The Oak Island Mysteries

In the off-chance that you haven’t been watching the Oak Island Mystery TV series, here is a little background into the mysteries behind the island.

Oak Island Mystery refers to the stories of buried treasures and unexplained objects that are found on or near Oak Island in Nova Scotia.

A number of attempts have been made to locate these treasures and artifacts. Many theories about the artifacts on the island range from pirate treasures to Shakespearean manuscripts, possibly th Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant, the Grail and the Ark having been buried there by the Knights Templar.

This should peak your interest, so travel with me now into the depths of the Oak Island Mystery.

Various items over the years have surfaced, and some of which have been carbon-dated and found to be hundreds of years old. Now although these items are considered treasures in their own right, no significant main treasure site has ever been found. The original dig site, in an unknow location, was dug by early explorers and is known as “The Mone Pit”. “The Curse” is said to have originated more than a century ago and it states that seven men will die in the search for the treasure before it is found. To date, six men have died in efforts to find this treasure. An account was written in 1862. The Onslow Company excavated 80-90 feet. Afterward the pit flooded with seawater up to the 33-foot level…..attempts to remove this water was unsuccessful.

Treasure hunters later claimed that coconut fibers were discovered beneath the surface of a beach in 1851, known as Smith’s Cove. This led to a theory that the beach had been converted into a siphon, feeding the seawater into the pit through a man-made tunnel.

A STONE WITH ALLEGED MARKINGS

A stone was found 90 feet below the surface, and was said to have been inscribed with “mysterious markings”. An article claimed that the stone was held by the Smith family. A treasure hunter George Cook, claimed that Smith built the stone into his chimney in 1824 and said that he was shown the stone by Smith in the chimney around 1850. At that time Cook said, “There were some crude cut letters, figures or characters upon it. I cannont recollect which but they appear as if they had been scraped out by a blunt instrumen, raher than cut with a sharp one.” In 1864, Cook had made inquiries and discovered that the chimney had been enclosed in wood and surrounded by a staircase making the stone no longer visible. One researcher who read the cipher on the stone said the scratchings on the stone transcribe as, “Forty feet below, two million pound lie buried”.

Many theories have come about in regards to “the money pit”. The most fanciful of all is that the pit held a pirate treasure buried by Captain Kidd. Kidd and Henry Avery were reported as having took treasure together, and Oak Island was their community bank. Another theory involved Edward Teach (Blackbeard) who said that he buried his treasure, “where none but Satan and myself can find it.”

There is also an unproven story alleging that Marie Antoinett’s jewels, all missing except for specimens in museum collections, may have been hidden on the island when she reportedly instructed her maid to flee with her jewels.

If you are one interested in buried treasures, it may be worth looking at the television series, where it claims that the islands secrets are revealed.