Muskegon divers Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe now are sure the wreck they found in Lake Michigan was in fact the elusive Griffin of the French explorer LaSalle

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GRIFFIN FOUND? Divers Seeking Confederate Gold Discovered LaSalle's Ship

December 25, 2014
By: Dave Rogers

There's no more intriguing tale in Great Lakes history.

A French explorer builds a ship more than 300 years ago and it sinks on its maiden voyage, never to be found...

Until now, apparently.

Seeking $2 million in Confederate gold coins believed to have fallen off a vessel into the deep, a pair of intrepid Muskegon divers accidentally "stumbled" on the most sought shipwreck of all time -- at least in this part of the world.

It took them three years to examine the photos, but Muskegon divers Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe now are sure the wreck they found in Lake Michigan was in fact the elusive Griffin of the French explorer LaSalle.

A former Jesuit priest, Rene Robert Cavalieur de la Salle made his mark in the new world of New France.

He was determined to discover a passage to China and Japan across the American continent. But his quest ended far from the Orient, much like many explorers with dreams of glory.

His famous Griffin, a vessel of 60 tons, was constructed in the country of the hostile and powerful Iroquoian tribe, the Seneca, whose consent he gained mysteriously.

A history of the Great Lakes states: "The precise location where this historic craft was built, has been a matter of much conjecture among the best American historians; but the best authorities now seem to have settled down on a point on Cayuga creek near its mouth, as the precise spot, which is in Niagara county, N. Y., where the little village of La-Salle is now located."

How could the divers tell the Griffin among the 2,000 wrecks sunk in Lake Michigan?

The wood carvers that built the Griffin carved the likeness of a Griffin in the front of the ship, and the photos of the ancient shipwreck clearly showed a carved image of the lion-like creature.

The Jesuit Father Hennepin says she was named Le Griffon to protect her from the fire, with which she was threatened continually by the suspicious Seneca Indians. Only by sheer chance was construction of the vessel completed.

The chimerical creature known as the griffin was most frequently represented as a cross between a lion and an eagle, having the body and legs of the former, and the beak and wings of the latter.

"The Seneca, notwithstanding their continued opposition to the enterprise as it progressed, attended the launching of the vessel, and partook freely of the brandy, which was distributed with a liberal hand on the occasion," stated the history.

According to a contemporary account: "The vessel was sixty tons burthen, completely rigged, and found with all necessaries, arms, provisions and merchandise; besides seven pieces of cannon, two of which were of brass. There was a griffin flying at the jib-boom and an eagle above, and the other ornaments that were used to grace a ship of war."

For at least 332 years it has stayed hidden in the deep, but Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe say they believe they found it in 2011.

By accident.

"We were literally in the water for a couple of hours when we got a hit on the sonar," said Dykstra, who dove the wreck in the 37-degree water. "When I was down there, I turned around and I was literally four feet from this shipwreck; I never saw it on my way down, so my return trip was quite fast."

Dykstra and Monroe say that if they had seen the same image on their sonar, they wouldn't have given it a second thought and (would have been reluctant) to dive down and investigate it because it was so small.

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