She says American marine archaeologists concluded that what Libert claims is the bowsprit was beyond a doubt part of a Native American fishing trap. An Indian prophet called Metiomek of the Iroquois said legend had cursed the ship before it left; he told its owner La Salle it would sink deep water. We have corrected the story and replaced it with video and pictures that belong to FOX 17 News and Kevin Dykstra. The traders had collected 12,000 pounds (5,400kg) of furs in anticipation of the arrival of Le Griffon. Most often described as a 45-ton barque, Le Griffon is considered the first full-sized sailing ship to ply the upper Great Lakes. Local shipwreck explorer Valerie van Heest spent a week on Manitoulin Island in August of 2018 searching for Le Griffon. 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. Here's how to watch. MARIE, CHEBOYGAN AND ALL POINTS. The Liberts have since published their book, Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1649: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery.. Beckwith's conclusion was that he chose one of his existing vessels, one of about ten tons burden, for sending the first group of men to Niagara. 'Many believed the Jesuits were responsible for the ship's disappearance. 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. 'It is just a matter of time before we achieve our goal. 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!' An infamous 'cursed' ship that disappeared more than 340 years ago has been found. Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Michel L'Hour, a French government archaeologist who's been called 'Indiana Jones in a diving suit', took part in the excavation and theorised that the rest of the ship was nearby. The straight-line distance is about 75 miles (121km). A bowsprit is the spar that extends forward from the bow. [Disasters at Sea: 6 Deadliest Shipwrecks]. On its maiden voyage, it sailed across Lake Erie, up the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, and across Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Below Niagara Falls: first ships on Lake Ontario. "[6] H. W. Beckwith says that in September 1678, La Salle "already had three small vessels on Lake Ontario, which he had made use of in a coasting trade with the Indians. [1][4], La Salle found some of the 15 men he sent ahead from Fort Frontenac to trade with the Illinois but they had listened to La Salle's enemies who said he would never reach the Straits of Mackinac. Historian J. [1][4] Beginning on Christmas Day, 1678, La Motte and Hennepin together with four of their men, went by snowshoe to a prominent Seneca chief who resided at Tagarondies[notes 2] a village about 75 miles (120km) east of Niagara[notes 3] and about 20 miles (32km) south of Lake Ontario. 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 . In the Great Lakes region, there may be no older and more intriguing historical mystery than the 1679 disappearance of the Griffon, one of French explorer Robert La Salles ships. He says that the ship must have been caught in a four-day storm, where the ship part found farther away would have broken off due to a powerful storm. Dykstra said he took photos of old cannons, a sword, and the griffin sculpture, evidence he says reveals the wreck and itsmissing secrets. They reached Niagara again on 14 January. French historical documents and shipbuilding techniques, colonial-era maps, contemporary reports, what he says is a bowsprit retrieved from the wreckage, carbon-4 dating and underwater photographs of submerged parts of a vessel. [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. Crude tools, green and wet timbers, and the cold winter months caused slow progress in the construction of Le Griffon. It's the only artifact so far to be brought back from the ship wreck. 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. turtix/Shutterstock. She was the largest sailing vessel on the Great Lakes up to that time. [1][4], Father Hennepin wrote that Le Griffon was lost in a violent storm. All rights reserved (About Us). FOR ALPENA, DETROIT, IRON MOUNTAIN, DETROIT, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. Cris Kohl and wife Joan Forsberg have conducted over 20 years of research in order to write their new book The Wreck of the Griffon, the explorer La Salles ship that disappeared in 1679 on its return voyage from Lake Michigan. A big Beckham birthday! I have spent over 42 years searching for this most sought-after historic vessel.. The exact size and construction of Le Griffon is not known but many researchers believe she was a 45-ton barque. [citation needed], A female Native informant who was of the tribe foiled the plans of hostile Senecas to burn Le Griffon as she grew on her stocks. The Griffon, built in 1679, sank that same year somewhere in the Great Lakes. Le Griffon launched August 7, 1679 from Cayuga Island (Niagara Falls, NY). There are three acceptable English spellings of the word: griffin, griffon and gryphon. Heres how it works. More than 100 Native American bark canoes gathered around Le Griffon to look at the "big wood canoe". Their sonar caught a mass below, and Dykstra dove into the water to take video. Certainly not not without a lot more information but these are very compelling. Francis Parkman says that by 1677, "four vessels of 25 to 40 tons had been built for the lake Ontario and the river St. 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 . La Salle gave instructions for Le Griffon to off-load merchandise for him at Mackinac that would be picked up on the return trip. One of the most intriguing is that the wreckage of the Griffon may have been found nearly 100 years ago but went unrecognized. Le Griffon. On its way back to Niagara from Green Bay, the Griffon disappeared with its entire crew and valuable cargo of furs commencing the centuries-long quest to discover its fate. Some said that the Ottawas or Pottawatomies boarded her, murdered her crew, and then burned her. "The Great Lakes are a time capsule, the fresh water preserves the ship wreck," Porter said. The Griffin - a ship that was 'cursed' by native tribesmen - has been identified nearly 350 years after it vanished, solving one of America's oldest and most notorious maritime mysteries.. Ice flowing down the river threatened to damage their little brigantine and after a cable was broken, they hauled the vessel ashore and into a small ravine for protection. 'The distance of 3.8 miles between the bowsprit and main sections highly suggests the Indians did not sink it either, nor did La Salle's men mutiny and sink the ship. "The [American] Indians told the captain not to sail out, to wait the storm out, but he wouldn't listen to them," Baillod said. [19][20] Their claim was quickly debunked when Michigan authorities dove down on 9 June 2015 after receiving the coordinates to verify its authenticity. 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 state of Michigan has rules stipulating that artifacts found on state land, including the land at the bottom of the Great Lakes, are state property. Two divers say they have found "Le Griffon," a 17th-century sailing ship widely considered the "holy grail" of shipwrecks. [8], Progress on Le Griffon was fraught with problems. [1] They reached the mouth of the Detroit River on 10 August 1679 where they were greeted by three columns of smoke signaling the location of Tonti's camp whom they received on board. "I didn't go down there with the expectation of seeing a shipwreck I can tell you that," Dykstra told Live Science. She carried a cargo of furs valued at from 50,000 to 60,000 francs ($10,000 $12,000) and the rigging and anchors for another vessel that La Salle intended to build to find passage to the West Indies. Experts suspect the ship was lost as a consequence of a severe storm. Shipwreck explorers, Jim Kennard and Roger Pawlowski located the shipwreck utilizing a high resolution Rochester, New York The battered remains of the Canadian schooner Ocean Wave, which capsized and eventually sank from a sudden and violent squall, has been found in the depths of Lake Ontario. Capital News Services articles may be reprinted exclusively by subscribing media organizations. Ghost Ship of the Great Lakes: With Josh Gates, Joan Forsberg, Brendon Baillod, Greg Busch. The 1633 journey left from Downs, England and landed at Plymouth in Plymouth Colony on September 3. Now, treasure hunters who. According to Father Louis Hennepin, one of them was caught in a violent storm and never survived, notedthe Daily Mail. On 27 December 2014, two divers, Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe, announced the discovery of a wreck that they believe is Le Griffon, based on the bowstem, which to some resembles an ornamental griffin. The Holy Grail of Great Lakes shipwrecks is Le Griffon, the first European-style ship built by explorer Robert De La Salle that is believed to have sank in Lake Michigan in a storm in 1679.. While frozen rivers made traveling easy, finding food was not. But, the Liberts say her final resting place is near the Huron Islands in Lake Michigan, northeast of Green Bay. [4] They were navigating Le Griffon through uncharted waters that only canoes had previously explored. He was 43. Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Then they also talk with real people the individual citizens and businesses in communities to get their reactions to whats happening in Lansing. They were driven northwesterly until the evening of 27 August when under a light southerly breeze they finally rounded Bois Blanc Island and anchored in the calm waters of the natural harbor at East Moran Bay off the settlement of Mission St. Ignace, where there was a settlement of Hurons, Ottawas, and a few Frenchmen. Many authors since Mansfield have followed suit. The wind did slightly decrease but they drifted slowly all night, unable to find anchorage or shelter. The fate of the Le Griffon offers many intriguing mysteries to those interested in shipwrecks, most notably the fact that the ship's discovery has not been confirmed. In the Great Lakes region, there may be no older and more intriguing historical mystery than the 1679 disappearance of the Griffon, one of French explorer Robert La Salles ships. Because the wind was strong from the north, they sailed close to the north shore of the lake, putting in for the nights in various bays along the way. He was planning to map the Great Lakes, initially thinking they might be a connecting gateway to the Orient. Mr Libert believes the Griffin was caught in a four-day storm and the bowsprit, which was held in place only by wooden wedges, broke off before the rest of the ship sank. TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan -- Steven J. Libert had been looking for the ship, Le Griffon, for 42 years. Le Griffon was a 40 foot long barque (sailing ship) with 7 cannons. 1 Answer. Most of the ship remnants were in shallow, not deep water makes the other claims inaccurate. All Rights Reserved. Le Griffon mysteriously went missing in 1679 and no one knows what happened between the time it was last seen until it was discovered three years ago, Libert said. The loss of the Griffon is one of the great mysteries of the Great Lakes. The comments below have not been moderated. "[5] J. C. Mills [4] quotes a letter from La Salle to the Minister of Marine that says, "The fort at Cataraqui (Fort Frontenac) with the aid of a vessel now building, will command Lake Ontario"[4] While no date is given for the letter, the location of Mill's reference to it suggests that it was sent before 1677, perhaps as early as 1675. State archaeologists reviewed the footage, and "They've been very diligent to say, 'This is really interesting; these are some neat pictures,'" Dykstra said. "[1] Kids Encyclopedia Facts. It would no longer exist. The Griffon has not been found, Wayne Lusardi, the state archaeologist in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, says bluntly. The Griffon was built by La Salle near Niagara Falls and was the first ship to sail on the upper Great Lakes. The figurehead likely isn't the remains of a griffin, he said, but a "big encrustation of zebra mussels," on burned wood. Wherever the Griffon is, if its in deep water somewhere, there are cannons near it, she says. The Griffin - or Le Griffon - was a sailing ship built on the Niagara River in the 1670s French explorer Robert de La Salle hoped to use it to find the Northwest Passage to China and Japan It. The Mysterious Shipwreck of Le Griffon | Expedition Unknown 17,600 views May 8, 2019 The Griffon, a ship built by famed explorer Ren-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, sailed out of Lake. Valerie van Heest, a member of the board of directors of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, says, There have been 30 or more discoveries of the Griffon dating back to early 1800s. Wood can break up. An explorer claims to have found the long lost French ship Le Griffon at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Kingsford says it was either contrary wind or they were becalmed. [6][8][11][pageneeded] There the keel was laid on 26 January 1679. He learned to dive, and the quest was on. They recovered the anchors, chain, and most of the materials critical for Le Griffon, but most of the supplies and provisions were lost. "They lost the ship from sight," Baillod said, "and that's the last anybody has ever seen the Griffin.". In January of 1679, the Griffon's building party arrived at the mouth of Cayuga Creek on the Niagara River (about a mile from my high school) where the ship would be built. Shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski and A group of maritime history enthusiasts have the announced the discovery of the schooners Peshtigo and St. Andrews, lost in 1878 in northern Lake Michigan. No villain can mess with the griffin! 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. They added that a bowsprit was found close by in 2001, assuming it is another part that broke off from the ship. Navagio Beach in Greece is famous for its shipwreck. Hennepin's journal says 32 leagues (converts to 96 miles (154km)), but his figure is an estimate made while snowshoing through the country. Using sonar, two treasure hunters found the remains of a shipwreck in Lake Michigan. The British steamship Nisbet Grammer, the largest steel steamer to have foundered in Lake Ontario has been discovered by a team of shipwreck explorers. It is now believed to be the famous ship, The Griffin, which disappeared on its maiden voyage in 1679, has been called the 'holy grail' for shipwreck hunters probing North America's Great Lakes. [1][4] The exact size and construction of Le Griffon is not known. Copyright 2023 HNGN. Le Griffon rode out a violent storm for four days and then on 18 September, the pilot Luc and five crew sailed under a favorable wind for the Niagara River with a parting salute from a single gun. Decking, permanent masts, and bearing a name are a few of the criteria one might use. They sailed across the open water of Lake Erie whose shores were forested and "unbroken by the faintest signs of civilization". [1][2], Hennepin's first account says she was a vessel of about 45 tons; his second says 60 tons. 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. Mobile Reporting Kit When the wind suddenly veered to the southeast they changed course to avoid Presque Isle. The ship left Conneaut for Port Stanley, Ontario in late morning on Dec. 7, 1909 with a captain and . Already have an account? The Liberts' book, Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1679: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery, is available via Amazon for 24.69. MICHIGAN -- Le Griffon, a well known shipthat sunk inLake Michigan during the 17th century, has been hiding at the depths of the lake for more than 300 years. [10] The vessel carried anchors, chain, guns, cordage, and cable for Le Griffon, as well as supplies and provisions for the anticipated journey. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Alex Murdaugh unanimously found GUILTY of murder of wife and son, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts. She says American marine archaeologists concluded that what Libert claims is the bowsprit was beyond a doubt part of a Native American fishing trap. Forsberg said several of the bolts. Tonti learned of a plan to burn the ship before it could be launched, so he launched ahead of schedule and Le Griffon entered the waters in early May 1679. [4] She had the figure of a griffin mounted on her jib-boom and an eagle flying above. That is my question. Sources disagree on how long this delay was. All of those people have been wrong including Libert she says. James Mansfield[1] says that in the fall of 1678, La Salle built a vessel of about 10 tons burden at Fort Frontenac and that this vessel, named Frontenac, was the first real sailing vessel on the Great Lakes; specifically, on Lake Ontario (which some at the time called Lac de Frontenac). He and his wife set out their case for having discovered the ship in a new book, Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1679: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery. The griffin is featured on one side of coins minted in Abdera, Greece. The Griffin disappeared returning from its maiden voyage in 1679 and was last seen struggling in a storm near what is now Washington Island in Wisconsin. So you want to make a news show? (Image: Great Lakes Exploration Group via Pen News) The wreck was found near Poverty Island on Lake Michigan, almost 350 years after it vanished. According to historical sources, the vessel left England carrying packs of clothing and private trade on its way to Canton, China where it was loaded with cargo composed mostly of tea. There is an excellent book written by Cris Kohl on the Griffon and the various discovery claims. Lake Erie covers 2,000 of them, among the highest concentration of wrecks in the world. "When we had it looked at, they [the archaeologists] could tell that the nail was very old," Dykstra said. Loaded with furs in what's now Wisconsin, the Griffon was said to have sunk somewhere in northern Lake Michigan in 1679. REVEALED: Huge sonic boom felt by thousands across the country was caused by RAF Typhoon jets scrambling to Wakey Wakey! The unrest of the Seneca and dissatisfied workmen were continually incited by secret agents of merchants and traders who feared La Salle would break their monopoly on the fur trade.

Soaking Sponge Fingers For Trifle, Johanna Neilson Boynton, City Of Carrollton Events, Worst Drag Race Queens, Alabama Teacher Salary Matrix 2022, Articles T