I had the good fortune as an undergraduate student at a private/independent university in Wisconsin to work one summer (1970) as an archaeologist at an excavation on Rock Island, Wisconsin (Rock Island State Park.) The excavations had gone on for 2 summers prior to the one during which I was a crew member. The archaeologists who started the excavations, Dr. Ronald Mason and his wife Dr. Caroline Mason, believe the site we excavated was the location where La Salle's ship, Le Griffon and its crew landed to reconnoiter with the French voyagers and native peoples who gathered together in one spot "in the mouth of Green Bay" with their furs to trade with La Salle and his party. We found many artifacts which were clearly of Huron and Petun (a native nation affiliated with the Huron) origin - pottery made in Huron/Petun styles and perforated bear mandibles, for example. The period of Le Griffon was when the Huron and Petun had fled westward from their home territory, to the Upper Great Lakes (an action sometimes called "the Huron diaspora") - a flight caused by of incursions and raids by the nations affiliated with the British-backed Iroquois Confederacy. We found numerous trade goods of French origin, such as pieces of brandy bottles (the French traded brandy as the liquor of choice, the British traded rum) and Roman Catholic/Jesuit religious items. We also found pieces of military uniform braid and buttons, among many other things. In the summer following the one when I worked, the remnants of a wooden stockade (post hole markings) were found. Written records made by some who traveled with La Salle after the loading of the furs onto Le Griffon mention that a large storm arose on what is now called Lake Michigan the day after the ship left the island "in the mouth of Green Bay." There are 3 theories on what happened to the ship: * The storm on the lake sunk the ship and all who sailed in her, with her cargo * Before the ship, crew, and cargo could get to the Straits of Mackinac (Fort Michelimackinac), other indigenous people (Pottawatomis and/or Ottawas) attacked the ship from canoes, killed the crew, transferred as many of the furs they could off-load into canoes, and then scuttled the ship, probably burning it * The ship's crew decided to take the cargo as their own, off-loaded them into canoes, and took off with them to sell for their own benefit Note: The only route the ship could take back to a landing on what is now Lake Erie, to transfer the furs into cargo canoes and take on to Quebec, was past Fort Michelmackinac at the Straits of Mackinac. The ship was never seen returning there. I don't know if there is a list of the names of the ship's master and crew (only about 5 or 6 men, if I recall correctly) assigned to sail Le Griffon back with the cargo. Otherwise, there might be records that would indicate if any of those men appeared in Quebec after the Le Griffon had gone missing, giving some credence to the 3rd theory I listed. Otherwise, none of the theories on what happened to Le Griffon can be proven until its remains can be found and scientifically examined. The building of Le Griffon and its voyage was quite an enterprise, one on which La Salle had pinned his hopes of great riches. For anyone who is interested, this is a link to a map showing where Rock Island is located in Lake Michigan where it becomes Green Bay (the lake area between Wisconsin's Door County the Upper Peninsula of Michigan): https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rock+Island+State+Park/@45.417409,-86.818964,7z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x8295b761e8c2093e Historically yours - Jean E. DeLauche

Good morning Jean Thank you for sharing your summer adventure with us. I know excavation work like that can be tediously painstaking and boring but the thrill of finding artifacts makes it all worthwhile doesn't it. Every little fragment you find is one more little piece of a very big puzzle. One day someone like you will find that last little puzzle piece or pieces and have the final answers we would like to have. Maybe I'm an optimist but I don't think so. I live in Northern Ontario not very far from the locations in Michigan you speak of. When I want to know what the weather is going to be like today where I live, I just check out what the weather was like in Michigan yesterday. Especially in stormy weather as it always travels from Michigan eastward in my direction. So I can definitely believe the La Griffin sank whether by accident or scuttled on purpose. Thanks again for sharing a bit of our history with us. Shirley-Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean E. DeLauche" <moi533@yahoo.com> To: <quebec-research@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 29, 2014 2:59 PM Subject: Re: [Q-R] LaSalle and his ships >I had the good fortune as an undergraduate student at a private/independent >university in Wisconsin to work one summer (1970) as an archaeologist at an >excavation on Rock Island, Wisconsin (Rock Island State Park.) The >excavations had gone on for 2 summers prior to the one during which I was a >crew member. > > The archaeologists who started the excavations, Dr. Ronald Mason and his > wife Dr. Caroline Mason, believe the site we excavated was the location > where La Salle's ship, Le Griffon and its crew landed to reconnoiter with > the French voyagers and native peoples who gathered together in one spot > "in the mouth of Green Bay" with their furs to trade with La Salle and his > party. > > We found many artifacts which were clearly of Huron and Petun (a native > nation affiliated with the Huron) origin - pottery made in Huron/Petun > styles and perforated bear mandibles, for example. The period of Le > Griffon was when the Huron and Petun had fled westward from their home > territory, to the Upper Great Lakes (an action sometimes called "the Huron > diaspora") - a flight caused by of incursions and raids by the nations > affiliated with the British-backed Iroquois Confederacy. > > We found numerous trade goods of French origin, such as pieces of brandy > bottles (the French traded brandy as the liquor of choice, the British > traded rum) and Roman Catholic/Jesuit religious items. We also found > pieces of military uniform braid and buttons, among many other things. > > In the summer following the one when I worked, the remnants of a wooden > stockade (post hole markings) were found. > > Written records made by some who traveled with La Salle after the loading > of the furs onto Le Griffon mention that a large storm arose on what is > now called Lake Michigan the day after the ship left the island "in the > mouth of Green Bay." There are 3 theories on what happened to the ship: > > * The storm on the lake sunk the ship and all who sailed in her, with her > cargo > > * Before the ship, crew, and cargo could get to the Straits of Mackinac > (Fort Michelimackinac), other indigenous people (Pottawatomis and/or > Ottawas) attacked the ship from canoes, killed the crew, transferred as > many of the furs they could off-load into canoes, and then scuttled the > ship, probably burning it > > > * The ship's crew decided to take the cargo as their own, off-loaded them > into canoes, and took off with them to sell for their own benefit > > Note: The only route the ship could take back to a landing on what is now > Lake Erie, to transfer the furs into cargo canoes and take on to Quebec, > was past Fort Michelmackinac at the Straits of Mackinac. The ship was > never seen returning there. > > I don't know if there is a list of the names of the ship's master and crew > (only about 5 or 6 men, if I recall correctly) assigned to sail Le Griffon > back with the cargo. Otherwise, there might be records that would indicate > if any of those men appeared in Quebec after the Le Griffon had gone > missing, giving some credence to the 3rd theory I listed. > > > Otherwise, none of the theories on what happened to Le Griffon can be > proven until its remains can be found and scientifically examined. > > The building of Le Griffon and its voyage was quite an enterprise, one on > which La Salle had pinned his hopes of great riches. > > > For anyone who is interested, this is a link to a map showing where Rock > Island is located in Lake Michigan where it becomes Green Bay (the lake > area between Wisconsin's Door County the Upper Peninsula of Michigan): > https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rock+Island+State+Park/@45.417409,-86.818964,7z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x8295b761e8c2093e > > Historically yours - > Jean E. DeLauche > --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com