His dreams.

Rene Robert Cavalier Sur de LaSalle is a French ex priest turned explorer in the 16 seventies.

America is still very much the new world.

The 13 British colonies have just been established, and eastern Canada and the American Midwest are known as New France.

Giant swaths of the continent have yet to be mapped.

LaSalle sets out to change that.

His dream is to set up a fur trading empire and find the fabled Northwest Passage a hypothetical east West sailing route above Canada to Asia.

But here in Niagara, he hits a major roadblock.

There was this insurmountable obstacle.

Yeah, coming up against this would be pretty imposing.

Yes, he needed a great ship.

Knew he was going to have to build it above the falls.

Speaking of above the falls, we should continue this talk there.

That sounds.

Joan and I escaped the deluge and head to high ground above the falls.

Only a few miles from where LaSalle built his ship.

Once the griffin is constructed here above the falls, where does she sail?

She was the first ship to traverse Lake Erie Lake Huron and went into Lake Michigan.

This ship was a Trailblazer, but it's far from smooth sailing between the lakes.

The ship has to be manually pulled with ropes more than 40 miles of the shallow ST Clair River.

The men face brutal storms and hostile encounters with tribes as they trade furs within their territory.

These furs were effectively gold, right?

They were worth a lot.

The Griffin set sail near Niagara Falls on August 7th, 16 79 after 1000 mile voyage through Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

LaSalle and his crew land at Rock Island in what's now Greenbay, Wisconsin, where they pick up a shipment of furs.

LaSalle stays behind to explore the head of Lake Michigan while his crew sails back to Niagara to sell the furs and return with supplies, and they sail off in the Lake Michigan.

And where does she go?

Way?

Don't know.

That's the mystery.