The griffin (also called gryphon, gryphen, griffon, griffen, and gryphin), is a legendary creature.It has the head, front legs, and wings of an eagle.The rest of the body looks like a part of a lion.. [notes 1], Before 1673, the most common vessel on the lakes was the canoe. CNS correspondents cover all aspects of Michigan state government. Is Joe Biden Sick? Only then did the Liberts and the Great Lakes Exploration Group discover that the bowsprit was separate from the remainder of the vessel. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research. [citation needed], La Salle arrived on 20 January 1679 from Fort Frontenac with the full rigging, anchors, chains, cordage, and cannon that were transported by barge, then salvaged and dragged 30 miles (48km) overland to the construction site. A bit of history: The Griffon was built in 1679 and launched that year, believed to be the largest ship on the Great Lakes. Despite photos from several underwater dives, it's still unclear whether the wreck is the 1679 French Griffin. If it exists in the physical world, we think it will be there in deep water, she says. Pictures show the bow of the ship with a carved sculpture. 2 is a much sought after shipwreck. [8], Progress on Le Griffon was fraught with problems. Bateaux were also common. Now, more than 335 years later, the wreck of the Griffon has not definitively been found. I was mesmerized by what he was saying. It was another vessel used by La Salle and Tonti, however, that was the first loss on 8 January 1679. The sails were merely supplemental for traveling down wind. Cursed Shipwreck 'The Griffin' Discovered After More Than Three - HNGN It's not clear what led to the ship's sinking more than 340 years ago. 'I was emotionally drained of all my energy, and was in a complete state of relief and exhaustion, but I could still yell out the words "we found it!" But members of the Potawatomi tribe brought pieces of the ship to the explorer, including some moldy beaver furs and a pair of sailor's britches, said Baillod, who translated La Salle's journal from French to English. Charlevoix diver claims to find 'holy grail' of Great Lakes shipwrecks [1] The tumultuous sound of Le Griffon's cannons so amazed the Native Americans that the Frenchmen were able to sleep at ease for the first time in months when they anchored off shore. Wherever the Griffon is, if its in deep water somewhere, there are cannons near it, she says. Negotiations with the Senecas were only moderately successful, so when they left the village they still wondered if the natives would permit them to finish their project. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. once I broke the surface. La Salle oversaw the laying of Le Griffon's keel and drove her first bolt. New York, Beneath the cold waves of Lake Michigan rests an aging shipwreck, its wooden planks encrusted with brown-and-gray zebra mussels, that may be the remnants of a 17th-century ship called the Griffin, two Michigan-based treasure hunters say. They hadn't sailed far before a storm picked up. On 23 June 2014, Steve Libert told the Associated Press he believed he found Le Griffon in Lake Michigan after extensive searching, in a debris field near where a wood slab was found the previous year. We have been on the hunt for over 40 years systematically ferreting out the locations of this widely scattered wreck, he says, referring to his wife, Kathie, and himself. The Wilhelm Gustloff (1945): The deadliest shipwreck in history On January 30, 1945, some 9,000 people perished aboard this German ocean liner after it was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine and . In 2011, Michigan-based treasure hunters Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe found a shipwreck as they were searching for the $2 million in gold that, according to local legend, fell from a ferry crossing Lake Michigan in the 1800s, they told WZZM, a western Michigan news station. The book's title, Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1679 , indicates the importance the couple places on understanding the location of the Huron Islands in their search. [citation needed], On 18 November 1678, after just over a month of preparations at Fort Frontenac, La Salle dispatched Captain La Motte and Father Louis Hennepin together with 15 men and supplies in a vessel of 10 tons. Quick Facts about Griffins. Most of the ship remnants were in shallow, not deep water makes the other claims inaccurate. The widely referenced antique woodcutting of Le Griffon shows her with two masts but many researchers believe she was a 45-ton barque with a single mast with several square sails and 30 to 40 feet (9.1 to 12.2m) long with a 10-to-15-foot (3.0 to 4.6m) beam. [1] The French flag flew above the cabin placed on top of the main deck that was elevated above the hull. In the meantime, the duo plans to continue their hunt for the gold bullion. Libert became instantly fascinated by the Griffon mystery as a 14-year-old student in Dayton, Ohio, where he first heard from a teacher about the missing ship with its figurehead of a griffon, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. Loaded with furs in what's now Wisconsin, the Griffon was said to have sunk somewhere in northern Lake Michigan in 1679. In any case, Le Griffon was larger than any other vessel on the lakes at the time, and as far as contemporary reports can confirm, the first named vessel. A 2015 book The Wreck of the Griffon by Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg argues that the best "discovery" proposed to date remains the 1898 find by Albert Cullis, lighthouse keeper on the western edge of Manitoulin Island in northern Lake Huron. The remains of the 300-year-old ship known as Le Griffon the first European vessel known to have traversed the waters of the upper Great Lakes have proved so tricky to find as to become the stuff of legends, even prompting Atlas Obscura to dub the wreck the "white whale for Great Lakes shipwreck hunters."The location of the ship's final resting place isn . Mr Libert said the evidence suggests that the ship was lost in a storm, A photo from the 2018 dive shows the bowsprit of the ship believed to be The Griffin. Its fate has been a puzzlement for maritime historians for more than three and a half centuries. The Griffon has not been found, Wayne Lusardi, the state archaeologist in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, says bluntly. At the time, no other wreckage was found, but scientists noted other wreckage may not be far away.[16][17]. The divers said they found Le Griffon in 2011, but are just announcing the discovery because they were consulting experts to confirm it. The other wreckage has been approximately dated to between 1632 and 1682. She says American marine archaeologists concluded that what Libert claims is the bowsprit was beyond a doubt part of a Native American fishing trap. We apologize to Great Lakes Exploration Group for any confusion this may have caused. TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) A debris field at the bottom of Lake Michigan may be the remains of the long-lost Griffin, a vessel commanded by a 17th-century French explorer, said a shipwreck . On 8 January 1679, the pilot and crew decided to spend the night ashore where they could light a fire and sleep in some warmth. 2 - The Almiranta, Santo Cristo de San Roman, Nuestra Seora del Rosario y San Jose (Presumably a galleon). Lawrence. However, Dykstra said they've been advised to not disclose where they found the wreck in order tohelp preserve what's left of the ship. This was a "great bark" (Hennepin's words) of about 20 tons burden[8] although Tonti's journal says this was a 40-ton vessel. La Belle was the ship of French explorer La Salle, lost at Matagorda Bay in 1686. Here are 26 other famous shipwrecks around the world. We hear from the Association of Counties, state court administrator and the president, from Gratiot County, of the Michigan Judges Association. The horror of Japan's death railway captured by cartoon: Top secret US mission to scatter Pearl Harbour mastermind Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' While there have been many theories over the years, there is no clear consensus as to the fate or current location of Le Griffon. the griffon shipwreck facts Western Dental Careers September 20, 2021 | 0 September 20, 2021 | 0 The couples book shares details of how they believed the ship sank near the Huron Islands, a group of small, rocky islands northeast of Green Bay. The 2001 discovery of a bowsprit sticking out the lakebed sparked a 10-year legal battle with the State of Michigan, preventing the explorers from excavating for the rest of the ship until 2013. All rights reserved (About Us). As for the pieces of wreckage Libert photographed, they cant be the Griffons because they would have broken to bits long, long ago if theyd been in shallow water battered by storms and ice for more than three centuries, van Heest says. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. And, as the curse foretold, La Salle was later murdered during a 1687 expedition by a member of his party. Treasure Hunters Find Mysterious Shipwreck in Lake Michigan Possibly a cannon, hopefully with the date stamped on it.'. According to Father Louis Hennepin, one of them was caught in a violent storm and never survived, notedthe Daily Mail. Local explorer featured on Discovery Channel search for lost shipwreck It would be awesome if true, she says, a story shed love the museum to be able to tell visitors, with the aura of amateur treasure-hunting and Indiana Jones. By 26 August the violence of the gale caused them to "haul down their topmasts, to lash their yards to the deck, and drift at the mercy of storm. While the journals of Tonti, Hennepin, and LeClercq (participants with La Salle) do mention a little vessel of 10 tons, none of them apply a name to it. "The [American] Indians told the captain not to sail out, to wait the storm out, but he wouldn't listen to them," Baillod said. He teaches environmental journalism and serves as director of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. Their mission was to begin selecting a site for the construction of Le Griffon and to erect necessary structures for shelter, storage, and defense. Rene-Robert Cavelier , Sieur de La Salle was a French explorer in 1679 and he wanted his ship, Le Griffon , to sail the Niagara River, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan in order to . 175 Year Old Great Lakes Atlas Schooner Located in Lake Ontario, Early 1800s Dagger-board Schooner Three Brothers Discovered in Lake Ontario, 1926 Steamship Nisbet Grammer Discovered in Lake Ontario, 158 year old Canadian Schooner Royal Albert Discovered in Lake Ontario, Mid-Nineteenth Century Canadian Schooner Ocean Wave Discovered by Shipwreck Explorers, Major Shipwreck Discovery in Lake Michigan. Long-lost shipwreck found in Lake Michigan, explorer says - USA TODAY They moored in quiet water off Squaw Island three miles from Lake Erie waiting for favorable northeast winds. A griffin (or gryphon) is a chimeric creature, part eagle and part lion. The exact size and construction of Le Griffon is not known but many researchers believe she was a 45-ton barque. So, if the Griffons final resting place isnt where Libert believes it to be, where is it? Libert may be a secret agent by day-- he works as a senior defense analyst for the U.S. Navy -- but by night he's a passionate hunter for the old and precious. That evidence? LaSalle had the ship built on a creek near the Niagara River to accomplish his mission of finding a passage to China. Unless the Legislature acts, local taxpayers would then be saddled with those expenses. They recovered the anchors, chain, and most of the materials critical for Le Griffon, but most of the supplies and provisions were lost.