The Griffon — The First Ship of the Inland Seas

In the winter of 1678–1679, La Salle’s men hauled cannon, anchors, rigging, and iron fittings over the frozen portage from below Niagara Falls to the upper river.[11] Sickness and exhaustion nearly ended the expedition before it began.

At Cayuga Creek, above the cataract, the shipyard rose under constant threat. Seneca leaders objected to the construction, fearing the consequences of a large French vessel on their waters.[12] Despite this, the ship was completed — a brigantine unlike anything yet seen on the inland seas.

Launched with ceremony and armed with cannon, Le Griffon sailed west through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, trading for furs that soon filled the hold to the beams.[13] It was this cargo — not gold — that represented the true fortune of La Salle’s enterprise.

When the ship departed Green Bay in September 1679, it carried those furs eastward and disappeared. Official history records a storm.[14] Yet La Salle later suspected betrayal, and later reports spoke of the pilot Luc surviving beyond the loss.[9]

Whether wrecked on Lake Michigan or destroyed closer to home, Le Griffon became something rarer than a shipwreck: a missing fact in a well-documented story.

Footnotes (The Griffon)
[11] Marshall, The Building and Voyage of the Griffon.
[12] Marshall; Seneca negotiations and resistance.
[13] Marshall; Hennepin; fur trade records.
[14] Hennepin’s storm account; later summaries.