He imagined a string of French trading posts stretching from Montreal west through the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. The English might have 13 colonies on the seaboard, but the French would control America's heartland.

To realize this dream, La Salle built the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. A companion recalled that at the end of 1678 he settled 30 craftsmen "two Leagues above the great Fall of Niagara, where we made a Dock for Building the Ship we wanted for our Voyage." On Dec. 26, "the Keel of the Ship and some other Pieces being ready," La Salle drove the first nail himself.

The Griffon, as the ship was called, began her maiden voyage Aug. 7, 1679, passing down Lake Erie and up Lake Huron to Mackinac Island. On Sept. 12, La Salle took her to Washington Island at the mouth of Green Bay, loaded 6,000 furs and ordered the crew to sail immediately back to Niagara Falls.

Meanwhile, he headed down the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan by canoe, instructing the Griffon's pilot to meet him at Chicago later that winter.

Instead, his precious ship disappeared without a trace.

The next year, La Salle learned from Potawatomi Indians that a gigantic autumn storm had sunk the Griffon shortly after she left Wisconsin waters.

La Salle's furs, his hopes, and the Great Lakes' first sailing vessel went to the bottom of Lake Michigan and his dream only came true after his death.

— Wisconsin Historical Society
www.wisconsinhistory.org

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