line and each with its own yard, are 

 set on the mainmast. A small sail, as 

 much for balance as drive, is set on the 

 short foremast. This style of rigging 

 would correlate perfectly with Father 

 Hennepin's statements about the rigging 

 of the Griffin and how she was handled 

 during the storm on Lake Huron in late 

 August of 1679. 



It is possible that the vessel also had 

 a small lateen sail, primarily for balance, 

 set on a short mizzenmast behind the 

 mainmast; or it is possible that she was 

 rigged only with mizzen sail and main- 

 sails. Whatever the case, it seems most 

 probable that the mainmast with its top- 

 mast was the only important mast on 

 the ship and that the mainsail and main 

 topsail were the most important sails. 

 All other sails and masts were small and 

 could be handled completely from the 

 deck. 



APPEARANCE 



_L he Griffin was a sailing vessel be- 

 tween 35 and 60 feet in length and of 

 45 tons burden, rigged with a main- 

 mast, main topmast, mainsail and top- 

 sail and probably a small foresail set on a 

 stumpy foremast. She was heavily built 

 — a floating fortress, as she was called 

 by Father Hennepin and some of the 

 Indians who saw her. According to 

 Hennepin, "She carry'd Five small 

 Guns [cannon], two whereof were Brass, 

 and three Harquebrize a-crock [swivel 

 guns for rampart defense]. The Beak- 

 head [a beak-like projection of the bow 

 fastened to the stem and supported by 

 the main knee] was adorn'd with a 

 Flying Griffin, and an Eagle above it; 

 and the rest of the ship had the same Or- 

 naments as Men of War used to have." 

 The ship as I have reconstructed her 

 is shown on page 3. This reconstruction 

 does not pretend to great accuracy, but 

 it was certainly a vessel something like 

 this in size, construction, and rigging 



that on August 7, 1679, departed from 

 her anchorage at the east end of Lake 

 Erie and began her long voyage to the 

 upper lakes. 



T, 



The Voyage of the Griffin 



Lhe Griffin reached the mouth of the 

 Detroit River on August 10 after travel- 

 ing at least 240 miles. By August 22 she 

 had entered Lake Huron and reached 

 Michilimackinac, or present-day St. Ig- 

 nace, on August 27, 1679. There she 

 anchored in East Moran Bay. From 

 Hennepin's account of it one can see the 

 pattern of navigation used by the Grif- 

 fin's pilot. He essentially followed the 

 shore line and watched his depth of 

 water by frequent soundings with lead 

 weight and measured line. In the one 

 bad storm encountered on Lake Huron 

 the pilot ordered all sails, yards, and 

 main-topmast removed, and allowed the 

 ship to drift directly before the wind but 

 away from the shore he had been follow- 

 ing northward. Also, the Griffin was not 

 setting any records for speed, having 

 taken four days to run the length of 

 Lake Erie and six days to traverse the 

 length of Lake Huron. 



In early September of 1679 the Griffin 

 left Michilimackinac on Lake Huron 

 and sailed westward through the Straits 

 of Mackinac across northern Lake Mich- 

 igan to an island lying just at the open- 

 ing into Green Bay, a voyage of about 

 40 leagues (about 110 miles) according 

 to Father Hennepin. I have elsewhere 

 indicated my reasons for believing that 

 the vessel coasted the north shore of 

 Lake Michigan and came to Summer 

 Island in Delta County, Michigan, and 

 that this was the Island of the Potawato- 

 mis lying just at the opening into Green 

 Bay. Here the Griffin remained until 

 September 18, 1679. Loaded with furs 

 collected by La Salle's agents during the 

 previous winter, the Griffin departed from 

 the Island of the Potawatomis and dis- 



1 To do this, I have used specific statements and observations taken from 

 Hennepin's 1698 English edition of his travels as well as some of the data and 

 interpretations of Francis Parkman presented in his book, La Salle and the Discovery 

 of the Great West. I have also weighed the statements of Father Hennepin against 

 my knowledge of the archaeology, ethnology, post-glacial geology, and geography 

 of the region. In addition, I have made use of my own experience with boats and 

 navigation, which includes sailing on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan in vessels 

 probably of greater length and draught than the Griffin; a voyage in 1939 up the 

 east coast of Hudson's Bay in a freight canoe built by the Indians of Rupert House; 

 and a trip down the east coast of Hudson's Bay in an auxiliary sailing vessel ap- 

 proximating the size and burden of the Griffin. 



appeared with her pilot and crew of 

 five men. 



What happened to the ship is not 

 known to this day. But evidence from 

 Hennepin concerning his canoe voyage 

 from the Island of the Potawatomis to 

 the Door County, Wisconsin, mainland 

 on September 19 and the weather con- 

 ditions for the next six days show that 

 there was a terrific autumnal gale. On 

 the basis of the weather and the sailing 

 habits of the Griffin's pilot, I would pre- 

 sume that the vessel encountered a storm 

 between Point aux Barques and Seul 

 Choix Point. At the mercy of wind and 

 wave, in an area with no harbors, she 

 was caught on a lee shore or one of the 

 numerous shoals, where she struck and 

 sank. The remains of the Griffin may 

 now lie beneath the waters off Delta or 

 Schoolcraft Counties in northern Mich- 

 igan. 



REFERENCES 



Griffin, James B. The Fort Ancient Aspect, Its 

 Cultural and Chronological Position in Missis- 

 sippi Valley Archaeology. Ann Arbor: Uni- 

 versity of Michigan Press, 1 943. 



Hennepin, Lewis. A New Discovery of a Vast 

 Country in America Extending above Four Thou- 

 sand Miles Between New France and New Mex- 

 ico with a Description of the Great Lakes, Cata- 

 racts, Rivers, Plants, and Animals: Also, the 

 Manners, Customs, and Languages, of the several 

 Native Indians; And the Advantage of Commerce 

 with those different Nations. With a Continua- 

 tion Giving an Account of the Attempts of the Sieur 

 De la Salle upon the Mines of St. Barbe, etc., 

 The Taking of Quebec by the English; With the 

 Advantages of a Shorter Cut to China and Japan. 

 Both Parts Illustrated with Maps and Figures, 

 and Dedicated to His Majesty K. William. By 

 L. Hennepin, now Resident in Holland. To 

 which is added, Several New Discoveries in North 

 America, not publish'd in the French Edition. 

 London: Printed for M. Bentley, J. Tonson, 

 H. Bonwick, T. Goodwin, and S. Manship, 

 1698. 



Morison, Samuel Eliot. Maritime History of 

 Massachusetts 1783-1860. Boston and New 

 York: Houghton Miffin Company, 1925. 



Parkman, Francis. La Salle and the Discovery of 

 the Great West. Boston: Little, Brown, and 

 Company, 1894. 



Quimby, George I. "The Voyage of the Grif- 

 fin, 1679" (in manuscript). 



Tucker, Sara Jones. "Indian Villages of the 

 Illinois Country, Part I, Atlas," Illinois State 

 Museum Scientific Papers, Vol. II. Springfield : 

 Illinois State Museum, 1942. 



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