The Potawatomi and Wyandot lived along the river Giwitatigweisibi, known today as the Huron River. They traveled the waterway in birchbark canoes as they caught fish, harvested wild rice, or bartered with other tribes. Lightweight canoes were easy to maneuver and carry while portaging between bodies of water. French fur traders referred to the local natives as Wendats or Hurons. In the 1760s, Chief Kitchokema led a large Potawatomi village next to what is today called Strawberry Lake near Hamburg. In 1679, French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, had the Griffon constructed in Niagra. It was the first large ship to deliver supplies and collect furs from Great Lakes trading posts. When the Griffon did not arrive at Fort Miami, present-day St. Joseph, in March 1680, La Salle decided to travel east to Lake Erie. At the present-day city of Dexter, La Salle's men built a dugout canoe and paddled down the Huron River, but not for very long. He wrote, "The river made enormous bends, and we observed after five days of rowing we had made less progress than we usually made in one day's march." They eventually crossed Lake Erie by boat, arriving at Niagara on Easter Sunday, April 22, 1680. The Griffon was never found and remains a mystery.