Is cannonball found in NY yard from ship built in 1679?

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) - Is an old cannonball found in a western New York history teacher's backyard an artifact from a ship built by European explorers more than four centuries ago?

Mike Esposito, a Niagara Falls High School history teacher, things so.

The Niagara Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/1y3E9Kc ) that a fence company found the cannonball last summer on his property, located on Cayuga Island on the Niagara River.

In 1679, a French expedition led by Rene Robert Cavelier de la Salle built a sailing ship on the island. To celebrate the Griffon's completion, the crew fired several shots from a cannon. The Griffon later disappeared in the Great Lakes.

A local historian believes the cannonball is from the Griffon, but Esposito says he's trying to get other experts to help him determine the artifact's origin.

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Information from: Niagara Gazette.