The Griffin and St. Lawrence Memorial Medallions

Origin
The bas-relief medallions were created by Canadian Sculptor Emanuel Hahn (1881-1875), and were carved by Louis Temporale. Originally they were installed in the Memorial Arch (Clifton Gate) at Niagara Falls, Ontario, when it was erected in 1938 and dedicated to the early pioneers (including William Lyon MacKenzie, the first Mayor of Toronto). The Arch was demolished in 1967. The medallions were acquired recently from the Niagara Parks Commission and later following restoration they were installed here on the original waterfront of the Town of York. Toronto Historical Board, 1986

Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle (1643-1687), a dauntless explorer of the central wilderness of North America, was inspired to build the 'Griffin' in his efforts to establish a French colony, this the first sailing ship to venture into the Great Lakes, was built in the winter of 1679 near Niagara Falls. Later that year during the initial voyage on the Upper Lakes, she vanished without a trace.

During the war of 1812, the British and American squadrons vied for superiority on Lake Ontario. The British, under the Commander Sir James Yeo, won this contest in September 1814 when they launched HMS St. Lawrence at Kingston. The 'St. Lawrence' pierced for 112 guns, swung the balance of naval power overwhelmingly to the British for the remainder of the war.

Today
Mr. Kipling was reading a book about bas-relief medallions and how they were made when he remembered that there was a memorial in Toronto that held two medallions together. He just didn't know they were artifacts back then as he dismissed his "artifact sense" as uneasy stomach problems. So he brought it up to Artie and with the help of Pete and Claudia (with using Mr. Kipling's key to use the door of store directly next to the medallions to transport the atrifacts), they took a trolly and with a few really good replica's of the medallions, swaped them around and took the real ones back to the warehouse.