Is small piece of 17th-century wood a piece of the ‘Griffin’? Michigan and France both laying claim, if it is
July 02, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By Nate Reens | Source: Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS — Vacuum-sealed and frozen for four years, a thumb size piece of wood, possibly from the French sailing vessel the Griffin, was to be handed over to U.S. marshals today.
It marks a measured move — the first step forward in a four-year court battle between the state and an Ohio diving and salvage group — toward solving a 329-year-old international mystery that may end with the shipwreck being identified.
Steve Libert was expected to surrender the artifact, which has been carbon-dated to the 1600s, under a federal warrant issued last month.
Libert, a Virginia resident who heads Great Lakes Exploration Group, sought to keep the wood piece to protect his team’s interest in the wreck.
“We’ve been fighting this long just to try and get the right to make an identification that it is the Griffin,” Libert said. “We believe the rest of the ship, or its artifacts, are scattered.”
Historians consider the Griffin to be the first European trade ship to sail lakes Huron and Michigan. It was built for French explorer Robert de La Salle and was carrying furs from Green Bay, Wis., when it disappeared in 1679.
Libert believes his group has found the vessel on the Lake Michigan floor, identified only as an area between Escanaba and the St. Martin Islands, near Wisconsin.
While the state has contended that Libert’s piece of wood is nothing more than barn timber, it has fought to preserve the government’s right to the potential find. The state lays claim to all shipwrecks discovered in its waters.
Since Libert filed suit seeking salvage rights in 2004, his group and the state have wrangled over the ship. Under the arrest warrant, Libert now must disclose the location to the state so it can inspect the wreckage.
Under federal law, ownership would belong to France, which supports Libert’s salvage efforts and is prepared to send a team to help confirm the ship is the Griffin.
There is still more to this story at the Grand Rapids Press >>
