Emergencies and World Disasters
The Six Bones on Manitoulin: Could This Be Le Griffon?
20 min•24 juli 2026
Om avsnittet
The Six Bones on Manitoulin: Could This Be Le Griffon?
Bones wrapped in birchbark and a seventeenth-century silver watch were dug near Manitoulin Island in 1887 - six skeletons found in two groups, the same number last seen aboard Le Griffon when it sailed on September 18, 1679. Could those remains and the metal tokens stamped with French markings be the only human trace of the largest vessel ever to sail the upper Great Lakes?
In this episode, we lay out the known facts from the 1679 voyage, the 1887 discovery, and the decades of artifact scavenging on the shoreline to ask whether those six skeletons can be linked to La Salle’s lost ship. What does the material evidence - the watchmaker’s dating, the French-stamped tokens, and the ship’s documented crew size - actually prove?
Person: René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
Date: September 18, 1679
Location: Washington Island (departure) / Manitoulin Island (1887 find site)
Event: Discovery of six skeletons wrapped in birchbark in 1887
Cargo: 12,000 pounds of fur on final voyage
- Six skeletons were found in autumn 1887, arranged as four behind a boulder and two inside a limestone cave.
- A silver watch recovered with the skeletons was dated by its style to the seventeenth century.
- Metal tokens with French markings were buried with the bodies discovered near Manitoulin Island.
- Le Griffon departed Washington Island on September 18, 1679 with thirty-four people aboard and was never seen again.
- Le Griffon carried seven cannons and roughly 12,000 pounds of fur, valued between 50,000 and 60,000 francs.
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
Bones wrapped in birchbark and a seventeenth-century silver watch were dug near Manitoulin Island in 1887 - six skeletons found in two groups, the same number last seen aboard Le Griffon when it sailed on September 18, 1679. Could those remains and the metal tokens stamped with French markings be the only human trace of the largest vessel ever to sail the upper Great Lakes?
In this episode, we lay out the known facts from the 1679 voyage, the 1887 discovery, and the decades of artifact scavenging on the shoreline to ask whether those six skeletons can be linked to La Salle’s lost ship. What does the material evidence - the watchmaker’s dating, the French-stamped tokens, and the ship’s documented crew size - actually prove?
Person: René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
Date: September 18, 1679
Location: Washington Island (departure) / Manitoulin Island (1887 find site)
Event: Discovery of six skeletons wrapped in birchbark in 1887
Cargo: 12,000 pounds of fur on final voyage
- Six skeletons were found in autumn 1887, arranged as four behind a boulder and two inside a limestone cave.
- A silver watch recovered with the skeletons was dated by its style to the seventeenth century.
- Metal tokens with French markings were buried with the bodies discovered near Manitoulin Island.
- Le Griffon departed Washington Island on September 18, 1679 with thirty-four people aboard and was never seen again.
- Le Griffon carried seven cannons and roughly 12,000 pounds of fur, valued between 50,000 and 60,000 francs.
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
Emergencies and World Disasters med Creator at Obomedia finns tillgänglig på flera plattformar. Informationen på denna sida kommer från offentliga podd-flöden.