Oak Island has been a fascinating area for treasure hunters and historians. According to legend, the small island located off the Canadian coast is home to a 300-year-old treasure hidden at the bottom of a deep and mysterious pit.
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A lot of people have been trying to get their hands on the treasure of Oak Island for centuries. However, nobody really came close to uncovering anything that could be of value. But all of this changed when two brothers from Michigan were able to unearth something that could change everything we know about the legendary treasure of Oak Island.
The legend of Oak Island
The legend of Oak Island started in 1799. Back then, three teenagers, Anthony Vaugn, John Smith, and Daniel McGinnis were sailing to Oak Island to have some fun under the sun. When they arrived on the beach, they noticed a large, round depression on the ground. Curious, they started to dig in the area to see what had made the sand sink.
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But then, the boys stopped digging after they had gone a few feet in. The boys never revealed why but according to the legend, something had scared the teenagers off. The island had been dormant since then as the rumors of curses grew about the island.
Treasure hunters arrive
It took 10 years before someone decided to check if the teenagers’ story was true. Onslow Company, a treasure-hunting group, came to Oak Island to determine if the local legends were true. The group found the large hole during the early 1800s and it was exactly like the teenagers had described.
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Excited that the rumors of monsters and treasures were true, the Onslow Company started digging immediately. It did not take long for the treasure hunting group to determine what had caused the depression on the sand. They were able to tell that a hole had been dug in the area long before those teenage boys had discovered the depression.
A man-made shaft
The Onslow Company dug until they were able to break an old shaft. It was clearly manmade. As the team continued to dig, they discovered there were wooden platforms every 10 feet and it seemed the platforms went on down to 90 feet. The area was famously referred to as the Money Pit.
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The group noticed something between the 30- and 40-foot platforms. There was a huge slab made out of black stone and it had a mysterious inscription. The slab was about two feet long and one foot thick. The inscription was unlike any language – it was a code!
Breaking the code
The coded carving on the mysterious Oak Island slab remained to be a mystery for code breakers and historians for over a century. Then, Professor Edward Rowe Snow was able to crack the code. According to him, the inscription said “Forty feet below, million pounds are buried.” This was the final piece of proof treasure hunters needed to conduct treasure hunts at Oak Island.
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The famous researcher, William Chappell, led the Oak Island Project after the code was broken. It was in 1931 when William and his team made the attempt to dig past the bottom hole that the Onslow Company started. His team was able to recover a 250-year-old French hunting ax.
Who buried the treasure of Oak Island?
They were about 127 feet deep when William and his team were able to dig out historical artifacts. At first, William was able to find a miner’s pic and an oil lamp – both have been identified to come from Britain. This was seen as further proof that humans made the Money Pit. Then, they found the French axe.
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If the Money Pit is real, who does it belong to? Historians started to come up with their theories as William and his team discovered the artifacts. Everyone was curious about what could lie in the bottom of the pit. A few think that the treasurers belonged to Marie Antoinette and that she may have fled to Oak Island when the French Revolution took place. For some, they believe that Francis Bacon has buried proof revealing that he was William Shakespeare.
Generating theories
Some theories were more simple and grounded too. Some believed that the pit may have been built by a pirate-like Captain Kidd. Others pointed out that the French-Indian War and the Seven Years War took place nearby so the island could have been the perfect spot to hide treasures of the local populations who were worried about invasion.
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The truth is, the possibilities are endless. After William and his team, other more treasure hunters and historians came by the island to continue to look for the Money Pit but never found much. The mystery of Oak Island remained to be a puzzle for several years.
Meet the Lagina brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina were obsessed with treasure hunts ever since they were kids. They were drawn to tales of adventure and intrigue. In fact, their favorite thing to do was create treasure hunts for each other and they dreamed about becoming treasure hunters.
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Back in 1965, an 8-year-old Marty and an 11-year-old Rick picked up an issue of their parent’s Reader’s Digest. That issue had an article on the Oak Island treasure. The boys were immediately fascinated by the mystery and history involved in such treasure and they started to find out everything they could about Oak Island.
Buying Oak Island
Years had passed and their passion for Oak Island never really died. By then, The Triton Alliance company bought and managed the island for 25 years. When they owned the island, access to Oak Island was very limited. But Rick and Marty still kept a close eye on the happenings of the island.
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So, when Triton Alliance declared bankruptcy in 2005, the Lagina brothers decided to pool their resources so that they can purchase Oak Island. They approached a local company, the Blankenship Clan, to help with the rest of the funds. Together, they were able to pay $7 million for Oak Island and formed the Oak Island Tour Company.
The curse of Oak Island
Having full rights to the island that they have been passionate about since they were kids, Rick and Marty were very excited. They could not believe that their dreams of being treasure hunters were becoming legit. The locals warned the Lagina brothers of the curse of Oak Island when they purchased it.
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According to the locals, since 1800, the island had claimed the lives of 6 people from various treasure-hunting expeditions. A lot of the locals believed that anyone who came close to discovering the treasure was doomed. The warning did not scare the Lagina brothers. If there was a curse, they were ready to face it head-on. They had been waiting for this opportunity since they were kids and they will not turn their backs on it now.
Reality TV
News of the Lagina brothers buying the island attracted some media attention. The History Channel was able to hear of it and reached out to the brothers. They wanted to help with the funding of the treasure hunt in one condition: they wanted to film everything and make a reality show. Rick and Marty were hesitant at first but knew that they needed the funds as it was uncertain how much the treasure hunt will take. The brothers eventually made a deal with the History channel.
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Because of the financial backing from History Channel, Rick and Marty were able to get their hands on the latest technology and expand their team. The brothers had brothers David and Dan Blankenship in their team to represent the Blankenship Clan company and the four were joined by archaeologist Miriam Amirault and digging and resistivity expert Craig Tester.
The treasure hunting begins
Now, since the work was started already by previous expeditions, you might think that treasure hunting will be easy for the Lagina brothers. But this was not the case. During the 1960s, an inexperienced treasure hunting team made the mistake of letting mud, water, and debris get into the Money Pit. This made finding the next platform from the original hole more challenging for the rest of the expeditions that followed. From that point, everybody was just guessing where to dig.
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By 2014, the Curse of Oak Island debuted on TV screens and became an instant hit. During the first season, the Lagina brothers were able to get an enormous find. They were able to get a Spanish coin in the Money Pit. The coin was 350 years old. The discovery fueled the whole team to proceed in their quest.
Booby traps
Soon enough, the Lagina brothers were able to find proof that they were digging at the right stop. They managed to uncover an ancient booby trap and more of those traps were discovered around the area. The carefully crafted traps were made to flood the pit with water. Perhaps the inexperienced team from earlier triggered some traps without knowing it, which caused the flooding of the Money Pit. It was very clear that whoever created the Money Pit did not want it to be discovered easily.
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As the team dug their way around the booby traps, they were able to make another interesting discovery. They were able to find an ancient Roman sword. The team could not believe their recent find. How far back did the treasure of Oak Island go? Is it possible that the Romans were the ones who buried the treasure? Another theory is that the treasure may be years worth of plundering, which would explain how the artifacts came from different places.
A Knights Templar map
Then one day, the brothers received a phone call just when the Curse of Oak Island was about to start its fourth season. Zena Halpern, a historian, and the author has written a lot of books from the journeys of Christopher Columbus to the Knights Templar. While she was doing research for another book, she had her hands on a map that the Lagina brothers needed to see.
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The map came from the 1340s and it was a map of Oak Island and the map seemed to indicate that the Knights Templar or the French Government had left a treasure on the island. A note at the bottom of the map read “the Indians from the south work well.” Could the creator of this map be the same people who created the Money Pit? The Lagina brothers never felt so close to a treasure at this point!
More findings
The Lagina brothers continued to uncover a lot of interesting artifacts as they dug deeper in the Money Pit over the years. The team was able to recover a discarded piece of paper. Upon closer examination, it looked like the piece of paper was torn off a book. Rick’s theory was that it came from the Money Pit’s “building book.” However, there is still no proof that such a book exists.
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Not far from where the team found the piece of paper, they also dug up a piece of parchment. The parchment was made out of animal skin. Although it was blank, the parchment was very old and was believed to be as old as the map of Zena. This made the Lagina brothers hopeful that they were on the right track.
A scary find
The presence of booby traps had caused delays in the digging. The team had to regularly drain water from the Money Pit every time they managed to hit one. Although some would find these delays frustrating, the brothers were optimistic. The more booby traps they encountered meant that there was truly something of value underneath all the mud.
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Unfortunately, less than a year after they found the book fragment and parchment, the team’s luck seems to run its course. Then, the team managed to uncover something that almost scared them and cause them to stop the dig.
Human remains in the pit
In the depths of the Money Pit, the team found a human bone. They were surprised to find human remains this deep but as protocol would have it, they called the authorities to report it. A forensic team did a bio-analysis test on the human remains and found that the bone belonged to someone of Middle Eastern ancestry.
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The information created more questions for the treasure hunting team. How did someone from the Middle East end up in a pit on Oak Island? This finding adds another layer of mystery to the Money Pit.
The medieval cross
In 2018, the treasure hunting team was joined by Gary Dayton, an expert in dating metals. The new team member was able to contribute and had his own find as well. Gary was able to uncover a Medieval cross made out of the lead.
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The first time he saw the cross, Gary immediately knew it was Medieval. He was surprised since this was the sort of artifact that you would expect to find somewhere in Europe – not in the Oak Islands! Gary did some more research and determined that the cross was from anywhere between 1200 and 1600.
A rare gem
A few feet from where they found the Medieval cross, Gary also uncovered a beautiful purple garnet. The gem was part of a ring and was believed to be at least 400 years old. What made the find more incredible is that this type of gem could only be found in Africa. Because of this, the gem was only reserved for high-profile people for ceremonies in Egypt and Rome.
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According to the team, based on all the artifacts that they have retrieved throughout the years, it was clear that something odd happened on Oak Island before 1795. In fact, it may even have happened a hundred years earlier based on how old the artifacts have been.
The Knights Templar
The Lagina brothers believe that the treasure belonged to the Knights Templar. The Medieval cross, the map, and the bone fragment that belonged to someone from the Middle East confirmed their theory. The Knights Templar was a Catholic military founded by the Pope in 1119. During their crusades, the Knights Templar were known to collect treasure from the lands that they had ransacked and conquered.
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If the theory was true, this could easily explain why there were artifacts from all over the world in the Money Pit. The powerful, wealthy, and mysterious group has always fascinated historians for centuries. The group has reached legendary proportions and had been featured in movies like The National Treasure and Da Vinci Code.
A secret tunnel
Although the garnet and the Medieval cross were already big finds, the team decided to continue the dig. If the Money Pit was indeed created by the Knights Templar, this meant that they have only scratched the surface of a major treasure find. The team was able to recover documents that changed everything they knew about the Money Pit. These documents were ship logs and according to the documents, there is a secret tunnel that gives a straight entrance to the Money Pit.
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The documents claimed that a deep pit was created and the treasure was to be securely buried in the pit. A secret tunnel was then created so that the treasure can retrieve the treasure easily from the shore. The shipper’s log even mentioned a particular place where the tunnel should be: Smith’s Cove.
What was in Smith’s Cove?
The Curse of Oak Island Season Six shows the team starting to excavate in Smith’s Cove. And it did not take long for the team to uncover something. They were able to find a U-shaped structure underneath the mud. The structure was made out of wood and was filled with debris. While rifling through the debris, Rich and Marty found something – gold!
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Sadly, it was just one gold coin but this was an encouraging sign for the team. The gold coin was dated back to the 1700s. Although it was hard to tell if the gold coin was part of the Knights Templar treasure, it was a sign that they were digging in the right direction.
Another strong theory arises
However, the discovery of the gold coin had historians countering the Knights Templar theory. A lot of historians believe that the treasure belonged to Sir Francis Drake. Many of the items were from the 1700s, which was a period when Sir Francis Drake lived. Sir Francis was a man of power, intelligence, and wealth. Plus, he was also a legendary sea captain. He would definitely have the means and the resources to build the Money Pit.
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In fact, one of the members of the Oak Island team agreed with the Sir Francis Drake theory. Jack Begley, who was also a good friend of the Lagina brothers, thinks that Sir Francis Drake melted metals and turned them into crosses so that he could easily smuggle precious metals like gold, silver, and copper. He could then easily claim that the crosses were given by the church.
A radar anomaly
In 2019, The Curse of Oak Island Season Seven started airing on the History Channel. In this season, the Lagina brothers started digging on a swamp that was near the Money Pit. This change of direction happened because they discovered a radar anomaly in the swamp area. The anomaly looked like it was a pirate ship! The brothers were able to recover ancient wood, which could be part of the ship that the radar detected.
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Meanwhile, the excavations in the Money Pit and Smith’s Cove also continued during the seventh season. The team was able to recover a silver ring that was also dated to the 1700s. The group also recovered a hinge that came from a large chest. There was no doubt that there is indeed treasure hiding somewhere in Oak Island!
Knight Templar era finds
The eighth season of The Curse of Oak Island was probably one of the most exciting of all. This was a time when the coronavirus started to spread throughout the world. Although it meant more risk for the team, they decided to continue with their excavations and they were rewarded by the island once more.
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The team found more gold coins. And not only that, the Lagina brothers unearthed a man-made stone mount that dated back to the late 1300s, bringing them closer to the Knights Templar theory. It did not take a while for another team member to recover a Knights Templar era tool from the Money Pit.
Oak Island’s mysterious hold
Then, another big discovery was found. Scientific readings indicated that there was a huge amount of silver in the Money Pit. Sadly, the readings came when a harsh winter just started so the team could not act on it immediately. The team had to wait the winter out.
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There is no doubt that Oak Island seems to have a mysterious hold over everyone who has seen it. So many treasure hunters and historians have found themselves returning all over again to the island and risking their lives for just a glimpse of what the island may hold. The hold was powerful enough to make the Lagina brothers risk $7 million just to own the rights to the island!
The search continues on Oak Island
It’s been almost two decades since the Lagina brothers purchased Oak Island and they have never regretted their purchase. They still have to uncover a massive treasure but they felt that the work that they have done so far was able to solve a lot of mysteries about the Oak Island treasure. They have no plans of giving up on their childhood dream of finding buried treasure.
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Work continues on Oak Island for the Lagina brothers. They are convinced each day that they are getting closer to uncovering the Oak Island treasure and they are encouraged by historians to continue on. In fact, the History Channel has renewed The Curse of Oak Island for another season, as they believe that the Lagina brothers and their team are making serious progress.
