The Oak Island mystery refers to stories and legends about buried treasure and unexplained objects found on or near Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. The site consists of digs by numerous individuals and groups of people. The original shaft, the location of which is unknown today, was dug by early explorers, and is known as "the money pit".
Since the 18th century, attempts have been made to find treasure and artifacts. Hypotheses about the treasure range from pirate gold to Shakespearean manuscripts to the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant, with the Grail and the Ark having been buried there by the Knights Templar. Various items such as wood from a shaft have been found on the island over the years, some even dating to hundreds of years old. The alleged treasure has never been found.
A curse on the treasure is said to have originated more than a century ago and states that seven men will die in the search for the treasure before it is found.
History
Early accounts (1790s–1857) Very little verified information is known about early treasure-related activities on Oak Island; thus, the following accounts are word of mouth stories reportedly going back to the late eighteenth century. Decades later publishers began to pay attention to such activity and investigated the stories involved. The earliest known story of a treasure found by a settler named Daniel McGinnis appeared in print in 1857. It then took another five years before one of the alleged original diggers gave a statement regarding the original story along with subsequent Onslow and Truro Company activities.
The original story by early settlers (first recorded in print in 1863) involves a dying sailor from the crew of Captain Kidd (d. 1701), in which he states that treasure worth £2 million had been buried on the island. According to the most widely held discovery story, Daniel McGinnis found a depression in the ground in the summer of 1795, while he was looking for a location for a farm. McGinnis, who believed that the depression was consistent with the Captain Kidd story, sought help with digging. With the assistance of two men identified only as John Smith and Anthony Vaughn, he excavated the depression and discovered a layer of flagstones below. According to later accounts, oak platforms were discovered every ; however, the earliest accounts simply mention "marks" of some type at these intervals.Crooker, William S. Oak Island Gold (Nimbus Publishing, 1993) The accounts also mentioned "tool marks" or pick scrapes on the walls of the pit. The earth was noticeably loose, not as hard-packed as the surrounding soil. The three men reportedly abandoned the excavation at due to "superstitious dread".McCully, J.B. "The Oak Island Diggings". Liverpool Transcript, October 1862 – printing letter dated June 2, 1862 another link – described by the newspaper as "about the best account we have ever seen of the "diggings" – mentions the finding of the inscribed stone, but not what happened to it subsequently Another twist on the story has all four people involved as teenagers. In this rendering, McGinnis first finds the depression in 1795 while on a fishing expedition. The rest of the story is consistent with the first involving the logs found, but ends with all four individuals giving up after digging as much as they could.
In about 1802, a group known as the Onslow Company allegedly sailed from central Nova Scotia to Oak Island to recover what they believed to be hidden treasure. They continued the excavation down to about , with layers of logs (or "marks") found about every , and also discovered layers of charcoal, putty and coconut fibre along with a large stone inscribed with symbols. The diggers then faced a dilemma when the pit flooded with of water for unknown reasons. The alleged excavation was eventually abandoned after workers attempted to recover the treasure from below by digging a tunnel from a second shaft that also flooded.
The last major company of the unpublished era was called The Truro Company, which was allegedly formed in 1849 by investors. The pit was re-excavated back down to the level, but ended up flooding again. It was then decided to drill five bore holes using a pod-auger into the original shaft. The auger passed through a spruce platform at , then hit layers of oak, something described as "metal in pieces", another spruce layer, and clay for . This platform was hit twice; each time metal was brought to the surface, along with various other items such as wood and coconut fibre.
Another shaft was then dug deep northwest of the original shaft, and a tunnel was again branched off in an attempt to intersect the treasure. Once again though, seawater flooded this new shaft; workers then assumed that the water was connected to the sea because the now-flooded new pit rose and fell with each tide cycle. The Truro Company shifted its resources to excavating a nearby cove known as "Smith's Cove" where they found a flood tunnel system. When efforts failed to shut off the flood system, one final shaft was dug deep with the branched-off tunnel going under the original shaft. Sometime during the excavation of this new shaft, the bottom of the original shaft collapsed. It was later speculated that the treasure had fallen through the new shaft into a deep void causing the new shaft to flood as well. The Truro Company then ran out of funds and was dissolved sometime in 1851.
The first published account took place in 1857, when the Liverpool Transcript mentioned a group digging for Captain Kidd's treasure on Oak Island., referring to letter in previous edition – – these two letters give no details of the history of the diggings. This would be followed by a more complete account by a justice of the peace in Chester, Nova Scotia, in 1861, which was also published in The Transcript under the title of "The Oak Island Folly" regarding the contemporary scepticism of there being any treasure. – gives no details of the history of the diggings. However, the first published account of what had taken place on the Island did not appear until October 16, 1862, when Anthony Vaughan's memories were recorded by The Transcript for posterity. Activities regarding the Onslow and Truro Companies were also included that mention the mysterious stone and the Truro owned auger hitting wooden platforms along with the "metal in pieces". The accounts based on the Liverpool Transcript articles also ran in the Novascotian, the British Colonist, and is mentioned in an 1895 book called A History Of Lunenburg County.Patrick. "Response to the Oak Island Folly". (11-13/130), September 30, 1861 – gives details of the Onslow and Truro companies – does not mention the inscribed stone.A Member. "A History of The Oak Island Enterprise". (14-22/130) British Colonist (in 3 chapters published on January 2 (Onslow Company), 7 (Truro Company), and 14, 1864) – the inscribed stone "was preserved in the family of Mr. Smith it may be seen by the curious at the present day"
Early excavations (1861–1898)
The next major excavation attempt was carried out in 1861 by a company called "The Oak Island Association". The original pit was re-excavated to a depth of , and two more shafts were dug. The first one missed its intended target of an alleged flood tunnel, while the other intersected the original shaft via a branched-off tunnel at around deep. Both of these shafts were filled with water when an alleged flood tunnel was again breached. At one point, one of the platforms placed in the original shaft at collapsed and dropped to a lower level. The effect caused the next two platforms to drop as well, with any treasure now resting below ground along with an estimated of lumber. The first of six accidental deaths during excavations occurred in late 1861 when a pump engine boiler burst. The explosion was first mentioned in an 1863 novel titled Rambles Among the Blue-noses, while mention of a death came five years later. Another shaft was dug in early 1862, one which was deep. This new shaft was parallel to and connected with the original shaft. It was used to pump water out of the original shaft to a depth of . Although the pumps could not keep up with the floodwater, tools that had been used by the Onslow and Truro companies were recovered. The Oak Island Association also did some work at Smith's Cove by drilling a few shafts in an attempt to shut off and seal the alleged flood tunnels. All of these attempts were failures in the end, due to the tide which eventually broke through barriers that were put in place. One final attempt was made in 1864 to intersect the money pit, resulting in alleged flood tunnels again being breached. By this time, saltwater was undermining the walls of the original shaft, which some workers refused to enter. The original shaft was inspected by mining engineers who declared it unsafe, and the company abandoned their efforts when their money ran out.The History Channel, Decoding the Past: The Templar Code, video documentary, November 7, 2005, written by Marcy Marzuni
In 1866, a group known as The Oak Island Eldorado Company or more commonly The Halifax Company was formed to find the treasure. By this time, there were many shafts, bore holes, and tunnels under Oak Island made by previous treasure hunters. When a plan to shut off the alleged flood tunnels from Smith's Cove did not work, the company decided to shift focus to the original main shaft. Exploratory holes that were drilled turned up bits of wood, more coconut fiber, soft clay, and blue mud. Having found nothing of interest, the group gave up the search in 1867.
In 1896, an unknown group arrived on the island with steam pumps and boring equipment. Although the pumps were unable to keep water out of the flooded side shaft, boring samples were taken. It was claimed that one of the samples brought a tiny piece of sheepskin parchment to the surface. The parchment had two letters, "vi" or "wi", written in India ink.Bowdoin, H. L. "Solving the Mystery of Oak Island" Colliers Magazine, August 19, 1911, p. 19 The second accidental death occurred on March 26, 1897, when a worker named Maynard Kaiser fell to his death. In 1898, red paint was poured into the flooded pit by the group, reportedly revealing three exit holes around the island.
The Old Gold Salvage group (1909)
Captain Henry L. Bowdoin arrived on Oak Island in August 1909 representing the Old Gold Salvage group, one of whose members was Franklin D. Roosevelt. By this time, the area now known as the "money pit" was cleared out to and divers were sent down to investigate. Although multiple borings were taken in and around the pit, none of the cores revealed anything of interest.
Bowdoin also examined Smith's Cove, where drain tunnels and a ring bolt in a rock had reportedly been seen. Although the group found the remains of an 1850 cofferdam, no evidence of anything else was found. Bowdoin later examined the "stone cipher" in Halifax and found it a basalt rock with no symbols. He was doubtful that symbols could have worn off the rock, given its hardness. The group left the island in November 1909.
William Chappell and Gilbert Hedden (1928–1939)
In 1928, a New York newspaper published a feature story about Oak Island. William Chappell became interested and excavated the pit in 1931 by sinking a shaft southwest of what he believed was the site of the 1897 shaft (which was thought, without evidence, to be near the original pit). At , artifacts, including an axe, a fluke anchor and a pick, were found. The pick was identified as a Cornish miner's pick, but by this time the area around the pit was littered with debris from previous excavation attempts and finding the owner was impossible.