bay<\/a> off the settlement of Mission St. Ignace.\u00a0 On Sept. 2, 1679<\/a>, the Le Griffon left St. Ignace and arrived a few days later at Detroit Harbor<\/a> on Washington Island, near Green Bay.<\/p>\r\n

La Salle traded<\/a> with the local Pottawatomie tribe<\/a> for furs and other goods. On September 18, 1679, La Salle dispatched the Le Griffon back to Niagara with six crew members and a cargo of furs. La Salle and the rest of his men continued their expedition by canoe.<\/p>\r\n

Mysteriously disappeared<\/h3>\r\n

But the Le Griffon never made it back. It mysteriously disappeared somewhere in Lake Michigan. Leaving no trace of its fate. Some say it was sunk by a storm, and others claim the Jesuits sunk it<\/a>, other say it was cursed by a witch or a griffin, a mythical creature that was half eagle and half lion.<\/p>\r\n

The mystery of the Le Griffon has haunted generations of explorers, historians and treasure hunters. Some believe that the ship still sails the Great Lakes as a ghost ship, appearing and disappearing at will. Others think that it lies at the bottom of the lake, guarding its secrets and its treasure.<\/p>\r\n

Final resting place<\/h3>\r\n

Numerous wrecks have been touted as the Le Griffon. However, none has been conclusively proven<\/a>. Some of the most notable claims include:<\/p>\r\n