Oak Island
Encyclopedia
Oak Island is a 140 acres (56.7 ha) island
in Lunenburg County
on the south shore of Nova Scotia
, Canada
. The tree-covered island is one of about 360 small islands in Mahone Bay
and rises to a maximum of 35 feet (11 m) above sea level
. Located 200 metres from shore and connected to the mainland by a modern causeway, the island is privately owned, and advance permission is required for any visitation.
Oak Island is noted as the location of the so-called Money Pit and the site of over 200 years of treasure hunting
. Repeated excavations have reported layers of apparently man-made artifacts as deep as 31 meters, but ended in collapsed excavations and flooding. Critics argue that there is no treasure and that the pit is a natural phenomenon, likely a sinkhole
.
Further, physical evidence from the initial excavations are absent or have been lost. A basic summary of the history of the pit is as follows:
In 1795, 18-year-old Daniel McGinnis, after observing lights coming from the island, discovered a circular depression in a clearing on the southeastern end of the island with an adjacent tree which had a tackle block
on one of its overhanging branches. Daniel McGinnis, with the help of friends John Smith (in early accounts, Samuel Ball) and Anthony Vaughan, excavated the depression and discovered a layer of flagstone
s a few feet below. On the pit walls there were visible markings from a pick. As they dug down they discovered layers of logs at about every 10 feet (3 m). They abandoned the excavation at 30 feet (9.1 m).
This initial discovery and excavation was first briefly mentioned in print in the Liverpool
Transcript in October 1856. A more complete account followed, again in the Liverpool Transcript, the Novascotian, British Colonist, and A History Of Lunenburg County (the latter source based on the Liverpool Transcript articles).
About eight years after the 1795 dig, according to the original articles and the memories of Vaughan, another company examined what was to become known as the "Money Pit." The Onslow Company sailed 300 nautical miles (555.6 km) from central Nova Scotia near Truro
to Oak Island with the goal of recovering what they believed to be secret treasure. They continued the excavation down to approximately 90 feet (27.43 m) and found layers of logs or "marks" about every ten feet (3 m) and layers of charcoal
, putty
and coconut
fibre at 40, 50 and 60 feet (12, 15 and 18 m).
According to one of the earliest written accounts, at 80–90 ft (24.4–27.4 ), they recovered a large stone bearing an inscription of symbols. Several researchers apparently attempted to decipher the symbols. One translated them as saying: "forty feet below, two million pounds
lie buried." The symbols currently associated with the "forty feet down..." translation and seen in many books first appeared in True Tales of Buried Treasure, written by explorer and historian Edward Rowe Snow
in 1951. In this book he states he was given this set of symbols by Reverend A.T. Kempton of Cambridge, Massachusetts
. Nothing more is known about Kempton's involvement in the Oak Island tale. The pit subsequently flooded up to the 33 feet (10.1 m) level. Bailing did not reduce the water level, and the excavation was abandoned.
Investors formed The Truro Company in 1849, which re-excavated the shaft back down to the 86 feet (26.2 m) level, where it flooded again. They then drilled into the ground below the bottom of the shaft. According to the nineteenth-century account, the drill or "pod auger" passed through a spruce
platform at 98 feet (29.9 m), a 12 inches (30.5 cm) head space, 22 inches (55.9 cm) of what was described as "metal in pieces", 8 inches (20.3 cm) of oak, another 22 inches (55.9 cm) of metal, 4 inches (10.2 cm) of oak
, another spruce layer, and finally into clay for 7 feet (2.1 m) without striking anything else.
underneath. The first fatality during excavations occurred when the boiler of a pumping engine burst. The company gave up when their funds were exhausted in 1864.
Further excavations were made in 1866, 1893, 1909, 1931, 1935, 1936, and 1959, none of which was successful. Another fatality occurred in 1887, when a worker fell to his death. (Six people have been killed in accidents during various excavations.) Franklin Roosevelt was part of the Old Gold Salvage group of 1909 and kept up with news and developments for most of his life.
newspaper printed a feature story about the strange history of the island. Gilbert Hedden
, operator of a steel fabricating concern, saw the article and was fascinated by the engineering problems involved in recovering the putative treasure. Hedden collected books and articles on the island and made six trips there. He even ventured to England
to converse with Harold Tom Wilkins, the author of Captain Kidd and His Skeleton Island, believing he had found a link between Oak Island and a map in Wilkins's book.
Hedden purchased the southeast end of the island. He began digging in the summer of 1935, following excavations by William Chappell in 1931. In 1939, he even informed King George VI about developments on Oak Island.
The 1931 excavations by William Chappell sank a 163 feet (50 m) shaft 12x14 feet to the southwest of what he believed was the site of the 1897 shaft, close to the original pit. At 127 feet (39 m), a number of artifacts
, including an axe, an anchor fluke, and a pick were found. The pick has been identified as a Cornish
miner's poll pick. By this time, the entire area around the Money Pit was littered with the debris and refuse of numerous prior excavation attempts. So, exactly to whom the pick belonged is unverifiable.
with a clam bucket, dug out the pit area to a depth of 134 feet (40.8 m) and width of 100 feet (30.5 m). The removed soil
was carefully inspected for artifacts. Transportation of the crane to the island required the construction of a causeway
(which still exists) from the western end of the island to Crandall's Point on the mainland two hundred metres away.
to bedrock. According to Blankenship and Tobias, cameras lowered down the shaft into a cave below recorded the presence of some chests, human remains, wooden cribbing and tools; however, the images were unclear, and none of these claims have been independently confirmed. The shaft subsequently collapsed, and the excavation was again abandoned. This shaft was later successfully re-dug to 181 feet (55 m), reaching bedrock
; work was halted because of lack of funds and the collapse of the partnership.
In the mid 1960s, an account of an excavation of the "Money Pit" appeared in Reader's Digest
magazine. Over a decade later, the Money Pit mystery was the subject of an episode of the uncritical television series In Search of..., which first aired January 18, 1979, bringing the legend of Oak Island to a wider audience.
During the 1990s, further exploration was stalled because of legal battles between the Triton partners. As of 2005, a portion of the island was for sale for an estimated US$7 million. A group called the Oak Island Tourism Society had hoped the Government of Canada
would purchase the island, but a group of American businessmen in the drilling industry did so instead.
had purchased a 50% stake in Oak Island Tours Inc., for an undisclosed amount of money. The shares sold to the Michigan partners were previously owned by David Tobias; remaining shares are owned by Blankenship. Center Road Developments, in conjunction with Allan Kostrzewa, a member of the Michigan group, had purchased Lot 25 from David Tobias for a reported $230,000 one year previous to Tobias selling the rest of his share. The Michigan group, working with Blankenship, has said it will resume operations on Oak Island in the hope of discovering buried treasure and the mystery of Oak Island.
In July 2010, Blankenship and the other stakeholders in Oak Island Tours Inc. announced on their website that the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources/Tourism, Culture and Heritage had granted them a temporary Treasure Trove License, allowing them to resume activities until December 31, 2010. After December 2010, the department repealed the former Treasure Trove Act and replaced it with a new "Oak Island Act". The new Oak Island Treasure Act came into effect as of January 1, 2011 and allows for treasure hunting to continue on the island under the terms of a licence issued by the Minister of Natural Resources.
The cipher stone, which one researcher is said to have translated to read "Forty feet below two million pounds is buried", was allegedly last seen in the early 20th century (exact dates are a topic of controversy). Some accounts state that Smith used it as a fireback
in his fireplace, while others claim it was last seen as a doorstep in a Halifax bookbinder's shop. The accuracy of the translation, whether the symbols as commonly depicted are accurate, or if they meant anything at all, remains disputed. Barry Fell
, the author of the controversial books America B.C. and Saga America, was sent a copy of the inscription by the chief archivist of the Nova Scotia Archives in the late 1970s. Fell, whose publications consisted largely of alleged translations of inscriptions on stones found elsewhere in North America, concluded that the symbols were similar to the Coptic
alphabet and when translated implied that the people needed to remember their God or else they would perish.
Man-made structures under Oak Island do in fact exist as discussed in many books, including a book written by Lee Lamb, daughter of Robert Restall. Whether these structures were constructed by people hiding a treasure, or are the remains of prior excavation attempts, is unknown.
), who claimed he buried his treasure "where none but Satan
and myself can find it." Some also hold to the theory that Kidd conspired with Henry Every
and Oak Island was used as a pseudo community bank between the two.
sailor
s from a wrecked galleon
or British
troops during the American Revolution
. John Godwin argued that, given the apparent size and complexity of the pit, it was likely dug by French army engineers hoping to hide the contents of the treasury of the Fortress of Louisbourg
after it fell to the British during the Seven Years' War
.
(which are historically missing, save for some specimens in the collections of museums worldwide) on Oak Island. During the French Revolution
, when the Palace of Versailles
was stormed by revolutionaries in 1789, Marie Antoinette instructed her maid or a lady-in-waiting to take her prized possessions and flee. Supposedly, this maid fled to London
with such royal items as Antoinette's jewels and perhaps other treasures, such as important artwork or documents, secreted away either on her person (one variation suggests sewn into her underskirts in the case of the jewels, though fails to mention artwork) or as her luggage; it is even said she was perhaps assisted by the remaining officers of the French navy during the uprising at the queen's behest.
The story then goes on to say that this woman fled further afield from London to Nova Scotia. Through the royal connections she would have had during her service to the queen at Versailles
, she managed to contract the French navy to help construct the famed 'pit' on the island. This theory (as noted) lacks recognized documentation other than that which is folkloric in nature, involves the French navy, which (during the Revolution) had an uncertain level of authority, and would place the construction of the Oak Island structure very close to its initial discovery by Daniel McGinnis in 1795. Whether such a complex engineering effort could have been completed in that small space of time is questionable, though no official date of its construction exists. However, other theories do suggest the structure is French and naval in style.
philosopher Francis Bacon
used the pit to hide documents proving him to be the author of William Shakespeare
's plays. Author and researcher Mark Finnan elaborated upon this theory. The theory was also used in the Norwegian
book Organisten (The Organ Player) by Erlend Loe
and Petter Amundsen. It has also been asserted that the pit may have been dug by exiled Knights Templar
and that it is the last resting place of the Holy Grail
or even the holy Ark of the Covenant
.
and natural caverns.
The appearance of a man-made pit has been attributed partly to the texture of sinkholes: "this filling would be softer than the surrounding ground, and give the impression that it had been dug up before", and the appearance of "platforms" of rotten logs has been incorrectly attributed to trees or "blowdowns" falling or washing into the depression. An undetermined pit similar to the description of the early Money Pit had been discovered in the area. In 1949, workmen digging a well on the shore of Mahone Bay, at a point where the earth was soft, found a pit of the following description: "At about two feet down a layer of fieldstone was struck. Then logs of spruce and oak were unearthed at irregular intervals, and some of the wood was charred. The immediate suspicion was that another Money Pit had been found."
identifies parallels between the accounts of Oak Island and the allegory of the "Secret Vault" in York Rite Freemasonry
, similar to the Chase Vault
, identifies many prominent excavators as Freemasons, and suggests that the accounts explicitly include Masonic imagery.
The purpose of these fibres has been a source of heated debate among Oak Island researchers since Coconut trees are not natural to Canada; a sample of this material was sent to the Smithsonian Institution
in the early 20th century, where it was concluded that the material was coconut fibre. Carbon dating was conducted on a sample in the 1960s and returned a date of 1200-1400 CE. However, this testing method reveals only when the material was harvested, not when it was deposited at the site. Furthermore it is now known that carbon dating is less reliable for marine organisms and objects long immersed in seawater, due to the marine reservoir effect. For marine organisms, typically the dated object appears about 450 years older than its true age (a correction first estimated in 1975, although the exact value needs to be calibrated for the waters in which it was found.)
Oak Island lies on a glacial
tumulus
system and is underlain by a series of water-filled anhydrite
cavities, which may be responsible for the repeated flooding of the pit. This type of limestone easily dissolves when exposed to water, forming caves and natural voids. Bedrock
lies at a depth of 130–150 feet in the Money Pit area.
Upon the invitation of Boston-area businessman David Mugar, a two-week survey was conducted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
in 1995. This is the only known scientific study that has been conducted on the site. After running dye tests in the bore hole, they concluded that the flooding was caused by a natural interaction between the island's freshwater lens and tidal pressures in the underlying geology, refuting the idea of artificially constructed flood tunnels. The Woods Hole scientists who viewed the videos taken in 1971 concluded that nothing conclusive could be determined from the murky images.
Several works of fiction have been based upon the Money Pit, including The Money Pit Mystery, Riptide
and The Hand of Robin Squires
. It was also a major plot device in the episode "The Man with the Bone" of the fictional crime drama series Bones
. Additionally, the Oak Island/Money Pit Mystery led to the ill-fated Cork Graham
/Richard Knight hunt for Captain Kidd's treasure off western Vietnam
in 1983, documented in The Bamboo Chest.
In 2007, the island was featured in a museum display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
which displayed many artifacts from various eras of treasure hunting as part of the museum's exhibit Pirates: Myth and Reality.
News reports
Skeptical
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in Lunenburg County
Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg County is a county located on the South Shore of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, It ranges from Hubbards to the east and Vogler's Cove to the west.-History:...
on the south shore of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The tree-covered island is one of about 360 small islands in Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay is a bay located on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County.Opening south directly onto the Atlantic, its eastern shore is formed by the Aspotogan Peninsula and its western shore is formed by the First Peninsula...
and rises to a maximum of 35 feet (11 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. Located 200 metres from shore and connected to the mainland by a modern causeway, the island is privately owned, and advance permission is required for any visitation.
Oak Island is noted as the location of the so-called Money Pit and the site of over 200 years of treasure hunting
Treasure hunting
Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure which has been a notable human activity for millennia. -In modern times:In recent times, the early stages of the development of archaeology included a significant aspect of treasure hunt; Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and later at...
. Repeated excavations have reported layers of apparently man-made artifacts as deep as 31 meters, but ended in collapsed excavations and flooding. Critics argue that there is no treasure and that the pit is a natural phenomenon, likely a sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
.
Early accounts
There are many 19th-century accounts of Oak Island, but some are conflicting and/or are not impartial.Further, physical evidence from the initial excavations are absent or have been lost. A basic summary of the history of the pit is as follows:
In 1795, 18-year-old Daniel McGinnis, after observing lights coming from the island, discovered a circular depression in a clearing on the southeastern end of the island with an adjacent tree which had a tackle block
Block and tackle
A block and tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift or pull heavy loads.The pulleys are assembled together to form blocks so that one is fixed and one moves with the load...
on one of its overhanging branches. Daniel McGinnis, with the help of friends John Smith (in early accounts, Samuel Ball) and Anthony Vaughan, excavated the depression and discovered a layer of flagstone
Flagstone
Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...
s a few feet below. On the pit walls there were visible markings from a pick. As they dug down they discovered layers of logs at about every 10 feet (3 m). They abandoned the excavation at 30 feet (9.1 m).
This initial discovery and excavation was first briefly mentioned in print in the Liverpool
Liverpool, Nova Scotia
Liverpool is a Canadian community and former town located along the Atlantic Ocean of the Province of Nova Scotia's South Shore. It is situated within the Region of Queens Municipality which is the local governmental unit that comprises all of Queens County, Nova Scotia...
Transcript in October 1856. A more complete account followed, again in the Liverpool Transcript, the Novascotian, British Colonist, and A History Of Lunenburg County (the latter source based on the Liverpool Transcript articles).
About eight years after the 1795 dig, according to the original articles and the memories of Vaughan, another company examined what was to become known as the "Money Pit." The Onslow Company sailed 300 nautical miles (555.6 km) from central Nova Scotia near Truro
Truro, Nova Scotia
-Education:Truro has one high school, Cobequid Educational Centre. Post-secondary options include a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, as well as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in the neighboring town of Bible Hill.- Sports :...
to Oak Island with the goal of recovering what they believed to be secret treasure. They continued the excavation down to approximately 90 feet (27.43 m) and found layers of logs or "marks" about every ten feet (3 m) and layers of charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
, putty
Putty
Putty is a generic term for a plastic material similar in texture to clay or dough typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. Painter's Putty is typically a linseed oil based product used for filling holes, minor cracks and defacements in wood only...
and coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
fibre at 40, 50 and 60 feet (12, 15 and 18 m).
According to one of the earliest written accounts, at 80–90 ft (24.4–27.4 ), they recovered a large stone bearing an inscription of symbols. Several researchers apparently attempted to decipher the symbols. One translated them as saying: "forty feet below, two million pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
lie buried." The symbols currently associated with the "forty feet down..." translation and seen in many books first appeared in True Tales of Buried Treasure, written by explorer and historian Edward Rowe Snow
Edward Rowe Snow
Edward Rowe Snow was an American author and historian.-Life:He was the son of Edward Sumpter and Alice Snow...
in 1951. In this book he states he was given this set of symbols by Reverend A.T. Kempton of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. Nothing more is known about Kempton's involvement in the Oak Island tale. The pit subsequently flooded up to the 33 feet (10.1 m) level. Bailing did not reduce the water level, and the excavation was abandoned.
Investors formed The Truro Company in 1849, which re-excavated the shaft back down to the 86 feet (26.2 m) level, where it flooded again. They then drilled into the ground below the bottom of the shaft. According to the nineteenth-century account, the drill or "pod auger" passed through a spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
platform at 98 feet (29.9 m), a 12 inches (30.5 cm) head space, 22 inches (55.9 cm) of what was described as "metal in pieces", 8 inches (20.3 cm) of oak, another 22 inches (55.9 cm) of metal, 4 inches (10.2 cm) of oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, another spruce layer, and finally into clay for 7 feet (2.1 m) without striking anything else.
Oak Island Association and Old Gold Salvage group
The next excavation attempt was made in 1861 by a new company called the Oak Island Association which resulted in the collapse of the bottom of the shaft into either a natural cavern or booby trapBooby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
underneath. The first fatality during excavations occurred when the boiler of a pumping engine burst. The company gave up when their funds were exhausted in 1864.
Further excavations were made in 1866, 1893, 1909, 1931, 1935, 1936, and 1959, none of which was successful. Another fatality occurred in 1887, when a worker fell to his death. (Six people have been killed in accidents during various excavations.) Franklin Roosevelt was part of the Old Gold Salvage group of 1909 and kept up with news and developments for most of his life.
Gilbert Hedden and William Chappell
In 1928, a New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
newspaper printed a feature story about the strange history of the island. Gilbert Hedden
Gilbert Hedden
Gilbert D. Hedden of Chatham, New Jersey achieved the most remarkable progress towards solving the Oak Island treasure mystery.-Biography:...
, operator of a steel fabricating concern, saw the article and was fascinated by the engineering problems involved in recovering the putative treasure. Hedden collected books and articles on the island and made six trips there. He even ventured to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to converse with Harold Tom Wilkins, the author of Captain Kidd and His Skeleton Island, believing he had found a link between Oak Island and a map in Wilkins's book.
Hedden purchased the southeast end of the island. He began digging in the summer of 1935, following excavations by William Chappell in 1931. In 1939, he even informed King George VI about developments on Oak Island.
The 1931 excavations by William Chappell sank a 163 feet (50 m) shaft 12x14 feet to the southwest of what he believed was the site of the 1897 shaft, close to the original pit. At 127 feet (39 m), a number of artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
, including an axe, an anchor fluke, and a pick were found. The pick has been identified as a Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
miner's poll pick. By this time, the entire area around the Money Pit was littered with the debris and refuse of numerous prior excavation attempts. So, exactly to whom the pick belonged is unverifiable.
Restall family and Robert Dunfield
Excavation by the Restall family in the early 1960s ended tragically when four men died after being overcome by fumes in a shaft near the beach. In 1965, Robert Dunfield leased the island and, using a 70-ton digging craneCrane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
with a clam bucket, dug out the pit area to a depth of 134 feet (40.8 m) and width of 100 feet (30.5 m). The removed soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
was carefully inspected for artifacts. Transportation of the crane to the island required the construction of a causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
(which still exists) from the western end of the island to Crandall's Point on the mainland two hundred metres away.
Triton Alliance
Around 1967, Daniel C. Blankenship and David Tobias formed Triton Alliance, Ltd. and purchased most of the island. In 1971, Triton workers excavated a 235 feet (71.6 m) shaft supported by a steel caissonCaisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
to bedrock. According to Blankenship and Tobias, cameras lowered down the shaft into a cave below recorded the presence of some chests, human remains, wooden cribbing and tools; however, the images were unclear, and none of these claims have been independently confirmed. The shaft subsequently collapsed, and the excavation was again abandoned. This shaft was later successfully re-dug to 181 feet (55 m), reaching bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
; work was halted because of lack of funds and the collapse of the partnership.
In the mid 1960s, an account of an excavation of the "Money Pit" appeared in Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
magazine. Over a decade later, the Money Pit mystery was the subject of an episode of the uncritical television series In Search of..., which first aired January 18, 1979, bringing the legend of Oak Island to a wider audience.
During the 1990s, further exploration was stalled because of legal battles between the Triton partners. As of 2005, a portion of the island was for sale for an estimated US$7 million. A group called the Oak Island Tourism Society had hoped the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
would purchase the island, but a group of American businessmen in the drilling industry did so instead.
Oak Island Tours Inc.
It was announced in April 2006 that partners from MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
had purchased a 50% stake in Oak Island Tours Inc., for an undisclosed amount of money. The shares sold to the Michigan partners were previously owned by David Tobias; remaining shares are owned by Blankenship. Center Road Developments, in conjunction with Allan Kostrzewa, a member of the Michigan group, had purchased Lot 25 from David Tobias for a reported $230,000 one year previous to Tobias selling the rest of his share. The Michigan group, working with Blankenship, has said it will resume operations on Oak Island in the hope of discovering buried treasure and the mystery of Oak Island.
In July 2010, Blankenship and the other stakeholders in Oak Island Tours Inc. announced on their website that the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources/Tourism, Culture and Heritage had granted them a temporary Treasure Trove License, allowing them to resume activities until December 31, 2010. After December 2010, the department repealed the former Treasure Trove Act and replaced it with a new "Oak Island Act". The new Oak Island Treasure Act came into effect as of January 1, 2011 and allows for treasure hunting to continue on the island under the terms of a licence issued by the Minister of Natural Resources.
Treasure theories
There has been wide-ranging speculation amongst enthusiasts as to who originally dug the pit and what it might contain. Later accounts say that oak platforms were discovered every 10 feet (3 m), but the earliest accounts simply say that "marks" of some type were found at these places. They also say there were "tool marks" or pick scrapes on the walls of the money pit and that the dirt was noticeably loose and not as hard packed as the surrounding soil. One expedition said they found the flood tunnel at 90 feet, and that it was lined with flat stones. However, Robert Dunfield (a trained geologist) wrote that he carefully examined the walls of the re-excavated pit and was unable to locate any evidence of this tunnel.The cipher stone, which one researcher is said to have translated to read "Forty feet below two million pounds is buried", was allegedly last seen in the early 20th century (exact dates are a topic of controversy). Some accounts state that Smith used it as a fireback
Fireplace fireback
A fireback is a piece of heavy, cast iron, sized in proportion to the fireplace and the fire, that is placed against the back wall of the fireplace.-Functions of the fireback:...
in his fireplace, while others claim it was last seen as a doorstep in a Halifax bookbinder's shop. The accuracy of the translation, whether the symbols as commonly depicted are accurate, or if they meant anything at all, remains disputed. Barry Fell
Barry Fell
Barry Fell was a professor of invertebrate zoology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. His primary research was on starfish and sea urchins...
, the author of the controversial books America B.C. and Saga America, was sent a copy of the inscription by the chief archivist of the Nova Scotia Archives in the late 1970s. Fell, whose publications consisted largely of alleged translations of inscriptions on stones found elsewhere in North America, concluded that the symbols were similar to the Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
alphabet and when translated implied that the people needed to remember their God or else they would perish.
Man-made structures under Oak Island do in fact exist as discussed in many books, including a book written by Lee Lamb, daughter of Robert Restall. Whether these structures were constructed by people hiding a treasure, or are the remains of prior excavation attempts, is unknown.
Pirate treasure
One theory is that the pit holds a pirate treasure hoard buried by Captain Kidd or possibly Edward Teach (BlackbeardBlackbeard
Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
), who claimed he buried his treasure "where none but Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
and myself can find it." Some also hold to the theory that Kidd conspired with Henry Every
Henry Every
Henry Every, also Avery or Avary, , sometimes given as John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the mid-1690s. He likely used several aliases throughout his career, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates...
and Oak Island was used as a pseudo community bank between the two.
Naval treasure
Others agree it was dug to hold treasure but believe this was done by someone other than pirates, such as SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
s from a wrecked galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
or British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
troops during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. John Godwin argued that, given the apparent size and complexity of the pit, it was likely dug by French army engineers hoping to hide the contents of the treasury of the Fortress of Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
after it fell to the British during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
.
Marie Antoinette's jewels
There is a story that, like most others regarding the island, lacks adequate archival sources, or any quoted sources at all, which places the priceless jewels of Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
(which are historically missing, save for some specimens in the collections of museums worldwide) on Oak Island. During the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, when the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
was stormed by revolutionaries in 1789, Marie Antoinette instructed her maid or a lady-in-waiting to take her prized possessions and flee. Supposedly, this maid fled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with such royal items as Antoinette's jewels and perhaps other treasures, such as important artwork or documents, secreted away either on her person (one variation suggests sewn into her underskirts in the case of the jewels, though fails to mention artwork) or as her luggage; it is even said she was perhaps assisted by the remaining officers of the French navy during the uprising at the queen's behest.
The story then goes on to say that this woman fled further afield from London to Nova Scotia. Through the royal connections she would have had during her service to the queen at Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, she managed to contract the French navy to help construct the famed 'pit' on the island. This theory (as noted) lacks recognized documentation other than that which is folkloric in nature, involves the French navy, which (during the Revolution) had an uncertain level of authority, and would place the construction of the Oak Island structure very close to its initial discovery by Daniel McGinnis in 1795. Whether such a complex engineering effort could have been completed in that small space of time is questionable, though no official date of its construction exists. However, other theories do suggest the structure is French and naval in style.
Exotic treasure
Still others have speculated that the Oak Island pit was dug to hold treasure much more exotic than gold or silver. In his 1953 book, The Oak Island Enigma: A History and Inquiry Into the Origin of the Money Pit, Penn Leary believed that EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
philosopher Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
used the pit to hide documents proving him to be the author of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's plays. Author and researcher Mark Finnan elaborated upon this theory. The theory was also used in the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
book Organisten (The Organ Player) by Erlend Loe
Erlend Loe
Erlend Loe is a Norwegian novelist and screenwriter. He has gained popularity in Scandinavia with his humorous and sometimes naïve novels, although his stories have become darker in tone, moving towards a more satirical criticism of modern Norwegian society.-Biography:Erlend Loe worked at a...
and Petter Amundsen. It has also been asserted that the pit may have been dug by exiled Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
and that it is the last resting place of the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
or even the holy Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
.
Criticism of treasure theories
Critics argue that there is no treasure and that the apparent pit is a natural phenomenon, likely a sinkholeSinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
and natural caverns.
Sinkhole
Suggestions that the pit is a natural phenomenon, specifically a sinkhole or debris in a fault, date to at least 1911. There are numerous sinkholes on the mainland near the island, together with underground caves (to which the apparent booby traps are attributed).The appearance of a man-made pit has been attributed partly to the texture of sinkholes: "this filling would be softer than the surrounding ground, and give the impression that it had been dug up before", and the appearance of "platforms" of rotten logs has been incorrectly attributed to trees or "blowdowns" falling or washing into the depression. An undetermined pit similar to the description of the early Money Pit had been discovered in the area. In 1949, workmen digging a well on the shore of Mahone Bay, at a point where the earth was soft, found a pit of the following description: "At about two feet down a layer of fieldstone was struck. Then logs of spruce and oak were unearthed at irregular intervals, and some of the wood was charred. The immediate suspicion was that another Money Pit had been found."
Romanticized elements
Conspiracy theorist Mark Finnan in his book Oak Island Secrets noted that many Masonic markings were found on Oak Island and pointed out that the shaft or pit and its mysterious contents seemed to replicate aspects of a Masonic initiation rite involving a hidden vault containing a sacred treasure. Joe NickellJoe Nickell
Joe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...
identifies parallels between the accounts of Oak Island and the allegory of the "Secret Vault" in York Rite Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, similar to the Chase Vault
Chase Vault
The Chase Vault is a burial vault in the cemetery of the Christ Church Parish Church in Oistins, Christ Church, Barbados. It is best known for a widespread but unverified story of "unexplained incidents" in the early 19th century involving the coffins within the vault...
, identifies many prominent excavators as Freemasons, and suggests that the accounts explicitly include Masonic imagery.
Pit flooding issues
In 1851, treasure hunters discovered fibres beneath the surface of one beach called Smith's Cove. This led to the theory that the beach had been converted into a giant siphon, feeding water from the ocean into the pit via a man made tunnel.The purpose of these fibres has been a source of heated debate among Oak Island researchers since Coconut trees are not natural to Canada; a sample of this material was sent to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in the early 20th century, where it was concluded that the material was coconut fibre. Carbon dating was conducted on a sample in the 1960s and returned a date of 1200-1400 CE. However, this testing method reveals only when the material was harvested, not when it was deposited at the site. Furthermore it is now known that carbon dating is less reliable for marine organisms and objects long immersed in seawater, due to the marine reservoir effect. For marine organisms, typically the dated object appears about 450 years older than its true age (a correction first estimated in 1975, although the exact value needs to be calibrated for the waters in which it was found.)
Oak Island lies on a glacial
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
system and is underlain by a series of water-filled anhydrite
Anhydrite
Anhydrite is a mineral – anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium and strontium sulfates, as might be expected from the...
cavities, which may be responsible for the repeated flooding of the pit. This type of limestone easily dissolves when exposed to water, forming caves and natural voids. Bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
lies at a depth of 130–150 feet in the Money Pit area.
Upon the invitation of Boston-area businessman David Mugar, a two-week survey was conducted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...
in 1995. This is the only known scientific study that has been conducted on the site. After running dye tests in the bore hole, they concluded that the flooding was caused by a natural interaction between the island's freshwater lens and tidal pressures in the underlying geology, refuting the idea of artificially constructed flood tunnels. The Woods Hole scientists who viewed the videos taken in 1971 concluded that nothing conclusive could be determined from the murky images.
Non fiction and fictional accounts
Oak Island has been a staple of treasure literature with the first published account appearing in 1863 and new books appearing on regular basis. Over 50 books have been published recounting the island's history and exploring competing theories.Several works of fiction have been based upon the Money Pit, including The Money Pit Mystery, Riptide
Riptide (novel)
Riptide is a novel written by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston published in 1998 by Warner Books.The novel revolves around a plot to retrieve the buried treasure of nefarious pirate Red Ned Ockham. The treasure, which is estimated to be worth close to two billion dollars, reputedly includes "St...
and The Hand of Robin Squires
The Hand of Robin Squires
The Hand of Robin Squires was first published in 1977 and is now available from Puffin Books. It is a historical adventure story that is linked to finds in the famous Money Pit on Oak Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. No one has solved the puzzle of the pit and the underground tunnels, but Joan...
. It was also a major plot device in the episode "The Man with the Bone" of the fictional crime drama series Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
. Additionally, the Oak Island/Money Pit Mystery led to the ill-fated Cork Graham
Cork Graham
Frederick Graham , who writes under the name Cork Graham, is a best-selling American author of political thriller novels and true adventure memoirs...
/Richard Knight hunt for Captain Kidd's treasure off western Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1983, documented in The Bamboo Chest.
In 2007, the island was featured in a museum display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a Canadian maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a member institution of the Nova Scotia Museum and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada with a collection of over 30,000 artifacts...
which displayed many artifacts from various eras of treasure hunting as part of the museum's exhibit Pirates: Myth and Reality.
External links
- Oak Island Treasure A large photo gallery, growing historical document archive, latest dig news and forum
- The Mystery Pit of Oak Island containing diagrams of the Money Pit
- Satellite image of Oak Island at Google Maps
- The Oak Island Enigma A History and Inquiry Into The Origin of The Money Pit - Penn Leary 1953
- A history of Oak Island
- Friends of Oak Island Society A successor to the old Oak Island Tourism Society Inc focusing on summer tours of Oak Island
News reports
- CBC Television "Dan Blankenship, treasure seeker"
- CBC Television "The Oak Island money pit: how it works"
- CBC Radio conversation "Nova Scotia's own Treasure Island"
- CBC Radio conversation "Engineer proposes freezing method to extract Oak Island treasure"
- "Featured in Ancient Aliens episode 4"
- On Oak Island from the Straight DopeStraight DopeThe Straight Dope is a popular question-and-answer newspaper column published in the Chicago Reader, syndicated in thirty newspapers in the United States and Canada, as well as being available and archived at the .-Newspapers:...
Skeptical
- "The Secrets of Oak Island", Joe Nickell, Skeptical InquirerSkeptical InquirerThe Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason....
, March/April 2000. - History, Hoax, and Hype The Oak Island Legend, Richard Joltes, August 2006
- "The Oak Island Money Pit", Brian Dunning, SkeptoidSkeptoidSkeptoid is a weekly podcast created and hosted by American skeptic and author Brian Dunning. The show follows an audio essay format, and is dedicated to the critical examination of pseudoscience and the paranormal....
, November 25, 2008