Regarding Bill's tidbit on Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle 1643-1687 and his trading vessel 'Le Griffon,' the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes (launched 7 Aug 1679). Apparently after trading in Green Bay, La Salle returned east and the Griffen disappeard on her way to Niagara. To carry the story further, from 1999 to 2002: "The Texas Historical Commission (THC) excavated two of Texas' most important archeological sites relating to the famous French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who in 1684 led an ill-fated expedition to establish a French colony on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico." See more at: http://www.thc.state.tx.us/preserve/archeology/la-salle-archeology-projects "First was the excavation in 1996-97 of La Salle's ill-fated ship La Belle that sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686. La Belle is one of the most important shipwrecks ever discovered in North America. ... " Following the excavation of La Belle, from 1999 to 2002 THC archeologists excavated Fort St. Louis, the settlement La Salle and his colonists established on Garcitas Creek in 1685. From some 150 original inhabitants, the group dwindled to about 40 by January 1687, when La Salle tried, along with 17 of the fort's able-bodied men, to hike to distant French forts in the Great Lakes region. ... "Artifacts from the excavations can currently be seen at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin and in seven museums in six Texas coastal counties that banded together to create the La Salle Odyssey - a series of exhibits that together tell the extraordinary story of La Salle's expedition and the THC excavations." Jeanne Jacques Claypool, Arizona (formerly of Austin, Wisconsin, and a whole lot of other places)

Thanks for posting - it's good to know the "back story". Doreen ========== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeanne JACQUES via" <quebec-research@rootsweb.com> To: QUEBEC-RESEARCH@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, August 8, 2014 9:16:04 AM Subject: [Q-R] LaSalle and his ships Regarding Bill's tidbit on Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle 1643-1687 and his trading vessel 'Le Griffon,' the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes (launched 7 Aug 1679). Apparently after trading in Green Bay, La Salle returned east and the Griffen disappeard on her way to Niagara. To carry the story further, from 1999 to 2002: "The Texas Historical Commission (THC) excavated two of Texas' most important archeological sites relating to the famous French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who in 1684 led an ill-fated expedition to establish a French colony on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico." See more at: http://www.thc.state.tx.us/preserve/archeology/la-salle-archeology-projects "First was the excavation in 1996-97 of La Salle's ill-fated ship La Belle that sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686. La Belle is one of the most important shipwrecks ever discovered in North America. ... " Following the excavation of La Belle, from 1999 to 2002 THC archeologists excavated Fort St. Louis, the settlement La Salle and his colonists established on Garcitas Creek in 1685. From some 150 original inhabitants, the group dwindled to about 40 by January 1687, when La Salle tried, along with 17 of the fort's able-bodied men, to hike to distant French forts in the Great Lakes region. ... "Artifacts from the excavations can currently be seen at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin and in seven museums in six Texas coastal counties that banded together to create the La Salle Odyssey - a series of exhibits that together tell the extraordinary story of La Salle's expedition and the THC excavations." Jeanne Jacques Claypool, Arizona (formerly of Austin, Wisconsin, and a whole lot of other places) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For the list web page, goto: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~unclefred/main.htm And we are on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/QRlist/ List Archives are at: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/QUEBEC-RESEARCH ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to QUEBEC-RESEARCH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thank you Bill, Jeanne & Doreen for opening up the door to this fascinating history. I found this on Wikipedia. It is a long read but worth every minute. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en-CA&as_q&as_epq=shipwreck+La+Belle&as_oq&as_eq&as_nlo&as_nhi&lr&cr&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch&as_occt&safe=images&as_filetype&as_rights&&ct=clnk&q=cache:l_XuguKDlZoJ:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Belle_(ship)%2B%22shipwreck+La+Belle%22 Can you just imagine this as a marvellous movie? It could even be made into a mini series for TV --- except that doesn't seem to be done anymore. This true story covers from 1681 to current time.. It includes the King of France & the King of Spain, pirates, hostile Indians, storms at sea,ship wrecks, sailors having to drink wine when fresh water ran out & some dying from the dehydration, the sinking of Sauer De La Salle's ships including the famous La Belle, right up to its recovery and restoration which is taking place today. Who says history is boring huh? I was never taught about history this way. Perhaps I would have had more interest & better History grades in school if told about things in this way ..... smile Shirley-Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeanne JACQUES" <jjacquesaz@cableone.net> To: <QUEBEC-RESEARCH@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2014 12:16 PM Subject: [Q-R] LaSalle and his ships > Regarding Bill's tidbit on Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle 1643-1687 and > his trading vessel 'Le Griffon,' the first ship to sail the upper Great > Lakes (launched 7 Aug 1679). Apparently after trading in Green Bay, La > Salle returned east and the Griffen disappeard on her way to Niagara. > > To carry the story further, from 1999 to 2002: > > "The Texas Historical Commission (THC) excavated two of Texas' most > important archeological sites relating to the famous French explorer > Robert > Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who in 1684 led an ill-fated expedition to > establish a French colony on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico." > > See more at: > http://www.thc.state.tx.us/preserve/archeology/la-salle-archeology-projects > > "First was the excavation in 1996-97 of La Salle's ill-fated ship La Belle > that sank in Matagorda Bay in 1686. La Belle is one of the most important > shipwrecks ever discovered in North America. ... > > " Following the excavation of La Belle, from 1999 to 2002 THC > archeologists > excavated Fort St. Louis, the settlement La Salle and his colonists > established on Garcitas Creek in 1685. From some 150 original inhabitants, > the group dwindled to about 40 by January 1687, when La Salle tried, along > with 17 of the fort's able-bodied men, to hike to distant French forts in > the Great Lakes region. ... > > "Artifacts from the excavations can currently be seen at the Bob Bullock > Texas State History Museum in Austin and in seven museums in six Texas > coastal counties that banded together to create the La Salle Odyssey - a > series of exhibits that together tell the extraordinary story of La > Salle's > expedition and the THC excavations." > > Jeanne Jacques > Claypool, Arizona (formerly of Austin, Wisconsin, and a whole lot of other > places) > > --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com