Le Griffon was the first tall ship to sail up the St. Clair river and the great lakes, in 1679.
It was built by Rene-Robert Sieur de La Salle who was one of the first French explorers of the Great Lakes Region. Le Griffon set sail from the Niagara River for points west, arriving near modern-day Green Bay,
Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan. Lasalle left the ship at this point and sent the ship home with six crew members and thousands of dollars in furs. It was never seen again.
Some wrecks uncovered over the years have been suggested to be the Griffon, but none have been proven beyond a doubt and possibly never will. The three main theories
about the fate of Le Griffon have been: 1) Natives captured the crew and burned the ship; 2) The ship went down in
a sudden storm; 3) Le Griffon's crew mutinied, scuttled the ship, and kept its load of furs.
Alexander Mackenzie, the second
Prime Minister in Canadian history
helped build the country...literally!
On Jan. 28, 1822, Alexander Mackenzie was born in Scotland. Young Mackenzie left school to apprentice himself to a stone mason. At the age of 20 Mackenzie emigrated to Canada, where he soon found work in his trade at Kingston, Upper Canada and then later Sarnia.
He was also a concerned citizen, and in 1852 he became the editor of the Lambton Shield,
a tiny newspaper that nonetheless served to give him access to the world of politics. In 1867 he was elected to the first Parliament of
Canada, where he became the leader of the opposition to the government of Sir John Alexander Macdonald.
Mackenzie became Canada’s first Liberal prime minister after the fall of Sir John
Macdonald’s Conservative government in 1873.
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Alexander Mackenzie refused knighthood 3 times. He was the only one of the first eight prime ministers not to be knighted. He introduced the secret ballot and suggested the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada. He was a very honest politician, a loyal friend, and loved pranks.