Le Griffon: the ship that sailed past Windsor and vanished

Aug. 10, 1679: Le Griffon, the first sailing ship on the upper Great Lakes, passed through the Detroit River. Weeks later, loaded with furs, it vanished. The Great Lakes' most hunted wreck. More than 20 claimed finds; none proven. Source: Windsor Star

Topics: Witching Hour

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Witching Hour is our nightly local history and folklore feature. Ghost stories and legends are retold as stories people tell, not reported as fact. Sources are listed below the story.

First ship on the upper lakes

Le Griffon was built for Robert Cavelier de La Salle and launched in 1679. Historians treat it as the first sailing ship on the upper Great Lakes. On Aug. 10, 1679 it passed through the Detroit River on its way north. Weeks later, after leaving La Salle near Green Bay and loading a cargo of furs for the return trip, the ship vanished.

What the record says

The Canadian Encyclopedia places the loss on the return voyage of 1679 after a storm. La Salle's party had crossed Lake St. Clair around St. Clare's feast day; some historians say that is how the lake got its name. Beyond those points, the trail goes cold. No wreck has been confirmed as Le Griffon.

The hunt that never ends

Great Lakes wreck hunters have chased the story for generations. Divers and researchers Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg, writing in The Wreck of the Griffon, counted more than 20 claimed discoveries over about 200 years. None of those claims has held up as proven. As of early October 2026, no find had been verified in the public record. The ship remains one of the best known unsolved losses on the lakes, and one that still draws searchers to the shores Le Griffon once sailed past.