A treasure hunt has been going on in Nova Scotia for over 200 years. On the far east corner of Oak Island, you might still find the abandoned site in the brush. The island holds a treasure hunting history since loot was believed to be buried there for safe keeping. The Money Pit is an ingenious shaft that is very difficult to excavate. Still, treasure hunters continue to dig Oak Island apart searching for the treasure they know is there. The strange tunnel has been searched by many hopeful hunters and the attempts have gone on ever since.
It started in 1795 when a young man named Daniel McGinnis was strolling across Oak Island. He found a circular indention in the earth and directly above it, hung from a branch, was what appeared to be old tackle block or chain. A similar story is recollected in Edgar A. Poe’s short story “The Gold Bug.” The boy called for a few friends to come help dig. At 2 feet they came to a layer of flagstone set by hand. At 10, 20 and 30 feet man made oak platforms were found. Daniel and his friend continued their fruitless search until 1804. 8 years later Daniel McGinnis, John Smith and Anthony Vaughn returned with the Onslow Company to continue their dig. The friends discovered the shaft was built over 90 feet deep with a layer of charcoal, putty or oak at every 10 feet. At the 90 foot mark a strange stone was found with indecipherable text carved on it’s surface. The following day, the team discovered the hole had flooded with 60 feet of water.
Later, in 1849, the Truro Company arrived to try their luck. It was quickly discovered that the original builders of the shaft had set booby trap flood tunnels to keep people out. The Truro Company constructed a parallel shaft, hoping to cut off the flood tunnel, but it quickly filled with water. They were able to trace the flood water back to the beach and found that the tunnel separated into different channels, built with coconut fibers, spruce and grass, that let water come in and out at particular intervals. The exact blueprint for how the intricate flooding system works is still a mystery. The solution came to dam off the water, but a horrible storm blew away any progress and it was disconcerting for the team to find the remains of a previous dam treasure hunters built long ago to fix the same problem. More digging went on, and still more flooding. Any tunnel would only make it too a maximum 100 feet before filling with sea water. Then, in 1861, an attempt made by the Oak Island Treasure Company caused the pit to collapse. The bottom fell deeper making the search that much more impossible.
Aggravated, the team took a different approach and decided to drill core samples and find out what was really down there. Drilling went past 171 feet through blue clay, iron and rock before coming to an object that seemed to be a vault. It was a concrete casing about 7 feet high with walls 7 inches thick. Drilling deeper the core sample brought back several feet of metal pieces and finally, another strange discovery, a piece of sheepskin depicting the strange text diggers encountered before with the stone slab. By 1938 drilling had breached 176 feet.
In 1959 Bob Restall tried the island with his family. Restall found a rock with the numbers “1704” written on it. Later, in 1965, Restall inexplicably passed out and fell into the Money Pit. Bob’s son followed and sadly, both men succumbed to a strange gas leak that may have been carbon monoxide poisoning. Bob Restall and his son both fell unconscious and drowned in the flooding water.
In 1965, another searcher discovered some wrought iron scissors and other artifacts including a screw and washer, proving that deliberate man made construction had taken place- probably done by seamen. By 1976 the Triton Alliance immerged and is still the current company trying to find the gold. That year the breakthrough discovery was made when the company lowered a camera down 230 feet into the pit. What they found was astonishing. First a severed hand was seen floating across the water. Then, two chests could be made out and what appeared to be the remains of a human body. Divers were sent down but the grainy water and current made excavating impossible.
The Money Pit has remained a fantasy trove for over 200 years. It’s hard to tell how much good past excavations have been, considering the numerous cave ins and disasters. Previous hunters had implemented explosive charges to try and cut off the water which probably only made matters worse. All the digging and disturbances has possibly dropped the Money Pit further down, making it uncertain if the treasure remains at all, or if it has been swept away by the flooding waters. Still, the Triton Alliance continue to search, but with 6 dead since digging began in 1795, the place has been seen superstitiously by locals and other visitors. Many more millions have been put into the hunt than it is said to be worth, but that’s not stopping anyone from looking.
