Washington Island Door Wisconsin United States
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The short open-water season of the upper Great Lakes had compelled La Salle to depart for Green Bay on September 12, five days before Tonti's return.
They sailed from the Straits of Mackinac to an island (either Washington Island or Rock Island) located at the entrance of Lake Michigan’s Green Bay.
They anchor on the south shore of the island and find it occupied by friendly Potawatomis and fifteen of the fur traders La Salle had sent ahead.
The traders had collected twelve thousand pounds of furs in anticipation of the arrival of the Le Griffon.
La Salle decides to stay behind with four canoes to explore the head of Lake Michigan.
La Salle gives instructions for Le Griffon to off-load merchandise for him at Mackinac Island that would be picked up on the return trip.
Le Griffon rides out a violent storm for four days and then on September 18, the pilot Luc and five crew sail under a favorable wind for the Niagara River with a parting salute from a single gun.
She carries a cargo of furs valued at from fifty thousand to sixty thousand francs ($ten thousand to twelve thousand dollars) and the rigging and anchors for another vessel that La Salle intends to build to find passage to the West Indies.
La Salle will never see Le Griffon again.