and the expenses needed for this type of endeavor.l would welcome a discussion. The Liberts' book also uses interpretative history color photosshot above water and below; Kathie's line drawings that depict the Griffon buffeted by the storm that sank it, as well as showing details of its likely hull design, and numerous contemporary maps of northern Lake Michigan. A bowsprit discovered a few miles away in 2001 is another part of the . i beleve the boxis of gold will never be found or brat up for the simpel fakt said a Chicago man named Frank Pea spent three summers in the late 1930s and early 1940s exploring the depths around Poverty Island with a ship named the St. Lawrence and a diving bell. The treasure story reaches back to 1863, when the tide of the Civil War was turning in favor of the Union. Until that day, Lake Michigan will keep its grip on the five wooden treasure chests hidden far beneath its surface. You know the house big and very old on Lisbon Do you really think it s there? Some say that the native Indians boarded the ship and killed the crew. Some is better than none, and you sleep well at night. In order to aid his driven search, he has enlisted the best equipment he can get his hands on, including a fiberglass homemade mini-sub to comb the gloomy depths at the bottom. I grew up two blocks away from you, I think I may have been your paperboy in the late sixties. Beacons in the Night, Michigan Lighthouse Chronology, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. There have been numerous quote-unquote discoveries of the Griffon that were neverproven," Adkins said. 2020 MYSTERIES & HISTORIES. Good luck and if you find a treasure invite me to the party. I've been itching to get into wreck diving and searching, and up here in Minnesota, I was hoping to start soon. The best part are the flow charts, five pages with arrows pointing to what may have happened next. READ MORE:Nostradamus makes chilling 2022 'prediction' for EU collapse. Biology, nature, and cryptozoology still remain Brent Swancers first intellectual loves. Above in this page talked about the sea stories he heard as a young man. Bennett has devised an ingenious underwater sled to comb the murky . La Salle was certain that the captain and his men committed mutiny, sank the ship and absconded with all the furs.. so i thak people shood stop triying and this is my apinyin, i dont beleve this trezer reley egzists and i havint senn iny thing to shaing my mind. It wasthe first big ship to sail the Great Lakes. Pounded to pieces, the ship eventually sank. The wreckage lies approx. In 2001, a famous Great Lakes shipwreck hunter, Steve Libert, claimed her wreck in Northern Lake Michigan near Poverty Island. In 1994, a TV program investigated the Door County legend that $400 million in gold lies submerged near Poverty Island. Poor guy. He mentioned this ship. Maybe somebody will find that ship someday,'and he touched me on the shoulder.". I often wonder if they thought it was round. It also lies in Michgan (the state) waters. Professional diver and owner of a diving school and shop in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, Bennet became fascinated and obsessed with the legend of the Poverty Island lost treasure back in 1968, and has been looking for it ever since. Its cold. Hopefully in the way the actual history may have unfolded. Is there a fortune worth of gold lying out there just waiting to be found? Courtesy Steve Libert "Probably 99 percent of that . In an email, a DNR spokesman said the wreckage the Liberts have targeted can't be the Griffon: "Our archeologists review of recently published media images reveals the remains of a shipwreck that features typical late 19th-century Great Lakes shipbuilding materials and methodologies, and scantlings that are entirely too large to be a French colonial vessel. Nevertheless, Bennett is quite confident that he is very close to the treasure. Now, the celebrity part of the story. "I've been interested in this ship since I was 14," he said in an interview in Charlevoix last week. Poverty Island is a small island in the U.S. state of Michigan. The beleaguered South, strapped for capital, put out a desperate call for relief to France. Only time will tell. In the early 1920s,a freighter ran aground on Poverty Island. if you think about it gold and silver were not illegal in the 1860's so why throw them overboard ? It was late August in 1994 when the crew of "Unsolved Mysteries" arrived, and the county was ready for them. Its cold. Is the treasure of Poverty Island real, or is it just myth and legend? They were true, now add the problem finding a few small chests in a mile square area. Both the Door County Maritime Museum and the Wisconsin Maritime Museum inManitowoc were utilized for historical aspects of the story. What if more than $400 million in gold is still sitting in the cold water just off Poverty Island waiting for a brave soul to discover it? The story seems consistent, there were witnesses, and maybe it was real, but in the end,it is really just alegend. Steve Harrington, a maritime historian, is convinced the treasure is still located off the coast of Poverty Island: I think thats one of the most intriguing things about this legend is that its consistent in that the loss is always at Poverty Island. The plausible theory is that during the Civil War, a shipment of gold from Napoleon Bonaparte was being transported thru the great lakes down the Mississippi to fund the Confederate army. I cant believe how much I have learned about the US Civil War and all its components. But, while delivering a valuable cargo of furs, it vanished amid rumours that she had been cursed by a prophet from the indigenous Iroquois tribe. Background: In 1863, as the tide of the Civil War was turning in favor for the Union, the Confederate States of America appealed to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III for a secret shipment of gold to bolster their economy. Carbon dating of the bowsprit estimated an age range within a year of The Griffins sinking in 1679. "They weren't locked down. The scientists and divers searched a wider area Thursday near Poverty Island, a few miles offshore of a remote section of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with equipment that probes beneath the lake bed for signs of buried objects. Marty Lagina and Matty Blake return to the eerie waters surrounding Poverty Island in Lake Michigan to search for a lost Civil War treasure worth an estimated $400-million. poverty island shipwreck. Although a lighthouse was eventually built on Poverty Island and put into operation in 1885, for a long time ships were forced to travel during the days and brave treacherous rocks and shoals. A underwater tow sled is far more efficient. 37: Poverty Island", "Feature Detail Report for: Poverty Island", Seeing The Light Poverty Island Lighthouse, Inventory of Historic Light Stations-Michigan-Poverty Island Light, Le Griffon: The Great Lakes' greatest mystery, "Divers begin Lake Michigan search for Griffin ship - Yahoo! Subscribe Today! Poverty Island is a small island in the U.S. state of Michigan. The Griffin is believed to be the first ship of European design to sail the upper Great Lakes. As long as you dont take advantage of someone either by money or reputation I dont see how it can hurt. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Sailors and divers have had odd experiences near this wreck. . The Griffin is believed to be the first ship of European design to sail the upper Great Lakes. Various seasons available now on Hulu. Had some really wonderful stories coming back from trips where he stared into the Gates of Hell with water walls on both sides and lightning crashing all around. 'The Poverty Island Treasure Brief' can be found at. with Mr Bennett. In the end, America learned about the legend of Poverty Island, yet nothing except the excitement of celebrity really changed. French archeologists who visited the site at the Liberts' invitation have said they believe the couple is on to something; they even staked a claim for France for whatever wreckage turns up, Steve and Kathie Libert say in their 2021 book, "Le Griffon and the Huron Islands," published by Traverse City's Mission Point Press (about $26in softcover and$35in newly released hardcover). The lighthouse was located on the southern end of Poverty Island and consisted of a circular brick tower connected to a brick dwelling by a covered passageway. Is a sunken fortune hidden in the bottom of Lake Michigan? Over the decades, others have ventured into the waters and searched for the sunken treasure. The Griffin, Mr Libert believes, was caught in a four-day storm. I would love to be there when this particular treasure is found and recovered. Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com, Diving couple say they've found Great Lakes' oldest shipwreck, but doubters abound. Mr Libert explained the discovery had been long in the making, sparked by a history teacher when he was still at school. This San Diego County beach is also locally nicknamed Shipwreck . But Im a dreamer, and Im a gambler. In 1679, La Salle ordered his ship built in the wilderness above the great falls, launchingLe Griffon five months later in early May. This particular drone video offers unique insight into the island's rugged natural . It looked like a ship sitting upright on the lake bottom. Never found, the island is a place of intrigue. [4] Le Griffon was the first full-sized European style sailing ship on the upper Great Lakes that was built and commanded by the French explorer Ren-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1679. (Image: Great Lakes Exploration Group via Pen News). The delivery came down the St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada and into Lake Michigan en route to Chicago, but somehow, the Union became aware of the delivery and attacked the boat. It's a win-win. As we know the story of Poverty Island treasure has been around a long time. As the book states, "In 1678, La Salle led the first party of Europeans to Niagara Falls"; and that Hennepin "was the first to publicize the grandeur of the falls in his 1679 manuscript, 'A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America.' Hopefully they do some side-scan sonar on it and they can get to the Bottom of the story! Then you and I can conclude that persevering faith in hoping dreams to come true exists, to the non-believers. He met Kathie in high schoolwhen he returned on crutches after a football injury and teachers asked her to carry his books. building a cabin on Poverty Island and staying there for some time in the hope of Page 3 Fairport Int'l Exploration v. The Shipwrecked Vessel, et al. Bennett is the author of: 1) Deep Quest The Entry 2) The Sunken Treasure of Poverty Island 3) Island of Bones and the award recipient of: If 85 th st went though, we wouldnt t have had a back yard. The Liberts say the wreck lies neartiny, uninhabited Poverty Island, part of a chain of islands that runssouthwestinto Lake Michigan from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The legend and the attempts to discover the treasure caught the ear of the producers of the highly popular, 14-season television series Unsolved Mysteries. The program, which ran from 1988 to 2002, used a documentary format to profile real-life mysteries and featured re-enactments of unsolved crimes, missing persons cases, conspiracy theories and unexplained paranormal phenomena such as alien abductions, ghosts, UFOsand "secret history" theories. In the 1930s, there was also the story of a Karl Jesson, who was the son of the Poverty Island lighthouse keeper. His research on the subject led him to conclude that The Captain Lawrence had been searching for the legendary treasure at the time of the shipwreck, and he hypothesized that the ship was "an important key" to locating the gold. After two years sifting through satellite imagery, Mr Libert found what he believed was the rest of the wreck, and this was later confirmed in a September 2018 dive. According to the boy, a storm hit that night, and the salvage ship sank with all the men on board. Dimitrios Shipwreck. The Liberts' book, Le Griffon and the Huron Islands - 1679: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery, is . The Lake Serpent, an eight-year-old, 47-foot schooner, left Cleveland in September 1829 for the 55-mile trip to the Lake Erie Islands.Upon arriving at the island rich with limestone, the ship's . "I'm an independent historian, and I thought our patrons would be interested," said Stozicki, who is president of the Rochester-Avon Historical Society. The Griffin, a large vessel built by French explorer Ren-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, disappeared on its maiden voyage some 343 years ago. According to this tale, the Emperor arranged a secret shipment of gold bullion and coins to be brought overland through Canada and loaded onto a ship to be sent down the St. Lawrence River and into Lake Michigan en route to Chicago, where it was to be brought overland down South. You are now leaving Unsolved.com and heading to our shop at. Case File: Poverty Island Treasure Location: Michigan Date: 1863 Description: Poverty Island is an island in Lake Michigan between St. Martin Island and Summer Island just south of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Or, a Top Secret Human Experiment Gone Wild? The show would be dramatic enough, but in the end, it came down to the same question: is the legend true? The ship was built in Ireland and was considered to be "unsinkable.". In most versions of the tale, the chests, usually said to be five of them, were chained together, making it likely that if one is to find one, they will find all of them. The Griffin is then said to have become a ghost ship, with the crew apparently heard chanting as she sails among the clouds on moonlit evenings. . Even people with the means to dispose of some of the gold would find it hard the move any large amount. Paul Paul Heersink has also been collecting data on sunken ships during World War II for seven years. News", Beaver Islands State Wildlife Research Area, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Poverty_Island&oldid=1140233398, Upper Peninsula, Michigan geography stubs, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 03:07. The Poverty Island Treasure story has been arranged and rearranged with the same slim two sentences or at most a few paragraphs. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. According to the legend, the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte III, secretly dispatched a shipment of gold across the Atlantic to Canada. He has spent many years in the Great Lakes searching for shipwrecks. At the couples condo, they showed the Free Press their underwater metal detectors, a wall of research books, and a sculpture of a Griffon the French coat of arms symbol for which the ill-fated ship was named as they made plans for Steve to dive again this summer. Prominent historians and shipwreck experts in Michigan doubt the Liberts' claim. What about that guy from escanba, that looked for it, and then retired in Florida. Funny, as I was just thinking about this wreckI have to get Richard's info this week so I can research it. The advantage today is the sophisticated equipment available for such endeavors its available however not inexpensive. Dimitrios Shipwreck, Mani peninsula, Peloponnese. | Special to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Traveling Back: Witnesses watch bridge lift car, police search for driver, Traveling Back: WWI vets honored fellow doughboys to the last man, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Additionally, this particular shipwreck is well-known, can be clearly seen on aerial imagery internet sites, and has been visited by state authorities.". David Bagdon Le Griffon. "It started with a junior high teacher, talking about early European explorers. Le Griffon and the Huron Islands 1679: Our Story of Exploration and Discovery was written by Mr and Mrs Libert and published by Mission Point Press in 2021. Ever since, it has remained one of Americas most notorious maritime mysteries. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. The brief is printed on about 40 pages which would be about 80 pages in a standard book form. Privacy and the mostly rural setting have attracted a number of actors, politicians and sports figures who have beenspotted enjoying the fruits of the county. We had dived the Clark a hundred time and still lost it for a while. The Griffon had seven cannons, according to old French records, Kathie said. Mr Libert said: The ship has no indications of fire damage to the wooden remains. You must log in or register to reply here. Shipwreck hunters have been desperately searching for The Griffin since it sank to the murky depths of Lake Michigan while carrying a valuable cargo of furs in 1679. . Whatever the case may be, the gold either went down with the ship or was hidden on the island in order to be collected later or even thrown overboard to keep it from being captured. So coming in the back door was longer, but had higher odds of succeeding. Wish I could be there when you pull them out of the water! Download our app for the latest, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Covert projects rely on the uncommon. Marty Lagina and Matty Blake return to the eerie . "That's when I learned about his attachment to the Griffon, and really to the Great Lakes and all shipwrecks," she said. Where would we be if we didnt challenge the legends and the unknown? People believed the earth was flat for longer than that. Or how many times they dived on each trip there. When aUnion ship began attacking, the captain had the crew throw the treasure chests overboard in the waters off poverty island, so the gold could not be used by the Union Army, with the intention of retrieving it later. June 27, 2022; how to get infinite lingots in duolingo; chegg payment options; poverty island shipwreck . They allegedly reached out to none other than the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III to request funds. Local talent was used as the story was played out. However, Richard believes that there would be no record because the treasure was brought during a clandestine operation. . Case File: Poverty Island Treasure Many people dream about winning the lottery or being a great sports figure. Richard Bennett, a professional diver and author, has spent more than 20 years and $100,000 of his own money searching for the sunken fortune: Any story that survives 100 years has to have some validity to it. By Hannah Pennington, Published on Jul 28, 2022. (Image: Great Lakes Exploration Group via Pen News ). The water temperature was a frigid 37 degrees, but . First, the mystery, which centers on Poverty Island, a speck of rocky land off the eastern coast of Wisconsin in the constantly frigid waters of Lake Michigan. Proof or not, it's certain that a storied chunk of the Great Lakes' mystery, romance and tragedy lies, somewhere, inthe watery grave of Le Griffon. He said: My interest began the day my teacher reached over and touched my shoulder, and said out loud in class, Maybe one day, someone in this class will find it., Fifty-one years later, I am still intrigued by this story.. Divers reported that while looking up toward the . Despite that belief, there is a story that a group of sailors might have accidentally snagged one of the trunks in 1929. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Loran had just came out and was available to the public. If your research has been exhaustive then you know that it does exist. Whether the Liberts found the Griffonor merely stumbled on the watery wreckage of some unidentified old ship, their book and the saga of their search open a door to the fascinating earliest days of European exploration inthe Great Lakes, before the founding of Detroit in 1701. In 1994, when countyresidents heard that a television crew was on its way to document a mystery, it seemed like the best of these worlds were coming together within the county. Poverty Island is a small island in the U.S. state of Michigan. Often considered the first ship lost on the Great Lakes, little was known about it until shipwreck hunters Stevie and Kathie Libert set to work. It was then spirited down the St. Lawrence River and into Lake Michigan. And dont even get me started on the whole God thing, singular or plural. In the storm, the salvage boat was lost. See more in this clip from Season 3, "Return to Poverty Isla. Libert has been diving around Poverty Island since 1983. One legend in particular has claimed that, just offshore of Poverty Island, there are five chests stuffed with gold bullion and coins, which would today be worth more than $400 million. The ship's name is sometimes converted to an English spelling "The Griffin" but in French, it's Le Griffon. More than 14,400 migrants have arrived in Italy by boat this year so far, compared to 5,470 in the same period last . The Lagina brothers, Rick and Marty . Will Richard Bennett ever find the Poverty Island treasure? Fact; The legend first appeared in print in 1907 or 1910. The story ends with the bartender living in Hawaii and owning his own construction company. Nevertheless, Bennett is quite confident that he is very close to the treasure. I Often Hear That: I'll Share Some With You, TikTok and Its Strange Proliferation of Mysterious Accounts of Skinwalkers, Shamans, Psychedelics, and One Man's mystical Journey in the Amazon to Find a Miracle Cure.