Built by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, Le Griffon is considered to be the first actual ship on the Upper Great Lakes. The ship was launched in the Niagara River as a forty-five ton schooner with five guns. On its maiden voyage in 1678 it was sailed across Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. On its return trip from it vanished with all five crew members and a load of furs. A number of sunken ancient sailing ships have been advanced as Le Griffon but, except for the ones proven to be other ships, there has been no positive identification. Le Griffon was the first in a string of thousands of ships that have found their last berth on the bottom of the Great Lakes.
