Le Griffon

Le Griffon was a sailing vessel built in 1679 by the French explorer and fur trader René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, at or near Cayuga Island on the Niagara River in what is now New York. She was armed with seven cannons and is generally thought to have been a barque of about 45 tons, though her exact size and construction are not known. She was the largest sailing vessel on the Great Lakes up to that time and is often treated as the first full sized ship on the upper lakes. La Salle and Father Louis Hennepin began her maiden voyage on 7 August 1679, crossing Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan to Green Bay, where the ship was loaded with furs and sent back toward Niagara on 18 September. She vanished on that return trip with her crew and cargo, and there is still no agreed account of her fate or resting place.