Don’t Be Fooled: The 1679 ‘Le Griffon’ Shipwreck is Still Lost

What happened to the crew of the Le Griffon in 1679?
For that matter, what happened to the Le Griffon itself?

Explorers and archaeologists have been searching for this ship for the last few centuries, hoping to solve the mystery.

The Le Griffon, named after its figurehead of a griffon (half eagle, half lion), was the first full-size cargo ship to sail the Great Lakes. It set off from the Niagara River at Lake Erie, transporting goods through the waters until it reached what is now Lake Michigan. North of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a chain of small islands, the biggest being Washington Island. This island was where the Le Griffon landed, departing about a month later with a load of furs and other valuable goods. And that's the last anyone heard or saw the Le Griffon or any of its crew.

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Theories abound about who may have been responsible for the Le Griffon's disappearance: Pirates, Native Americans, or competing fur traders. One popular theory states that the crew pulled a mutiny, stole all the cargo, and sunk the ship.

Some searchers claimed to find the ship, but there is no conclusive proof these shipwreck parts and pieces are from the Le Griffon.....and that brings us to the hoaxes.

Beginning in the 1930s, attempts were made to hoax the public by stating the reason Le Griffon had never been found was that it didn’t sink in Lake Michigan – it sank in Lake Huron. But to get into Lake Huron, the ship would have to pass through the Straits of Mackinac, where it would have been seen by the countless fur traders in the area, as well as those in the mission at St. Ignace.

There have been others who dive, take images of other wrecks, and try to pass them off as being from Le Griffon, but none have been proven. Even artifacts brought back up from the deep have not been able to get verified. It’s believed these hoaxes pop up every now and then so the “discoverers” can get themselves on the local news.

Brendon Baillod, president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association, stated in discovermagazine.com, “No one has found the Griffon. Until you hear a reputable archeologist with the State of Michigan say it has been found, you can rest assured it hasn’t been found”.