La Salle's Le Griffon

[Tomnbirdie]

Le Griffon was the first ship to sail the Great Lakes below Niagara Falls.
It was built between January and June 1679. You will note little colour or decoration on the model. The builders first had to build their own lodgings, and guard against attacks from the Iroquois. They had to fell great, virgin trees, cut them to length and width, plane them down, shape them, and set them in the ship on-site, while a blacksmith would first have to build a forge, then create all of the metal fastenings. There was one master carpenter, one blacksmith, and ten other workmen . The only items brought by bateaux and portages for her construction were the cannons, rigging, chains, sails and anchor. She had a griffon on her bowsprit, and an eagle flag as well.
She disappeared on her return voyage. Where is still unknown.
The model is modified from Occre's Buccaneer kit.

 

[1812er]

Fantastic model, Tom. Really well done. (Where did you get that lovely griffin figurehead???) The only serious question I have: upon whose interpretation of its appearance and construction did you base your model? As a matter of fact, does anyone really know what the Griffon actually looked like?

La Salle's Le Griffon and its ultimate whereabouts have been a bit of a spare-time research topic for me for many years. I've seen plenty of illustrations purporting to represent it, but none of them are based on either firsthand observation or description (except Hennepin's, which is at best questionable). Even LaSalle himself didn't have anything more to say about it than it was a "bark" of "about 45 tuns", which carried 30 people and 7 small cast cannons. He doesn't even reveal what he had named "the vessel" -- that information was later supplied in Father Louis Hennepin's journals, published in 1699, in which he plagiarized liberally from La Salle's journals (originally circulated in 1681), took credit for many of La Salle's deeds, and generally just made up a lot of stuff that cast his own role in a better light. Hennepin, prone as he was to hyperbole, exaggeration, self-aggrandizement, and confabulation, stated that Le Griffon was a vessel of 60 tons, and gave few further details except to note that the ship was supplied with only "five small Guns, two whereof were Brass , and three Harquebuze a-crock. The Beak-head was adorn'd with a flying Griffin, and an Eagle above it; and the rest of the Ship had the same Ornaments as Men of War use to have." Nevertheless, his publishers did provide a woodcut of the vessel (see below) that seems somewhat fanciful given the where, when, and how of its building, though note that it only carried square sails. (Of course, LaSalle had been murdered by his men in 1687 and thus was not in a position to challenge Hennepin's versions of things.) As far as I can tell, all other dimensions are modern estimates based more or less on speculation.

Woodcut of Le Griffon from Hennepin, 1699


Unfortunately, Henri de Tonty's (LaSalle's self-styled "loyal and true" lieutenant) much more reliable accounts of the 1679 expedition contain no added information about the Griffon. (It is an interesting side note that de Tonty did mention that the vessel that brought supplies to them at Niagara and was sunk there was also one of about 40 tons, which Hennepin styles a "Brigantine", thus making it one of the first large vessels and shipwrecks on Lake Ontario).

All that being said and done, it seems no one knows what Le Griffon looked like. This is especially certain since even La Salle and Hennepin differ on both its tonnage and the number and types of guns carried. Nevertheless, I believe that your model is a very credible representation. Whether it bears any resemblance to the actual Griffon is perhaps debatable, but it is a beautifully crafted model in any case. (What scale is it?) Congratulations on a job well done. I live in envy.

Regards,

Chris (1812er)

 

[Tomnbirdie]

Thank you for the kudos. This model was based on Occre's Buccaneer..a 1 to 100 scale. The griffen is a wrist bangle for females.
I am majoring in early French regime model ships in Canadian history.
I have done Champlain's Le Don de Dieu, Cartier's Le Grand Ermine, Pierre Le Moyne's Le Soleil d'Afrique; also my father's WW II frigate
HMCS Runnymede. Currently in Florida I am working on finishing the
Duyfken. In plans are Pierre Le Moyne's Pelican and Capt Cook's Endeavour.

 

[1812er]

WOW! These are all spectacular models. Are they from kits or are they all scratchbuilt? If the latter, from whence did you obtain the plans? All three bear a marked resemblance to Hennepin's rendition of Le Griffon, although it was said to have carried only square sails and, according to the woodcut, had only two masts and no separate forecastle structure at all. Note also that, unlike the others, Le Griffon does not seem to have a lateen-rigged sail on either of its masts. Unusual for the time period, I know.

As a Canadian historian and archaeologist (retired now), I am very appreciative of your efforts to model the vessels of Canada's early explorations. After a 35-year absence from the hobby, I too am interested in modeling significant vessels from Canada's history. I started with the Billings model of the Roar Ege, a Viking ship modeled after the so-called Skuldelev 3 wreck found at Roskilde, Denmark. I have also done a very small British colonial bateau (picture posted in a previous post) from scratch, and an equally small side-wheeled alligator (both 1:87 scale). I am about to embark on models of both the Bluenose (Model Shipways) and the Bluenose II (Billings).

As you might have noted from my handle, I am very interested in naval vessels from the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War periods and, once I have developed my skills further, I would love to do the USS Niagara and the new kits of the HMS Ontario, the HMS Nancy and the HMS Speedy, as all are important to Ontario's history. Much further down the line, I'd especially like to undertake models of such vessels as the SS Atlantic passenger steamer (sunk in L. Erie), the Trillium ferry, the William Lyon Mackenzie fireboat, a Dis-Pro boat, a St. Lawrence skiff, Knapp's Roller Boat, a whaleback, the HMCS Haida, and ultimately the Eddy Fitz. In the meantime, I have several of those cheap Chinese kits to help me build up my skills.

I just returned last week from Florida - where we were hunkered down through Tropical Storm Nicole while staying at Indian Shores. We also spent time in Westin, and Stuart (where my father lives). I spend most of my time fishing while there when we go (twice a year for 4 to 5 weeks each). We usually spend a week or so at Daytona/Daytona Beach Shores but I'm glad we skipped Daytona this trip as our usual hangouts there were heavily damaged or destroyed. Very sad. Whatever the case, next trip I shall be sure to bring along a small kit to work on when I'm not actively pursuing my latest grand slam!

Keep up the great work! I look forward to seeing more of it in the future.

Best wishes,

Chris Andersen (1812er)

 

[Tomnbirdie]

The models are basically models of the same time period that have morphed into other ships,ie, the Grande Hermine was based on the Golden Hind, the Le Don de Dieu on the Mayflower, an 1800 frigate, Quebec, based on the Surprise ( not shown) and the Soleil d'Afrique built from left over parts, based on historical paintings.
I have done the same with the Duyfken based on the Half Moon
here in Florida.
We arrived last week to a devastated landscape in Fort Myers Beach after hurricane Ian in September. We are very fortunate to have all utilities in our condo unit; whereas the surrounding condos are dark and empty.
I just received the Endeavour kit so I will keep busy here.
I, too, do a lot of fishing as well….mostly fly fishing. There is an
overlap in materials, tools and skills in both hobbies of model
ship building and fly tying.
Take care
Tom

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Thank you for the kudos. This model was based on Occre's Buccaneer..a 1 to 100 scale. The griffen is a wrist bangle for females.
I am majoring in early French regime model ships in Canadian history.
I have done Champlain's Le Don de Dieu, Cartier's Le Grand Ermine, Pierre Le Moyne's Le Soleil d'Afrique; also my father's WW II frigate
HMCS Runnymede. Currently in Florida I am working on finishing the
Duyfken. In plans are Pierre Le Moyne's Pelican and Capt Cook's Endeavour.

View attachment 344837

View attachment 344838

View attachment 344839

THIS is why I'm a galleon and man of war junkie....

 

[Uwek]

Le Griffon was the first ship to sail the Great Lakes below Niagara Falls.
It was built between January and June 1679. You will note little colour or decoration on the model. The builders first had to build their own lodgings, and guard against attacks from the Iroquois. They had to fell great, virgin trees, cut them to length and width, plane them down, shape them, and set them in the ship on-site, while a blacksmith would first have to build a forge, then create all of the metal fastenings. There was one master carpenter, one blacksmith, and ten other workmen . The only items brought by bateaux and portages for her construction were the cannons, rigging, chains, sails and anchor. She had a griffon on her bowsprit, and an eagle flag as well.
She disappeared on her return voyage. Where is still unknown.
The model is modified from Occre's Buccaneer kit.

Hallo @Tomnbirdie
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

[1812er]

PS: The Griffon was the first ship to sail the Great Lakes above Niagara Falls, not below. Built on the Niagara River, somewhere around Cayuga Island I believe, it sailed up the river and into Lake Erie and beyond. As mentioned earlier, there was at least one, and possibly as many as four unnamed vessels (barks, brigantines?) of about 30 to 40 tuns each, whose construction at Cataraqui/Fort Frontenac (Kingston) and sailings on Lake Ontario preceded the construction and launching of Le Griffon.
Chris (1812er)

 

[Tomnbirdie]

PS: The Griffon was the first ship to sail the Great Lakes above Niagara Falls, not below. Built on the Niagara River, somewhere around Cayuga Island I believe, it sailed up the river and into Lake Erie and beyond. As mentioned earlier, there was at least one, and possibly as many as four unnamed vessels (barks, brigantines?) of about 30 to 40 tuns each, whose construction at Cataraqui/Fort Frontenac (Kingston) and sailings on Lake Ontario preceded the construction and launching of Le Griffon.
Chris (1812er)

Hello Chris…I was wondering how your model is progressing?
I am working on Pierre Le Moyne’s Pelican here and Capt Cook's
Endeavour in Florida.
Regards
Tom Murphy

 

[1812er]

Wellll... The last year has been our own version of an annus horribilus, thanks to the death of my mother-in-law, my daughter's wedding, two trips to FL to check on my father's health (he is 95 and suffers from total dementia) and to get in a little fishing, some bouts of ill health myself, and a very enjoyable visit from 4 of my cousins from Denmark whom I hadn't seen in 14 years!
My model output amounted to exactly zero! Here's hoping that 2023-4 will be more productive.
PS: I just acquired a solid-hull mini-Mamoli kit of the Bluenose but I'm very disappointed with the amount of work that will be required to bring the hull to the (near-)correct shapes and proportions. Ah well... I guess you only get what you pay for.
All the best,
Chris (1812er)