The legendary story of Oak Island is to say the least unique and the Oak Island deaths have played a starring role in the legends longevity to this day, but were these deaths accidents or a curse fulfilled? The island itself has been the source of many stories, and legends. Below is a few excerpts of the from Oak Island’s timeline:
- 1795 – 18 year old Daniel McGinnis observed lights coming from the island, upon investigating he discovered a circular depression in a clearing on the southeastern end of the island. Adjacent to the clearing was a tree with a tackle block on one of its overhanging branches. McGinnis, with the help of friends John Smith (in other early accounts, Samuel Ball) and Anthony Vaughan, excavated the depression and discovered a layer of flagstones a few feet below. On the pit walls there were visible markings from a pick. As they dug down they discovered layers of logs at about every 10 feet (3.0 m). They abandoned the excavation at 30 feet (9.1 m). This initial discovery and excavation was first briefly mentioned in print in the Liverpool Transcript in October 1856.
- 1803 – According to the original articles and the memories of Vaughan, another company examined what was to become known as the “Money Pit.” The Onslow Company continued the excavation down to approximately 90 feet (27.43 m) and found layers of logs or “marks” about every ten feet (3 m) and layers of charcoal, putty and coconut fiber at 40, 50 and 60 feet (12, 15 and 18 m ). According to one of the earliest written accounts, at 80–90 feet (24–27 m), they recovered a large stone bearing an inscription of symbols. Several researchers apparently attempted to decipher the symbols. One translated them as saying: “forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried.” The symbols currently associated with the “forty feet down…” translation and seen in many books first appeared in True Tales of Buried Treasure, written by explorer and historian Edward Rowe Snow in 1951. In this book he states he was given this set of symbols by Reverend A.T. Kempton of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nothing is known about Kempton’s involvement in the Oak Island tale or how he knew of the symbols
Inscribed Stone Found at Site - 1850 – Subterranean waterway and artificial beach were found at Smith’s Cove.
- 1861 – First life claimed by Oak Island. A man was scalded to death by an exploding boiler.
- 1897 – Triangle rock formation was discovered.
- 1897 – “Cement vault” encountered and parchment was found during drilling.
- 1897 – Second life lost when Maynard Kaiser fell to his death while being pulled out of the pit.
- 1936 – 2nd inscribed stone found and more evidence of original cofferdam found.
- 1965 – In one day Oak Island claimed four more lives: Bob and Bobbie Restall, Karl Grasser, and Cyril Hiltz.
Since the Oak Island treasure hunt began, 6 lives have been lost and a treasure has never been found, only some clues or pieces of the islands past history have surfaced. Why though does the hunt continue? A majority of the story is true guesswork with missing parts and questionable history. No real archaeology or controlled digs has happened in the hunt for the treasure, as more and more money is tossed into finding the island’s secrets. Over the years many ambitious and dedicated people have hunted for the treasure but more often then not they were only amateurs with money or the desire for it. And they came out with nothing. Honestly can you blame them for trying? The allure of finding what so many others couldn’t, solving the great mystery of Oak Island…
What if the only treasure Oak Island contains is really just a metaphor for what makes an adventure/mystery so marvelous to us all…. that search for the unknown?