Coordinates: 44°30′46.9″N 64°17′17.9″W From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the Oak Island in . For other uses, see Oak Island (disambiguation).

Oak Island is a 57-hectare (140- Oak Island acre) island in Lunenburg County on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. The tree-covered island is one of about 360 small islands in Mahone Bay and rises to a maximum of 11 metres (36 feet) above sea level. Located 200 metres (660 feet) from shore and connected to the mainland by a modern causeway, the island is privately owned.

Oak Island is noted as the location of the so-called Money Pit and the Oak Island, Nova Scotia site of over 200 years of Geography hunting.[1] Repeated excavations have reported layers of apparently Location Nova Scotia, Canada human-made artifacts as deep as Coordinates 44°30′46.9″N 31 metres (102 ft), but ended in 64°17′17.9″W collapsed excavations and flooding. Critics argue that there is no Total islands 1 treasure and that the pit is a Area 57 ha (140 acres) natural phenomenon, likely a Highest elevation 11 m (36 ft) sinkhole.[2] Country Canada Contents Province Nova Scotia Demographics 1 History of the Money Pit Population Unknown 1.1 Early accounts 1.2 Oak Island Association and Old Gold Salvage group 1.3 Gilbert Hedden and William Chappell 1.4 Restall family and Robert Dunfield 1.5 Triton Alliance 1.6 Oak Island Tours Inc. 2 Explanations of origin 2.1 Pirate treasure 2.2 Naval treasure 2.3 's jewels 2.4 Shakespeare manuscripts 2.5 treasure 2.6 Freemasonry 2.7 Viking ship 2.8 Decoy 2.9 Natural sinkhole 3 Pit flooding 4 Non-fictional and fictional accounts 5 Television 6 References 7 External links

History of the Money Pit

Early accounts

There are many 19th-century accounts of Oak Island, but some are conflicting or biased.[2] Further, physical evidence from the initial excavations is absent or has been lost. A basic summary of the history of the pit is as follows:

In 1795, 18-year-old Daniel McGinnis, after observing lights coming from the island, discovered a circular depression in a Money Pit at Oak Island. 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.[3] McGinnis, with the help of friends John Smith (in 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).[3]

This initial discovery and excavation was first briefly mentioned in print in the Liverpool Transcript in October 1856. A more complete account followed, again in the Liverpool Transcript by a Justice of the Peace in Chester, Nova Scotia,[3][4] the Novascotian,[5][6] British Colonist,[7] and A History Of Lunenburg County[8] (the last source based on the Liverpool Transcript articles).

About eight years after the 1795 dig, 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 sailed 300 nautical miles (560 km) from central Nova Scotia near Truro to Oak Island with the goal of recovering what they believed to be secret treasure. They continued the excavation down to approximately 90 feet (27 m) and found layers of logs or "marks" about every ten feet (3 m) and layers of charcoal, putty and fibre[9] 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.[4] The pit subsequently flooded up to the 33-foot (10 m) level. Bailing did not reduce the water level, and the excavation was abandoned. 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 , 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.[10] Nothing more is known about Kempton's involvement in the Oak Island tale.

Investors formed The Truro Company in 1849, which re-excavated the shaft back down to the 86 feet (26 m) level, where it flooded again. They then drilled into the ground below the bottom of the shaft. According to the nineteenth-century account, the drill or "pod auger" passed through a spruce platform at 98 feet (30 m), a 12-inch (300 mm) head space, 22 inches (560 mm) of what was described as "metal in pieces", 8 inches (200 mm) of oak, another 22 inches (560 mm) of metal, 4 inches (100 mm) of oak, another spruce layer, and finally into clay for 7 feet (2.1 m) without striking anything else.[4]

Oak Island Association and Old Gold Salvage group

The next excavation attempt was made in 1861 by a new company called the Oak Island Association which resulted in the collapse of the bottom of the shaft into either a natural cavern or booby trap underneath. It was later theorized that the imagined chests had fallen into a deep void and that the pit may have been booby-trapped to protect the treasure. The first fatality during excavations occurred when the boiler of a pumping engine burst.[11] (Six people have been killed in accidents during various excavations.) The company gave up when their funds were exhausted in 1864.

Further excavations were made in 1866, 1893, 1909, 1931, 1935, 1936, and 1959, none of which were successful. Excavators did however pour red paint into the flooded pit which revealed three separate exit holes around the island. Another fatality occurred on 26 March 1897, when Maynard Kaiser, a worker, fell to his death.[11] Franklin Roosevelt was part of the Old Gold Salvage group of 1909 and kept up with news and developments for most of his life.

Gilbert Hedden and William Chappell

In 1928, a New York newspaper printed a feature story about the strange history of the island. Gilbert Hedden, operator of a steel fabricating concern, saw the article and was fascinated by the engineering problems involved in recovering the putative treasure. Hedden collected books and articles on the island and made six trips there. He even ventured to England to converse with Harold T. Wilkins, the author Aerial photo of digs and of Captain Kidd and His Skeleton Island, buildings, August 1931. believing he had found a link between Oak Island and a map in Wilkins's book.[12]

Hedden purchased the southeast end of the island. He began digging in the summer of 1935, following excavations by William Chappell in 1931. In 1939, he even informed King George VI about developments on Oak Island.

The 1931 excavations by William Chappell sank a 163-foot (50 m) shaft 12 × 14 feet to the southwest of what he believed was the site of the 1897 shaft, close to the original pit. At 127 feet (39 m), a number of artifacts, including an axe, an anchor fluke, and a pick were found. The pick has been identified as a Cornish miner's poll pick. By this time, the entire area around the Money Pit was littered with the debris and refuse of numerous prior excavation attempts, so the owner of the pick cannot be identified.

Restall family and Robert Dunfield

Excavation by the Restall family in the early 1960s ended tragically when four men died after being overcome by fumes in a shaft near the beach. In 1965, Robert Dunfield leased the island and, using a 70-ton digging crane with a clam bucket, dug out the pit area to a depth of 134 feet (41 m) and width of 100 feet (30 m). The removed soil was carefully inspected for artifacts. Transportation of the crane to the island required the construction of a causeway (which still exists) from the western end of the island to Crandall's Point on the mainland two hundred metres away.[11] Triton Alliance

Around 1967, Daniel C. Blankenship and David Tobias formed Triton Alliance, Ltd. and purchased most of the island. In 1971, Triton workers excavated a 235-foot shaft supported by a steel caisson to bedrock. According to Blankenship and Tobias, cameras lowered down the shaft into a cave below recorded the possible presence of some chests, human remains, wooden cribbing and tools; however, the images were unclear, and none of these claims has been independently confirmed. The shaft subsequently collapsed, and the excavation was again abandoned. This shaft was later successfully re-dug to 181 feet (55 m), reaching bedrock; work was halted because of lack of funds and the collapse of the partnership.[13]

In the January 1965 issue, an account of an excavation of the "Money Pit" appeared in Reader's Digest magazine.[14] Over a decade later, the Money Pit mystery was the subject of an episode of the television series In Search of..., which first aired 18 January 1979, bringing the legend of Oak Island to a wider audience.

During the 1990s, further exploration was stalled because of legal battles between the Triton partners. As of 2005, a portion of the island was for sale for an estimated US$7 million. A group called the Oak Island Tourism Society had hoped the Government of Canada would purchase the island, but a group of American businessmen in the drilling industry did so instead.[1]

Oak Island Tours Inc.

It was announced in April 2006 that brothers Rick and Marty Lagina from Michigan had purchased a 50% stake in Oak Island Tours Inc., for an undisclosed amount of money. The shares sold to the Michigan partners were previously owned by David Tobias; remaining shares are owned by Blankenship. Center Road Developments, in conjunction with Allan Kostrzewa and Brian Urbach, members of the Michigan group, had purchased Lot 25 from David Tobias for a reported $230,000 one year previous to Tobias selling the rest of his share. The Michigan group, working with Blankenship, has said it will resume operations on Oak Island in the hope of discovering buried treasure and the mystery of Oak Island.

In July 2010, Blankenship and the other stakeholders in Oak Island Tours Inc. announced on their website that the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources/Tourism, Culture and Heritage had granted them a temporary License, allowing them to resume activities until 31 December 2010.[15] After December 2010, the department repealed the former Treasure Trove Act and replaced it with a new "Oak Island Treasure Act".[16] The new Oak Island Treasure Act came into effect on 1 January 2011 and allows for to continue on the island under the terms of a licence issued by the Minister of Natural Resources.[17] Explanations of origin

There has been wide-ranging speculation among enthusiasts as to how the pit was formed and what it might contain. Later accounts say that oak platforms were discovered every 10 feet (3.0 m),[18] but the earliest accounts simply say that "marks" of some type were found at these places.[18] They also say there were "tool marks" or pick scrapes on the walls of the money pit and that the dirt was noticeably loose and not as hard packed as the surrounding soil.[18] One expedition said they found the flood tunnel at 90 feet, and that it was lined with flat stones.[18] However, Robert Dunfield (a trained geologist) wrote that he carefully examined the walls of the re-excavated pit and was unable to locate any evidence of this tunnel.[18]

The cipher stone, which one researcher is said to have translated to read "Forty feet below two million pounds is buried",[19] was allegedly last seen in the early 20th century (exact dates are a topic of controversy). Some accounts state that Smith used it as a fireback in his fireplace,[18] while others claim it was last seen as a doorstep in a Halifax bookbinder's shop. [18] Barry Fell, the author of America B.C. and Saga America, was sent a copy of the inscription by the chief archivist of the Nova Scotia Archives in the late 1970s. According to Mark Finnan Fell, whose publications consisted largely of alleged translations of inscriptions on stones found elsewhere in North America, concluded that the symbols were similar to the Coptic alphabet and when translated reads as follows: "To escape contagion of plague and winter hardships, he is to pray for an end or mitigation the Arif: The people will parish in misery if they forget the Lord, alas."[20]

Human-made structures under Oak Island do in fact exist as discussed in many books, including a book written by Lee Lamb, daughter of Robert Restall.[21] Whether these structures were constructed by people hiding a treasure, or are the remains of prior excavation attempts, is unknown.

Pirate treasure

One explanation is that the pit holds a pirate treasure buried by Captain Kidd or possibly Edward Teach (Blackbeard), who claimed he buried his treasure "where none but Satan and myself can find it."[19] Some also hold to the theory that Kidd conspired with and Oak Island was used as a pseudo community bank between the two.

Naval treasure

Another explanation proposes the pit was dug to hold treasure but that this was done by someone other than pirates, such as Spanish sailors from a wrecked galleon or British troops during the . John Godwin argued that, given the apparent size and complexity of the pit, it was likely dug by French army engineers hoping to hide the contents of the treasury of the after it fell to the British during the Seven Years' War.[22]

Marie Antoinette's jewels

There is a story that, like most others regarding the island, lacks adequate archival sources, or any quoted sources at all, which places the priceless jewels of Marie Antoinette (which are historically missing, save for some specimens in the collections of museums worldwide) on Oak Island. During the , when the Palace of Versailles was stormed by revolutionaries in 1789, Marie Antoinette instructed her maid or a lady-in-waiting to take her prized possessions and flee. Supposedly, this maid fled to London with such royal items as Antoinette's jewels and perhaps other , such as important artwork or documents, secreted away either on her person (one variation suggests sewn into her underskirts in the case of the jewels, though fails to mention artwork) or as her luggage; it is even said she was perhaps assisted by the remaining officers of the French navy during the uprising at the queen's behest.[23] [24][25]

The story then goes on to say that this woman fled further afield from London to Nova Scotia.[26] Through the royal connections she would have had during her service to the queen at Versailles, she managed to contract the French navy to help construct the famed 'pit' on the island. This theory (as noted) lacks recognized documentation other than that which is folkloric in nature, involves the French navy, which (during the Revolution) had an uncertain level of authority, and would place the construction of the Oak Island structure very close to its initial discovery by Daniel McGinnis in 1795. Whether such a complex engineering effort could have been completed in that small space of time is questionable, though no official date of its construction exists.

Shakespeare manuscripts

Still others have speculated that the Oak Island pit was dug to hold treasure much more exotic than gold or silver. In his 1953 book, The Oak Island Enigma: A History and Inquiry Into the Origin of the Money Pit, Penn Leary contended that the pit was used to hide manuscripts showing Francis Bacon to be the author of William Shakespeare's works.[27] Leary's "The Second Cryptographic Shakespeare", published in 1990, identified ciphers in Shakespeare's plays and poems pointing to Bacon's authorship.[28] Author and researcher Mark Finnan[29] elaborated upon Leary's Oak Island theory. The theory was also used in the Norwegian book Organisten (The Organ Player) by Erlend Loe and Petter Amundsen. [30]

Knights Templar treasure

It has been asserted that the pit may have been dug by exiled Knights Templar and that it is the last resting place of the Holy Grail or even the holy Ark of the Covenant. There also may be a Templar tomb on the island. There is a legend that seven must die before the legend is uncovered. [31]

Freemasonry

Mark Finnan in his book Oak Island Secrets[32] noted that many Masonic markings were found on Oak Island and pointed out that the shaft or pit and its mysterious contents seemed to replicate aspects of a Masonic initiation rite involving a hidden vault containing a sacred treasure. Joe Nickell identifies parallels between the accounts of Oak Island and the allegory of the "Secret Vault" in York Rite Freemasonry, similar to the Chase Vault, identifies many prominent excavators as Freemasons, and suggests that the accounts explicitly include Masonic imagery.[2] The most thorough and comprehensive treatment to date of the masonic aspects of the Oak Island Legend is given by Freemason Dennis King in his article "The Oak Island Legend: The Masonic Angle".[33]

Viking ship

Another explanation is that the money pit is actually a sunken Viking ship which has settled in a vertical position, making it a treasure only in the historical or archeological sense. Sukhwant Singh theorizes the regularly separated platforms are actually wooden backrests for rowers, and the coconut fibers are the remains of mattresses, pillows, or other cushions used by the Vikings for comfort.[34]

Decoy

Given the complexity of the structure of the pit and the fact that no valuables have ever been recovered from the site, it is possible that there is nothing there. This explanation posits that the pit may have been constructed by French engineers as a decoy to protect the real treasure from Louisburg. Three pieces of tangible evidence support this theory: 1. the tackle block hanging from the tree inviting investigation of the site 2. the cipher stone which entices excavators to dig further and 3. the fact the pit flooded after digging beyond the cipher stone.

If the pit did, in fact, have treasure in it, it would not have been marked with an obvious object to invite others to investigate the site (the tackle block) and would not need to have a cipher stone indicating there was a large treasure in the pit as those for whom the treasure was intended would already know the treasure was there.

Natural sinkhole

Critic Joe Nickell argues that there is no treasure and that the apparent pit is a natural phenomenon, likely a sinkhole connected to limestone passages or caverns.[2] Suggestions that the pit is a natural phenomenon, specifically accumulated debris in a sinkhole or geological fault, date to at least 1911.[35][36][37][38] There are numerous sinkholes on the mainland near the island, together with underground caves (to which the alleged booby traps are attributed).

The resemblance to a human-made pit has been suggested to be partly due to the texture of natural accumulated debris in sinkholes: "this filling would be softer than the surrounding ground, and give the impression that it had been dug up before".[38] The appearance of "platforms" of rotten logs has been attributed to trees damaged by "blowdowns" (derechos) or wildfires, periodically falling or washing into the depression.[39]

Another pit similar to the early description of the Money Pit was discovered in the area in 1949, when workmen were digging a well on the shore of Mahone Bay. At a point where the earth was soft, they found a pit, described as follows: "At about two feet down a layer of fieldstone was struck. Then logs of spruce and oak were unearthed at irregular intervals, and some of the wood was charred. The immediate suspicion was that another Money Pit had been found."[40] Pit flooding

In 1851, treasure hunters discovered fibres beneath the surface of one beach called Smith's Cove. This led to the theory that the beach had been converted into a giant siphon, feeding water from the ocean into the pit via a manmade tunnel. A sample of this material is said to have been sent to the Smithsonian Institution in the early 20th century, where it was concluded that the Map of Oak Island. Shows the swamp near the center right, material was coconut fibre.[41] The origin of Smith's Cove is at the bottom these fibres has been a source of heated of the island. debate among Oak Island researchers, since coconut trees do not occur naturally in Canada.

Upon the invitation of Boston-area businessman David Mugar, a two-week survey was conducted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1995. This is the only known scientific study that has been conducted on the site. After running dye tests in the bore hole, they concluded that the flooding was caused by a natural interaction between the island's freshwater lens and tidal pressures in the underlying geology, refuting the idea of artificially constructed flood tunnels. The Woods Hole scientists who viewed the videos taken in 1971 reported that nothing conclusive could be determined from the murky images.[42]

The five finger drains or box drains at Smith's Cove on Oak Island, which have traditionally been assumed to feed seawater into the alleged flood tunnel, have in recent times been argued to be the remains of an early salt works, and accordingly there is no connection between the five finger drains and any flooding of the Pit.[43]

Oak Island lies on a glacial tumulus system and is underlaid by a series of water-filled anhydrite cavities, which may be responsible for the repeated flooding of the pit. This type of limestone easily dissolves when exposed to water, forming caves and natural voids. Bedrock lies at a depth of 38 to 45 metres (125 to 148 feet) in the Money Pit area. Non-fictional and fictional accounts

Oak Island has been a staple of treasure literature with the first published account appearing in 1863 and new books appearing on regular basis. Over 50 books have been published recounting the island's history and exploring competing theories.[44]

Several works of fiction have been based upon the Money Pit, including The Money Pit Mystery, Riptide and The Hand of Robin Squires. It was also a major plot device in the episode "The Man with the Bone" of the crime drama television series Bones. Additionally, the Oak Island/Money Pit Mystery led to the ill-fated Cork Graham/Richard Knight hunt for Captain Kidd's treasure off western Vietnam in 1983, documented in The Bamboo Chest.

In 1973, local singer-songwriter Allister MacGillivray mentioned the island in "Song for the Mira", a renowned folk song about the Mira River. The lyrics include a reference to "Oak Island gold" as being a legend told around bonfires.

In 2007, the island was featured in a museum display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which displayed many artifacts from various eras of treasure hunting as part of the museum's exhibit Pirates: Myth and Reality.

In 2012, the island was featured in the video game Assassin's Creed III by Ubisoft. The player gets to Oak Island by completing quests related to Captain Kidd.

In 2013, the island was referenced in an EP released by post-hardcore band, Our Last Night. The lyrics to the title track, "Oak Island", reference the Money Pit. Television

The Money Pit mystery was the subject of an 18 January 1979, episode of the television series In Search of.... It was also featured on an episode of the television documentary series Northern Mysteries and covered extensively in the Ancient Aliens television series on the History Channel. Canada's The Conspiracy Show aired an episode on the subject on 8 August 2014.

On January 5, 2014, the History Channel began airing , a documentary series about a group of modern treasure hunters led and funded by two brothers, Rick and Marty Lagina, who purchased the majority of Oak Island in 2006. In the final episode of the first season of the show, the Laginas' team found a Spanish coin from the 1600s that predates the original Money Pit excavation. In the final episode of the second season, a sonar mapping device was lowered into a subterranean chamber over 200 feet (61 m) below the surface. The device revealed that the chamber is roughly rectangular and contains at least two moderately large rectangular objects.[45] References

1. Whipps, Heather. "For Sale: Island with Mysterious Money Pit" (http://www.livescience.com/history/051107_oak_island.html). Retrieved 5 December 2005. 2. "The Secrets of Oak Island" (http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-03/i-files.html), Joe Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 2000. 3. Forks, J.P. (August 20, 1857). "Correspondence" (http://www.novascotia.ca/nsarm/virtual/newspapers/archives.asp?ID=2941). Liverpool Transcript (Liverpool, Nova Scotia: S. J. M. Allen). Retrieved January 26, 2014. 4. McCully, J.B. "The Oak Island Diggings." Liverpool Transcript, October 1862 5. Patrick. "Response to the Oak Island Folly." The Novascotian, 30 September 1861 6. Unnamed author. "The Oak Island Folly", The Novascotian, 29 August 1861 7. A Member. "A History of The Oak Island Enterprise." British Colonist (in 3 chapters published on 2, 7, and 14 January 1864) 8. DesBrisay, Mather, A History Of Lunenburg County (1895) 9. "Oak Island Treasure - the world's greatest treasure hunt" (http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/content/view/162/2/). Retrieved 26 May 2014. 10. Snow, Edward Rowe. True Tales of Buried Treasure, (Dodd and Mead, 1951) ASIN B000OI2EFC 11. The History Channel, Decoding the Past: The Templar Code, video documentary, 7 November 2005, written by Marcy Marzuni 12. Doyle, Lynn C. "Nova Scotia's Treasure Island." MacLean's 1 June 1931 13. Ellerd, Kerry. "Finding Buried Treasure: It's an Expensive Business." Montreal STAR 6 February 1971 14. "Scanned copy of the original Reader's Digest article" (http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/archive/readersdigest/readersdigest.pdf) (PDF). Oakislandtreasure.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2010. 15. "Treasure Trove Licence granted!" (http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/content/view/396/2/). Oak Island Treasure. Retrieved 8 November 2010. 16. Medel, Brian (15 July 2010). "Treasure hunter hopes new law clears path to gold" Province to replace old rules with Oak Island Act". Halifax Chronicle Herald. 17. "Oak Island Treasure Act" (http://nslegislature.ca/legc/bills/61st_2nd/3rd_read/b081.htm). nslegislature.ca. 18. Crooker, William S. Oak Island Gold (Nimbus Publishing, 1993) ISBN 1-55109-049-X 19. Howlett, A. "Mystery of Captain Kidd's Treasure." World Wide Magazine October 1958 20. Barry Fell, Saga America, pg. 172 21. Lamb, Lee. Oak Island Obsession: The Restall Story (Dundurn Press, 2006) ISBN 978-1-55002-625-2 22. Godwin, John. This Baffling World. (Bantam, 1971) 23. Bonnier Corporation (May 1939). Popular Science (http://books.google.com/books? id=jikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA234). Bonnier Corporation. pp. 234–235. ISSN 0161- 7370 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0161-7370). 24. D'Arcy O'Connor (2004). The Secret Treasure of Oak Island: The Amazing True Story of a Centuries-Old Treasure Hunt (http://books.google.com/books? id=QLoZMFzjWtQC&pg=PA140). Globe Pequot Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-59228- 279-1. 25. Science Digest (http://books.google.com/books?id=ctcCAAAAIAAJ). Science Digest, Incorporated. 1951. p. 46. "Roosevelt and his companions believed the pit might contain the crown jewels of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette..." 26. Arnold Gingrich (1954). Coronet (http://books.google.com/books? id=A6BJAAAAMAAJ) 36. D. A. Smart. p. 38. "When Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette fled Paris during the French Revolution, the jewels were entrusted to a lady-in- waiting who succeeded in escaping. History shows that she did reach Louisberg, a few miles north of Oak Island on the Nova Scotia mainland..." 27. Leary, Thomas P. The Oak Island Enigma: A History and Inquiry Into the Origin of the Money Pit. (T.P. Leary, 1953) 28. Leary, Penn (1991). "The Second Cryptographic Shakespeare" (http://www.baconscipher.com/index.html). Westchester House Publishers. Retrieved November 3, 2014. 29. 'Oak Island Secrets'.(Formac Publishing 1995, 1997, 2002, 2009) 30. Loe, Erlend, and Amundsen, Petter. Organisten (Cappelen, 2006) 31. Sora, Steven. The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar (Inner Traditions/Destiny, 1999). ISBN 0-89281-710-0 32. Oak Island Secrets. (Formac Publishing 1995, 1997, 2002, 2009) 33. King, Dennis (12 May 2010). "The Oak Island Legend: The Masonic Angle" (http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/Dennis_King_Masonic_Angle.shtml). CrititalEnquiry.org. Retrieved 16 November 2014. 34. Hirtle, Robert (January 7, 2014). "Dispelling the legend" (http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/20140108/News/16562/Dispelling-the- (http://www.southshorenow.ca/en/20140108/News/16562/Dispelling-the- legend.htm). SouthShore Now. Lighthouse Publishing. Retrieved November 3, 2014. 35. This section follows Nickell, section "Man-made or Natural?". 36. Bowdoin, H. L. 1911. Solving the mystery of Oak Island. Collier's Magazine, 18 August. Cited and discussed in Harris 1958, 110–120; O'Connor 1988, 63–66. 37. Faribault, E. Rudolph. 1911. Summary Report of Geological Survey Branch of the Department of Mines. Quoted in Furneaux 1972, 110. 38. Atlantic Advocate. 1965. Article in October issue, cited in Crooker 1978, 85–86. 39. Preston, Douglas. 1988 Death Trap Defies Treasure Seekers for Two Centuries, published in the Smithsonian Magazine June 1998 53–56 (http://www.prestonchild.com/books/riptide/Death-Trap-Defies-Treasure-Seekers- for-Two-Centuries;art45,47) 40. O'Connor (1988, 172–173) 41. French, Carey. "Treasure Island? Fabled Booty Eludes the Fortune Hunters." The Globe and Mail 19 November 1983 42. Joltes, Richard (August 2002). "Appendix: Woods Hole Explores Oak Island" (http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/whoi.shtml). CriticalEnquiry.org. p. 1. Retrieved 20 March 2010. 43. King, Dennis (February 2010). "A Solution To The Mystery Of The Oak Island Five Finger Drains" (http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/Dennis_King_Mar_2010.shtml). CriticalEnquiry.org. Retrieved 16 November 2014. 44. Conlin, Dan Pirates of the Atlantic: Robbery, Murder and Mayhem off the Canadian East Coast, Halifax: Formac Publishing (2009), p. 86 45. "Man-Made Objects in 10X" (http://www.history.com/shows/the-curse-of-oak- island/videos/man-made-objects-in-10x). History.com. External links

Mysterious Treasures of Oak Island Look up money pit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/mysterious-treasure-oak-island) A documentary film Oak Island Treasure (http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk) A large photo gallery, growing historical document archive, latest dig news and forum Oak Island Money Pit (http://www.oakislandmoneypit.com) Expanding resource covering the Money Pit's history The Mystery Pit of Oak Island (http://www.unmuseum.org/oakisl.htm) containing diagrams of the Money Pit Satellite image of Oak Island at Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.512115,- 64.293709&spn=0.01879,0.03931&t=k) The Oak Island Enigma (http://www.baconscipher.com/OakIsland1.html) A History and Inquiry Into The Origin of The Money Pit – Penn Leary 1953 A history of Oak Island (http://web.archive.org/web/20020804103503/http://members.xoom.vi rgilio.it/mmmgroup/e-oak.html) Friends of Oak Island Society (http://www.friendsofoakisland.com/) A successor to the old Oak Island Tourism Society Inc focusing on summer tours of Oak Island "Mystery Island Baffles Treasure Hunters." (http://books.google.com/books? id=jikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA72&dq=popular+science+1930&hl=en&ei =zL7ZTpqAGori0QHb8dnoDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&res num=7&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBjhG#v=onepage&q&f=true) Popular Science, May 1939, pp. 72–75,

News reports

CBC Television "Dan Blankenship, treasure seeker" (http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/science-technology/the- unexplained/monsters-myths-and-mystery-great-canadian- legends/dan-blankenship-treasure-seeker.html) CBC Television "The Oak Island money pit: how it works" (http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/science-technology/the- unexplained/monsters-myths-and-mystery-great-canadian- legends/the-oak-island-money-pit-how-it-works.html) CBC Radio conversation "Nova Scotia's Oak Island mystery" (http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/science-technology/the- unexplained/monsters-myths-and-mystery-great-canadian- legends/nova-scotias-own-treasure-island.html) CBC Radio conversation "Engineer proposes freezing method to extract Oak Island treasure" (http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/science-technology/the- unexplained/monsters-myths-and-mystery-great-canadian- legends/engineer-proposes-freezing-method-to-extract-oak-island- treasure.html) "Featured in Ancient Aliens episode 4" (http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens) On Oak Island (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/614/whats-the-scoop-on- the-mysterious-buried-treasure-at-oak-island) from the Straight Dope

Skeptical

"The Secrets of Oak Island" (http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-03/i- files.html), Joe Nickell, Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 2000. History, Hoax, and Hype The Oak Island Legend (http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/), Richard Joltes, August 2006 "The Oak Island Money Pit" (http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4129), Brian Dunning, Skeptoid, 25 November 2008

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Categories: Oak Island Private islands Islands of Mahone Bay Visitor attractions in Nova Scotia Treasure of Canada Archaeological sites in Canada Uninhabited islands of Canada

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