The Mystery of Oak Island Pit
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The document describes the mystery of Oak Island, located off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1795, three boys discovered a mysterious pit on the island that others have tried, but failed, to fully excavate. Various attempts over the centuries have uncovered artifacts and evidence of tunnels and booby traps, but the source of the pit and its purpose remain unknown. Several theories have emerged about buried treasure or historical documents, but the mystery remains unsolved.
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The Mystery of Oak Island Pit
- 1. The Mystery of Oak Island Photo Credit: Dustin Scarpitti.
- 2. Photo Credit: Pavan Trikutam. Have you heard of “The Mystery of Oak Island”? It starts with a fellow adventurer…
- 3. Daniel McGinnis saw lights in the distance. Photo Credit: DeShannon Bynum Dixon.
- 4. Where, below a hanging tree… Lay a mysterious pit. Photo Credit: Beata Ratuszniak.
- 5. With John Smith and Anthony Vaughan, he rowed to the cryptic island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Photo Credit: Owen Walters.
- 6. Sun dripping from dirt skin, the boys dug 30 feet down to flagstones and logs. But no one would ever fully excavate the pit. Photo Credit: Ashley Morgan.
- 7. Photo Credit: Joe Nickell.
- 8. In 1803, the Onslow Company dug to 90 feet and found a stone tablet written in an odd language. In 1845, the Truro Company dug down to 86 feet and found an artificial beach. Photo Credit: Ashley Morgan.
- 9. Photo Credit: Ashley Morgan. Drilling attempts led to flood tunnels all over the island.
- 10. Photo Credit: Loreta Pavoliene. In 1909, Franklin D. Roosevelt, before he became the American president, also looked for the treasure.
- 11. Photo Credit: Ashley Morgan. Robert Restall always loved adventure and became obsessed with the treasure in Oak Island’s money pit.
- 12. Photo Credit: Joseph Lalonde. Then the whole Restall family pursued the pit. In 1965, Robert and Robbie succumbed to its toxic fumes.
- 13. Photo Credit: Cbcs. A total of six people died. One more person must die before the island gives up its secret.
- 14. Photo Credit: Tomas Chevalier. Shuddering, I flip my book. Theories, anyone?
- 15. Photo Credit: It’s Art Magazine. Did the Vikings build the money pit?
- 16. Did pirates inhabit the island and bury their treasure there? Captain William Kidd? Blackbeard? Photo Credit: Barbara Busquet.
- 17. Photo Credit: Salzburg.com. Did Francis Bacon bury the original Shakespeare manuscripts in the pit? What plays? New ones?
- 18. Photo Credit: Pixshark.com. Will Canada’s Blankenship ever sell the island? Obtain the gold? Not in my lifetime, perhaps.
- 19. The search continues... Photo Credit: History Channel.
- 20. Photo Credit: James Donahue. One day, my friends! One day.
- 21. References Dunning, B. (2008, Nov. 25). The Oak Island mystery. Skeptoid. Retrieved February 22, 2015 from http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4129 Foot, R. (2003, Jan. 10). For sale: N.S. treasure island: Group wants heritage site, not monster homes. National Post. Retrieved February 21, 2015 from http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=47N4- WMP0-01D6-K1PX&csi=270944,270077,11059,8411&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true Keyes, B. (1999). Treasure: Oak Island: The story of Oak Island. Active Mind. Retrieved February 25, 2015 from http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/topics/oakisland/story.html Krystek, L. (1998). The mystery pit of Oak Island. UnMuseum. Retrieved February 22, 2015 from http://www.unmuseum.org/oakisl.htm Morgan, A. (2014, Sept. 12). Oak Island money pit – the last great unsolved mystery. Oak Island Money Pit. Retrieved February 24, 2015 from http://www.oakislandmoneypit.com/ Nickell, J. (2000, March/April). The secrets of Oak Island. CSI. Retrieved February 20, 2015 from http://www.csicop.org/SI/show/secrets_of_oak_island/ Patterson, E. (2012, July 29). Oak Island obsession destroyed family. The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved February 25, 2015 from http://thechronicleherald.ca/books/121875-oak-island-obsession-destroyed-family Strochlic, N. (2014, Feb. 27). Treasure hunt to discover Oak Island’s mysterious pit. The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 23, 2015 from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/27/treasure-hunt-to-discover-oak-island-s- mysterious-booty.html Whipps, H. (2005, Nov. 7). For sale: Island with mysterious money pit. LiveScience. Retrieved February 22, 2015 from http://www.livescience.com/466-sale-island-mysterious-money-pit.html
- 22. Photo References Busquet, B. (2011, Nov. 30). <http://barbarashdwallpapers.com/pirates-of-the-caribbean-wallpapers/> Cbcs (2014). Gyard. <http://morguefile.com/archive/display/884533> Chevalier, T. (n.d.). <https://unsplash.com/photos/aGmGLe_06OM/download> Dixon, D.B. (2015). Life After Death. <https://deshannonspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/lifeafterdeath.jpg> Donahue, J. (n.d.). The Ghost Ship off Nova Scotia Coast. <http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id303.html > History Channel (n.d.). <http://www.history.com/shows/the-curse-of-oak-island/about> It’s Art Magazine (n.d.). Vikings. <http://www.itsartmag.com/features/vikings/> Lalonde, J. (2006). Girl Running After Brother. <http://www.jmlalonde.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Girl-running- after-brother.jpg> Morgan, A. (2014, Sept. 12). Oak Island Money Pit. http://www.oakislandmoneypit.com/ Pavoliene, L. (n.d.). <https://unsplash.com/photos/_VMOdjWWZQo/download> Pixshark.com (n.d.). Beowulf dragon. <http://pixshark.com/beowulf-dragon-treasure.htm> Ratuszniak, B. (n.d.). <https://unsplash.com/photos/608SA-ldxfE/download> Salzburg.com (2015, March 5). <http://www.salzburg.com/nachrichten/welt/kultur/sn/artikel/der-ewig-neue- shakespeare-warum-verlage-klassiker-neu-uebersetzen-140482/> Scarpitti, D. (n.d.). <https://unsplash.com/photos/26-lAP0XprM/download> Trikutam, P. (n.d.). <https://unsplash.com/photos/avJ9uz9Qhcw/download> Vlasach, J. (n.d.). Ocean. <http://thepatternlibrary.com/#ocean> Walters, O. (n.d.). https://unsplash.com/photos/8C-TxFyk6UE/download Background Music: “Of Treasure” by Alestorm from the album, Captain Morgan’s Revenge.
Editor's Notes
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- Bright lights on Oak Island: In the humid summer of 1795, 16-year old Daniel McGinnis--or McInnis as Nickell called him--saw strange lights on an island from his parent's house. His eyes followed the lights to the island (Morgan, 2014 and Nickell, 2000). Rowing to the island, Daniel once heard faint rumors of supernatural activity and buried treasure on the island, especially with the dawn of the “Golden Age of Piracy” (Strochlic, 2014).
- Underneath the Tree: Exploring the island, McGinnis tread over lowered ground lined by severed oak trees. One severed tree, covered by mist, directed McGinnis to a hole in the ground (Morgan, 2014). Near the pit’s entryway, McGinnis found a tackle box. Smiling, he returned home, a fateful idea swimming in his head (Nickell, 2000).
- McGinnis’s Friends: Krystek (1998) identifies McGinnis’s friends as John Smith, aged 19, and Anthony Vaughn, aged 16 (Krystek, 1998). Tagging Along: The next day, McGinnis convinced his friends to help him dig up the pit (Nickell, 2000). Together, they rowed to Oak Island, one of 360 small islands lying in the Mahone Bay off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada (Morgan, 2014). They anchored their boat on the coast of the island, described as “peanut-shaped and about three-quarters of a mile long and 1,000 feet wide” (Krystek, 1998).
- Penetrating the pit: The boys, shovels in hands, dug 30 feet into the pit and struck a layer of flagstones and logs. The logs led the boys to believe someone, namely Captain William Kidd, had buried something here. After several weeks of logs, the boy gave up at 30 feet (Dunning, 2008). Request for Assistance: McGinnis and his friends thought they hit a man-made shaft and asked for help. The local residents spouted skepticism, and the boys ceased their efforts (Nickell, 2000).
- From McGinnis to various companies: Nickell’s (2000) map shows Oak Island as it looked in 1999. The “Money Pit, 1795” box refers to McGinnis and his friends’ attempts at excavating the money pit. The “Inscribed Stone, 1804” box refers to companies following the boy’s thrill of adventure.
- The Onslow Company, a mining group, traveled to Oak Island in 1803. Upon approaching the money pit, the workers found the logs sealed by coconut fiber and putty (Dunning, 2008). The workers dug at 90 feet and hit an inscribed stone tablet ornamented with odd symbols. The stone reads, “40 feet below, two million pounds lie buried.” Guided by the stone, the workers continued, but they struck a side tunnel and flooded the island (Dunning, 2008). Later, The Truro Company, faced with the flooded island, set up a “platform in the pit and used a hang-operated auger to drill [to] remove cores of material.” They uncovered clay, wood, and “gold chain-supposed evidence of buried treasure” (Nickell, 2000).
- Further floods: The Truro Company’s attempts led to more flood tunnels in nearby shafts. The company terminated its expedition in 1850 (Nickell, 2000). Crash! The Oak Island Association followed behind and dug to 120 feet, sinking another shaft and--with a dull crack--collapsing the money pit (Nickell, 2000). The Association workers discovered an artificial beach as a “system of drains that kept filling the Money Pit with water at an estimated rate of 1,000 gallons a minute” (Strochlic, 2014).
- In 1909, 27-year old law clerk Franklin Delano Roosevelt rowed to the island, or as he called it, “Camp Kidd.” American explorer Henry Bowdoin and his crew accompanied the future president, and Roosevelt, with 10-million dollars in his eyes, drilled 149 feet into the pit, but he and the team found nothing. As President, Roosevelt continued tracking the island’s treasure from afar. In 1938, he hoped to visit the island again and see if modern-day methods—at the time—worked better than his and Bowdoin’s method of excavating the pit. (Strochlic, 2014).
- Family’s background: During the 1930s, Robert Restall lived the thrill of adventure, participating in motorcycle shows. He called them the “Globe of Death” and performed with his bride, Mildred, in Europe. In 1955, the couple moved to Hamilton, Ontario in Canada where they raised three children (Morgan, 2014). Lee Lamb, the couple’s daughter, lived with her own family while her brothers lived with their parents (Patterson, 2012). Oak Island’s Deadly Grip: In 1965, Robert ventured to Oak Island. His face trembling in awe, Robert began learning all about the island—from scouring to reading articles. In 1959, after a deal with the island’s owner at the time, Mel Chappell, Robert won full rights over the money pit. Suitcases strapped to their shoulders, Robert and his eldest son, Robbie, moved there (Morgan, 2014). Discovery: While on Oak Island, Robert discovered a rock carved with the number “1704” while trying to stop the island’s floods on Smith’s Cove beach. He thought the number referred to the time of the island’s construction. He showed the rock to other workers, but they dismissed it as a joke (Keyes, 1998).
- The rest of the family moved to Oak Island. They lived in two-cabin homes lacking water and suffering dynamite blows--the family wanted the island’s money to survive (Morgan, 2014). The family originally planned to stay at Oak Island, but they ran into several delays (Patterson, 2012). Tragedy: On August 17, 1965 at 2:00pm, Robert peered over the ledge of the pit. Clutching at his neck, he choked on the pit’s “noxious gas” and fell in. Robbie charged in to save his father but, drowned in the waters below with him. Two workers named Karl Graeser and Cyril Hiltz joined them in death (Morgan, 2014).
- Previous Deaths: Along with the Restall deaths, two other people died previously. In 1861, an exploding boiler burned a member of the Oak Island Association alive and harmed other workers (Morgan, 2014). In 1897, Maynard Kaiser of the Oak Island Treasure Company crawled out of one of the shafts, but an ascension rope carrying Kaiser pulled him back down into the shaft. People started to believe spirits cursed the money pit and protected the treasure (Morgan, 2014). Legend: The island would only reveal the treasure after seven people die for the treasure (Morgan, 2014).
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- Vikings may have visited the Americas, but no one knows if hid treasure in the pit’s complicated location. They may have built the pit instead (Keyes, 1999).
- Captain William Kidd: McGinnis and his friends thought they found Captain William Kidd’s treasure. Since the 1600s, people told stories about Kidd burying his treasure on an island located “east of Boston,” which refers to Oak Island. A possible crewman of Kidd’s never revealed the treasure’s location (Krystek, 1998). Explorers of the island found maps and believed they pointed to Kidd’s treasure. Also, several old men, on their death beds, claim to have served as his crewmen, but they do not know where to find the treasure (Keyes, 1999). Blackbeard: People say Blackbeard boasted about hiding treasure “where none but Satan can find it” (Krystek, 1998). Other pirates: Oak Island may have served as a communal spot for pirates where they buried their treasure in shafts. The pirates could also unearth “untouched dirt” for their treasures (Keyes, 1999). Pirates Dismissed: Pirates buried treasure so they could come back to it, but neither Blackbeard nor Kidd probably never traveled to Oak Island (Krystek, 1998).
- For years, people think Francis Bacon wrote William Shakespeare’s plays; no one can locate his “original manuscripts.” Furthermore, Bacon may have buried the original manuscripts in the money pit (Keyes, 1999).
- Dan Blankenship’s background: Since the 1960s, current owners Dan Blankenship and David Tobias have poured “millions of dollars” into the Oak Island excavation (Whipps, 2005). Near-Death Experience: In 1971, Blankenship and his crew claimed to have uncovered a severed hand, three chests, a pickaxe, and a corpse leaning on the pit’s wall. Once, the pit’s entrance began to trap Blankenship inside the pit before his son, David, pulled him out (Strochlic, 2014). Knights Templar? Blankenship hopes the Knights Templar buried their gold in the Money Pit as they had left behind 13 English ships (Strochlic, 2014). How much Oak Island costs: Richard Foot (2003) reports the 79-year old Blankenship will sell the island for $7 million and if they include the possible treasure, $50 million. The Oak Island Tourism Society wanted the Canadian government or Nova Scotia to purchase the island as a major tourist attraction. The governments, however, refused (Whipps, 2005). The society’s desire: Blankenship’s willingness to sell the island has caused anxiety for local residents as well as the Oak Island Tourism Society, a group devoted to encouraging public tours on the island. The society also wants to make a “heritage site” out of the island. Danny Hennigar of the Oak Island Tourism Society and John Chataway wanted to purchase the island to prevent it from going to mansions and to keep the island open for the public (Foot, 2003). Current Status: As of 2003, Blankenship still searches for the treasure within the money pit, sharing Oak Island with his family and at least three other owners.
- Current owners and TV show: Brothers Marty and Rick Lagina serve as Oak Island’s owners. In 2014, they launched the reality show, The Curse of Oak Island, on The History Channel (Morgan, 2014). In the show, they use today’s technology to discover treasure and artifacts related to the island. The show also showcases the island history, including events and findings, and displays current progress (Morgan, 2014). Assistance: The reality show involves the help of Blankenship and his son, David, who now live on the island (Morgan, 2014). Show’s reputation: The show currently has two seasons. 3.1 million people watched the second season’s finale, thus, reflecting the ongoing popularity of the Oak Island mystery (Morgan, 2014).
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