August 1679

On August 7, 1679, M. de La Salle and his men set sail on the Griffin, a 60-ton vessel with five small cannons, which included Fathers Hennepin, Zenobe, and Ribourde. 12 men on shore helped pull the vessel through the strong current when the wind was not favorable. Only Father Melethon and one or two laborers remained behind to receive supplies.

M. de La Salle sent Henri de Tonty and five men to the rapids by modern-day Detroit to join fourteen Frenchmen who had agreed to meet them at the place, while La Salle towed the vessel up the rapids from August 7 to August 10. Henri de Tonty left on July 22nd, 1679, and arrived at the destination on August 10th, 1679.

When they reached Lake Erie on August 7th, 1679, they went along the northern shore. On August 10th, 1679, they reached the mouth of the strait or modern-day Detroit. The strait was about 103.5 miles in length and about 3.5 miles in width, except in the middle, where it widens into a circular lake about 34.5 miles in diameter, which the Recollet Fathers named Lake Sainte-Claire. The country on both sides of this strait consisted of fine open fields, in which are seen numbers of harts, hinds, roes, bears not savage and very good to eat, turkeys, and all sorts of game. The rest was covered with groves of fruit trees, such as walnuts, chestnuts, plums, the apple, and timber suitable for building.

M. de La Salle made headway against the current into Lake Huron by bearing north and northeast. The current was so strong to get into Lake Huron that M. de La Salle sent ashore a dozen men, who towed the vessel for half an hour. The winds eventually changed to the southwest, so they went towards the northwest.

M. de La Salle found himself in sight of land, having crossed during the night a great bay named Sakeinam (Saginaw?), which extends southward more than 103.5 miles.

On August 24th, 1679, M. de La Salle continued to bear to the northwest until evening, when he was becalmed among islands where there was but a fathom and a half or two fathoms of water. At night, he shortened the sails and sought anchorage, however, the wind picked up from the west. As a result, he went north until daylight. M. de La Salle found his pilot to be extremely negligent, so he kept a lookout during the voyage on the bow.

On August 25th, 1679 they continued going northwest until noon because the wind changed from fair south to the southwest. At noon, they had to go straight north because of land that was jutting out into the lake. A furious westerly gale made them only use the foresail and trysail of the vessel.

On August 26th, 1679, the wind continued to blow. They lowered the topmasts. In the evening, they drifted 3.5 miles from their course.

On August 27th, 1679, they went northwest. The wind then came from the southwest and in the evening changed to the southeast. The southeast wind helped them arrive at Missilimakinak on the same day. They dropped anchor in six fathoms of water in a cove that had a good clay bottom that sheltered them from the south-southwest to the north. A sand bank was to the northwest, a large island 3.5 miles off shore to the east, and it was exposed to the southeast.

Missilimakinak, near modern-day Mackinaw City, was north of the entrance to the strait between Lake Illinois (Lake Michigan) and Lake Huron. 51.8 miles to the east of Missilimakinak is the mouth of the channel where Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron. The channel is 17.3 miles wide at the mouth and 51.8 miles long, broken up by several islands, and gradually narrows up to Sault Sainte-Marie, which is a rocky descent through rapid water. At Missilimakinak, they cultivated Indian corn, while at Sault Sainte-Marie, they hunted deer, chased elk or moose, trapped some beavers, and caught whitefish. At Missilimakinak and Sault Sainte-Marie, the Jesuits have a mission at each place that is on their way if they go to Montreal.

M. de La Salle was surprised to see most of his men, which numbered 15, at Missilimakinak because they were supposed to be with the Illinois Indians. His crew was told that M. de La Salle’s voyage was impossible and that the vessel would never reach Missilimakinak. This resulted in them being discouraged to continue the voyage. They told M. de La Salle that six of his men (Sainte-Croix, Minime, le Barbier, Poupart, Hunaut, and Roussel) had deserted the voyage and stolen goods by carrying them that were worth four thousand livres. The men who stayed at Missilimakinak used goods that amount to more than one thousand three hundered livres. M. de La Salle sent M. de Tonty with six men to arrest Hunaut and la Rousseliere and seize all the effects that had in possession in Sault Sainte-Marie.