Ep 19: Oak Island Money Pit Part 2
Podcast:
Legend:
Pirate treasure? English, French or Spanish military plunder? The secret Rosicrucian works of Sir Francis Bacon and therefore also the possible original missing folios of Shakespeare? Or perhaps the greatest sacred antiquities lost to history, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the Spear of Longinus or the menorah from King Solomon’s temple? Or maybe it’s all just natural geological processes forming a sinkhole, plain and simple? These are just some of the theories of what could be down in the infamous and mysterious “Money Pit” on Oak Island, Nova Scotia — thought by many to be one of the greatest archeological mysteries of North America, and possibly the world.
Background:
Part 2 of our series on the elusive Money Pit on Oak Island continues from where we left off in Part 1, which covered the initial discovery of the pit in 1795 up to 1867. Part 2 covers the dissolution of The Oak Island Eldorado Company (later known as the Halifax Company) in 1867 up until a fateful day in 1965, when the island would claim its next four victims in just a matter of minutes. Tragic as this was, it did not deter the line of treasure seekers from that moment until the present day, even though local legend claims the island will take one more life before it will give up its secrets.
Tonight’s Quote:
“There is a lot more to the true story of Oak Island and some day it will be told in full.” ~ Reginald V. Harris, past Grand Sovereign of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Nova Scotia, and author of The Oak Island Mystery.
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Credits:
Episode 019 – ‘Oak Island Money Pit Part 2’ Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess, Ryan McCullough Sound Design Copyright Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess 2015, All Rights Reserved.
Photos:
1) Map showing Mahone Bay region; 2) Map showing land parcel allotments on Oak Island; 3) Piece of parchment with the letters “Vi” or “Wi” written with quill pen in India ink, found in the drilling debris by Dr. A.E. Porter on September 6, 1897; 3) Turn of the century painted postcard showing digging operations at the Money Pit; 4) Photo c. 1909 showing members of The Old Gold Salvage and Wrecking Co. featuring a 27 year old Franklin D. Roosevelt smoking a pipe; 5) Diagram of the stone triangle “sextant” first discovered near the south shore of Oak Island by Captain Welling and Frederick Blair in 1897; 6) Robert K. Restall’s map plan of the Pit Area from 1964; 7) Photo taken by Joy Steele of an Oak Island cove in 1931; 8) Part of an engraved stone sometimes known as the “H stone,” found by Gilbert Hedden at Joudrey’s Cove in 1936; 9) Fictional pirate treasure map from the book, Captain Kidd and his Skeleton Island, by Harold T. Wilkins, c. 1937; 10) Diagram of the possible flood tunnel system from Smith’s Cove to the Money Pit; 11) Large stone with man-made drilled hole, possibly found by Frederick Blair in 1895 or Gilbert Hedden in 1937; 12) Oak Island cove; 13) c. 1940s photo showing a boy standing over remnants of one of the shaft operations, possibly from Edwin Hamilton’s operation; 14) Aerial view of the Money Pit workings; 15) Turn of the century steam-powered “clam digger”; 16) Stones that were possibly used by the original diggers for surveying or marking the treasure location and one showing the Masonic “G” symbol, found by Dan Blankenship; 17) Diagram showing the depths at which items were found by various teams at the Money Pit.