Paranormal
Just off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, is an island that has been the source of frustration to treasure hunters for over 200 years now. Oak Island holds a treasure which has been well protected, and which has eluded its seekers in a manner of a true mystery.
Group after group after group have tried to solve the riddle. Neither brute force nor technology have been able to overcome the problems. Six lives have been lost and millions of dollars spent trying to uncover the secrets of what has become known as the Money Pit. Still, no one knows what lies at the bottom, who built it or why. There are numerous theories but little proof.
How it all started
One summer day in 1795 Daniel McGinnis, then a teenager, was wandering about Oak Island, Nova Scotia when he came across a curious circular depression in the ground. Standing over this depression was a tree whose branches had been cut in a way which looked like it had been used as a pulley. Having heard tales of pirates in the area he decided to return home to get friends and return later to investigate the hole.Over the next several days McGinnis, along with friends John Smith and Anthony Vaughan, worked the hole. What they found astonished them. Two feet below the surface they came across of layer of flagstones covering the pit. At 10 feet down they ran into a layer of oak logs spanning the pit. Again at 20 feet and 30 feet they found the same thing, a layer of logs. Not being able to continue alone from here, they went home, but with plans of returning to search more.
8 years later, they returned, with the Onslow Company. They got back to the 30 foot depth, and continued to 90 feet. Every 10 feet, they found oak logs, as well as charcoal, putty and coconut fiber layers. At 90 feet, one of the most puzzling clues was found - a stone with some mysterious writing on it.
According to a Halifax Professor, this says: "Forty Feet below two million pounds are buried"
Water began seeping into the pit, and the next day, it was filled up with water. Pumping didn't work, and a parallel pit was dug, down to 100 feet. From there, a tunnel ran to the Money Pit, but again, water flooded in and the search was stopped. For 45 years.
Booby Trap
It turned out that the Onslow Company had unknowingly sprung an ingenious booby trap. A 500 foot waterway dug from the pit to the Smith's Cove nearby (see map) had been unplugged, and so the water from the sea just kept filling up the pit.This discovery, though, was just one of many to be found, in an intricate plan laid out by the designers to keep people away from the booty.
The next to attempt the treasure hunt were the Truro Company. They dug down to 86 feet, and were flooded as well. They then decided to figure out what was buried before continuing to dig, so they started drilling core samples.
Hints of Treasure
At 98 feet the drill went through a spruce platform. Then it encountered 4 inches of oak and then 22 inches of what was characterized as "metal in pieces""; Next 8 inches of oak, another 22 inches of metal, 4 inches of oak and another layer of spruce. The conclusion was that they had drilled through 2 casks or chests filled will coins. Upon pulling out the drill they found splinters of oak and strands of what looked like coconut husk.One account of the drilling also mentions that three small gold links, as from a chain, were brought up. Unfortunately no one knows where they have gone.
Interestingly, the earth encountered beneath the bottom spruce platform was loose indicating that the pit may have gone even deeper. The Truro Company returned in 1850 with plans to dig another parallel hole and then tunnel over to the Money Pit. Just like before, as they tunneled over, water began to rush in. They brought in pumps to try to get rid of the water but it was impossible to keep the water out. During the pumping someone noticed that at Smith's Cove during low tide there was water coming OUT of the beach.
This find lead to an amazing discovery - the beach was artificial.
The Artificial Beach
It turns out that the pit designers had created a drain system, spread over a 145 foot length of beach, which resembled the fingers of a hand. Each finger was a channel dug into the clay under the beach and lined by rocks. The channels were then filled with beach rocks, covered with several inches of eel grass, and then covered by several more inches of coconut fiber. The effect of this filtering system was that the channels remained clear of silt and sand while water was still allowed to flow along them. The fingers met at a point inland where they fed sea water into a sloping channel which eventually joined the Money Pit some 500 feet away. Later investigations showed this underground channel met the Money Pit between the depths of 95 to 110 feet.The Truro Company thought that they just needed to block off the water flow from the beach and dig out the treasure. They tried building a dam just off the beach at Smith's Cove, but a storm blew up and destroyed the damn before it was finished. On an interesting note, the remains of an older dam were found when building the new one.
The next plan was to dig a pit 100 feet or so inland in the hopes of meeting with the water channel underground at which point they could plug the channel. This scheme too failed. And this was the last attempt by the Truro company to uncover the secrets of Oak Island.
The Pit Collapses
The Oak Island Association was the next to attempt the dig, in 1861. They cleared the Money Pit, and ran a parallel hole to meet the pit by the side. Water started to enter the pit again, and they started bailing water out. Suddenly, there was a crash, and the Money pit's bottom fell out. Water rushed into the shafts and the bottom of the Money Pit fell 15 feet.Over the next few years, several companies tried drilling, digging, tunnelling, dams, but met with little or no success.
The Cement Vault
Around 1897, while drilling for more core samples, some surprising results came up.At 126 feet, they struck wood. Then iron. The material was probably laying in a haphazard way, probably due to the Money Pit Crash. Further below, blue clay was found, which can basically be used as a watertight seal, or "putty".
In between the putty layers, a cement vault was found. It was about 7 feet hight with 7 inch thick walls. Inside the vault, the drill first struck wood, then an unknown substance, followed by soft metal, metal pieces, and more soft metal.
When the drill was brought back up another twist was added to the whole mystery. Attached to the auger was a small piece of sheepskin parchment with the letters "vi"; "ui"; or "wi"; What the parchment is a part of is still in question.
More convinced than ever that a great treasure was beneath the island, The Treasure Company began sinking more shafts in the attempts to get to the cement vault. They all met with failure due to flooding.
Another Flood Tunnel
In May of 1899, yet another startling discovery was made. There was a second flood tunnel! This one was located in the South Shore Cove. The designers had been more ingenious and had done more work than previously thought. Though this find certainly strengthened the case that something valuable was buried below it didn't bring anyone closer to actually finding the treasure.Blair and The Oak Island Treasure Company continued to sink new shafts and drill more core samples, but no progress was made and no new information obtained.
Between 1900 and 1936 several attempts were made to obtain the treasure. All met with no success.
Captain Kidd's Treasure
In 1933, Gilbert D. Hedden, a wealthy businessman, spent some time exploring the island. He made a significant discovery in the tangled undergrowth on the edge of the south shore. A triangle of beach stones had been arranged on the ground, with a curved line enclosing the base to give it the appearance of a rough sextant. The sides of the triangle were 10 feet long, and an arrow made of stones slanted across the base line to the apex. The arrow pointed straight towards the Money Pit.It was not by chance that he found this arrow. He was led to it by following directions in the book, Captain Kidd and his Skeleton Island, written in 1935 by Harold Wilkins. This book also had a chart of an island that resembled Oak Island in several ways, and also contained the following directions:
18 W and by 7 E on Rock
30 SW 14 N Tree
7 by 8 by 4
A Fragment of Stone
In 1936, something was discovered, away from the Money Pit. It was a stone fragment similar to the stone fragment with the weird inscriptions discovered earlier.
A similar stone fragment
Death at the Money Pit
In 1959 Bob Restall and his family began their attack on the island which ultimately proved tragic.His one discovery was made on the Smith's Cove beach while attempting to stop the drain system. He found a rock with "1704" inscribed on it. Though others believed it was prank left by a previous search team, Restall believed it was from the time of the original construction.
In 1965 tragedy struck. While excavating a shaft Bob passed out and fell into the water at the bottom. His son, Bobbie, attempted to rescue him as did two of the workers. All four apparently were overcome by some sort of gas, perhaps carbon monoxide from a generator, passed out and drowned.
Recent Discoveries
A hand-wrought nail and a washer at 60 feet. At 90 feet, a layer of rocks in stagnant water. This may have been part of the south water tunnel, but couldn't be explored further because the shaft could not be stopped from caving in.A pair of wrought-iron scissors were discovered in 1967 buried below the drains at Smith's Cove. It was determined that the scissors were Spanish-American, probably made in Mexico, and they were up to 300 years old. Also found was a heart shaped stone.
Smith's Cove revealed some more secrets in 1970 to Triton Alliance. While Triton was building a new cofferdam they discovered the remains of what appeared to be the original builders' cofferdam. The findings included several logs 2 feet thick and up to 65 feet long. They were marked every four feet with Roman numerals carved in them and some contained wooden pins or nails. The wood has been carbon dated to 250 years ago.
The western end of the island has also revealed several items. Two wooden structures, along with wrought-iron nails and metal straps were found at the western beach. Nine feet below the beach a pair of leather shoes were unearthed. Also found was a pile of ash determined to be burnt bones.
BoreHole 10-X
The next major discoveries came in 1976 when Triton dug what is known as Borehole 10-X, a 237 foot tube of steel sunk 180 feet northeast of the Money Pit. During the digging several apparently artificial cavities were found down to 230 feet.A camera lowered down to a bedrock cavity at 230 feet returned some amazing images. At first a severed hand could be seen floating in the water. Later three chests (of the treasure type I would presume) and various tools could be made out. Finally a human body was detected.
After seeing the images, the decision was made to send divers down for a look. Several attempts were made but strong current and poor visibility made it impossible to see anything.
Soon after the hole itself collapsed and has not been reopened.
The Theories - Who and Why?
Captain William Kidd - Legends abound about secret caches of treasure buried by Kidd and his crew. Periodically maps have popped up alleged to be Kidd's showing the location of his treasures. There are many tales of old men on their death beds claiming to have been part of Kidd's crews and having knowledge of hidden wealth. Some of these stories point toward Oak Island.The French - As a safeguard against loss during the many battles with the English over the colonization of the Americas.
The Vikings - There is some record of Viking visitation to the Americas. Though no one knows what would have been so important to hide that such a complicated hiding place was needed, they have been offered as possible builders.
Bands of pirates - Oak Island acted as a communal bank for pirates. Each group would dig tunnels off the Money Pit shaft and bury their treasure. To retrieve it they could dig down through untouched dirt to get their cache.
Stranded Spanish Galleon - It's possible that a Spanish Galleon returning with gold and jewels from Central or South America could have been forced off course. Badly damaged, then stopped at Oak Island, hid the treasure while repairing the ship, and limped home with plans to return later with a more sea-worthy ship to retrieve their cargo.
British during American revolution - Similar to the French theory.
Inca or Maya treasure - During the conquering of the Americas by the Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries, much of the wealth of the Incas and Mayas disappeared. Usually rumored to have been buried or sunken at the bottom of lakes, some researchers believe that it's possible that a group of Incas or Mayas, possible with the help of sympathetic Europeans, stole away with the wealth and buried on Oak Island out of the reach of the conquerors.
Furneaux's Theory
Rupert Furneaux, author of The Money Pit Mystery, went to Oak Island as well, but not in search of the treasure. Rather, to write an authoritative guide to the whole mystery. Furneaux dismissed the theory that pirates had constructed this elaborate scheme, since it required immense engineering skill and months of efforts, which involved patience, and that a pirate crew would always be eager for the next adventure and next booty.Therefore, there had to be an able engineer, supervising a group of disciplined workers. He put himself in the engineer's position, and realized that the greatest problem would have been keeping the workers working on a straight line from Smith's Cove to the Money Pit. The line is 14 degrees south of the true east-west line. Workmen digging in such dark conditions would have to use a compass to figure out the way, since it would also be the simplest and easiest method.
Therefore, he had to look for a year in which the magnetic variation of the compass was 14 degrees off true north/true east. This was 1611 and 1780. 1611 clearly being too early, he chose the year 1780.
Images
Oak Island, Aerial View
Money Pit Diagram
