In mid-1679, out there somewhere in the waters of Lake Michigan, the first full-sized sailing ship to ever hit the waters of the Great Lakes vanished, taking with it every soul on board. The commander of the vessel — which had a carved griffin at its bow and was named the Griffin — was a Frenchman named Robert La Salle. He had wanted to take his 40-foot vessel from Green Bay to Niagara, so on September 18 of that year, he and a crew of six men fired a single cannon shot and set sail. It was “with a light and very favorable wind from the West,” a historical account says. “It has not been possible to ascertain since what course they steered.” Read More
