MYSTERY OF A WRECK

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20012, 1 December 1927, Page 12

MYSTERY OF A WRECK

HULK BURIED IN SAND STORY FROM LAKE HURON For 50 years Mr Henry G. Tucker, an Owen Sount attorney, has periodically taken observations of a hulk buried in the sand at the north-western j point of Na Lake Huron, jsays the Toronto correspondent of the Herald. Conviction has grown in ■ Mr Tucker’s mind that the wreck was [none other than the remains of La 1 Salle’s Griffin, the original but illi lilted forerunner of the mighty stream [of ships that to-day traverse the Great [ Lakes. j Recently accompanied by historical [authorities irom the Department of I Education, Mr Tucker made a preliminary expedition of investigation to the I wreck, which lies in a somewhat inacjcessible locality, and while observations I were not entirely convincing, there re- [ mains so much credibility in the Griffin i theory that another expedition is planned for next year when there will be opportunity for a thorough inquiry. Discovery of the authenticated wreck of the Griffin would constitute in that part of North America the most important historical discovery of modern times. It would at the same time illumine the first great mystery and tragedy of the Great Lakes. The Story of the GriffinThc Griffin, the first ship to plough the virgin waters of Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, made only one voyage. She was only 45 tons burden, but she carried five cannons and was the subject of awe and no doubt more malevolent sentiments on the part of the aborigines. She was built by La Salle on the Niagara River, just above the Falls, and launched in the spring of 1679. By August she had been towed to Lake Erie and La Salle embarked on an adventure scarcely less thrilling than that of Columbus. Violent storms on Lake Huron threatened disaster, but the Griffin rode out the seas and safely came to harbour in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Here La Salle found a great cargo of furs awaiting him and the great explorer was called on to make a fateful decision. Should he return with the furs and liquidate the debts from which he never got free, or should he press on toward his great ambition, the Valley of the Mississippi? Ambition won, but he compromised with prudence by sending the Griffin and the precious furs back to Niagara in charge of the pilot. Fury of an Autunmal Storm.' On a glassy September sea the Griffin set sail from Green Bay. And that was the end. No authentic word was ever heard of her again. The day after she sailed the Great Lakes were lashed by the fury of an autumnal storm as if in protest against the ravaging of their age-long privacy. But La Salle never would admit that his staunch little craft had been overcome by the hurricane. Till the day of his death—by assassination eight years later in Texas — he was haunted by the suspicion that the pilot of the Griffin had proved treacherous and had either sunk the ship himself or had turned it over to the Indians to be destroyed by them. Of the wreck that lies off Manitoulin the entire superstructure has gone leaving only the keel, keelson, and a few broken stumps of the butts. When Mr Tucker first saw it 50 years ago it was lying forefoot ashore and stern down in the water laden with sand and gravel drift. Years of north-easters and the crush of the winter ice packs have shifted her about until she is almost parallel with the shore. Identification may rest on copper caulking whieh, it is recorded, was used on the Griffin. This can only be revealed now that the superstructure is gone by excavating tfie keel. An anchor and hand-wrought chain which Mr Tucker says were observable 50 years ago have disappeared. They might have furnisher Interesting clues. Some Bolts From the Wreck. The recent expedition secured some bolts from the wreck and though these are heavily rusted by years of exposure they seem to have been threaded. This fact would detract from the Griffin theory as it is doubtful if La Salle had the means to thread bolts and nuts. The point will be further investigated. So important is the Griffin regarded in local lore that her 200th anniversary was celebrated 48 years ago at Crosse Point, Michigan. On that occasion an historian described her as a two-masted schooner with double deck, a high poop projecting over the stern where was the main cabin with a smaller cabin above. The Griffin, precursor of a mighty commerce, was, of course, only one of the many achievements of the neverresting ambitions of La Salle, who. though murdered at the age of 43, is described as one of the most remarkable explorers whose names live in history.