The Griffin

For over 100 years, New France dominated the fur trade. Frenchmen penetrated far into the North American wilderness to purchase furs from the Native Americans. The French traded for the furs with a variety of manufactured items such as iron cookware, cloth, mirrors, blankets, guns, brandy and knives which they carried with them.


All the trade goods and furs were transported in hundreds of birch-bark canoes. The fragile canoes were 35-40 feet in length and capable of carrying about two tons of cargo. Crews of men, known as voyageurs, paddled the canoes and carried their cargo and canoes over dry land when a “portage” was necessary.

A round trip voyage, which began and ended in Montreal, was long, dangerous, time-consuming and physically demanding. The fur trading companies needed to hire hundreds of young men from the fledgling colony of New France which often created a shortage of labor.

Hiring crews of young, strong men was not difficult. Paddling a canoe, discovering new lands, living with Native Americans, trading for furs and making good money was far more exciting than the drudgery of clearing new farmland and performing the never-ending chores of farming.

In 1678, Rene Robert Cavelier de la Salle, the famous French explorer, thought he had a better idea.

La Salle’s plan was to build the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. The ship, constructed on the Nigara River, could sail the Great Lakes, around the clock, in most kinds of weather and require just a few men to transport a large cargo.

Fill the ship with a cargo of trade goods and supplies. Deliver the supplies at Fort Michilimackinac. Use the trade goods to refill the ship with furs purchased cheaply around the Great Lakes.

Sail back to Lake Erie and transship the furs to Montreal where they could be sold at an huge profit.

In 1678, la Salle led a party of Frenchmen he had hired to a site on the Niagara River. Here, his men were ordered to build a sailing ship of about 45 tons burden. This large schooner would be the first sailing ship to ply the waters of the Great Lakes.

It took most of the winter of 1678-79 to construct the ship. La Salle was absent much of the time as he needed to resolve his private financial affairs. Building a large ship, especially in the wilderness, required the transportation of men, tools and many supplies. . . all of which had to be carried by canoes. The men would also build rough-hewn log cabins in which to live and work.

Midwest Exploration

Part of the upper Midwest was once called the Northwest Territory. This vast area was home to many Amerind tribes. In 1673, the first European explorers (Marquette and Jolliet) explored the upper Mississippi River. Their voyage took them along the western shore of Lake Michigan, into Green Bay, down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi. They paddled the Mississippi River to the Arkansas River. Their return trip took them up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River, through the Chicago Portage, and the Chicago River and back into Lake Michigan. Later, La Salle continued the exploration of the Mississippi River to its' mouth and claimed a huge territory for France. In time, the French built forts throughout the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara, Pittsburgh, Mackinaw and down the Illinois River. This was at a time well before English settlers had passed through the Cumberland Gap to settle the Ohio Valley and Kentucky. French Voyageurs traveled as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Tetons near today's Yellowstone Park. The Great Lakes and the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other river systems were the French men's super highways. The wealth they gathered were the skins of wild animals, especially Beaver, that flourished in the interior. The economy of New France depended on these skins arriving in Montreal and Quebec each year. The native peoples trapped, prepared and traded these skins for metal knives, tools, kettles, blankets, guns, gunpowder, brandy and many other trade goods. Tons of these animal skins were shipped to France most years where they were processed into felt and made into stylish hats.