The Oak Island Treasure Blog
Treasure is cool as hell. Right now, all over the world, there’s undiscovered treasure just waiting to be found after laying dormant for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. That’s why when that tomb was stumbled upon in Egypt it was national news. That’s why when that old Russian ship was found off the coast of South Korea last month the whole world kept an eye on it because it was rumored to be holding up to $100 billion. Every time some grandmother cleans out her attic and finds an autographed, mint condition Babe Ruth signing the Declaration of Independence rookie card they put her on Good Morning America. Everybody fucks with treasure. Even the very idea that treasure could be at a certain spot is enough to get FDR’s attention. Which is why we’re taking a trip to Oak Island, Nova Scotia, today.
Captain Kidd (that’s right we got pirates up in this bitch) was said to have buried as much as £2 million on the island before he died in 1701. While the area was supposedly a stomping ground for pirates throughout the 18th Century, Oak Island itself wasn’t settled until Daniel McGinnis set up shop out there. One day in 1799, he was searching for a good spot to farm. Can’t settle anywhere if you can’t farm, yanno? That’s rule one to settlement. While searching the land he discovered a depression in the ground. As Captain Kidd’s treasure was already local legend around the island, McGinnis figured this was as logical a place to find treasure as any. So he grabbed his pals Smith and Vaughn and started digging. They dug down 10-ft and immediately found some flagstones. Then another 10-ft, more flagstones. After the third set of flagstones, roughly 30-ft deep, the trio abandoned their excavation due to “superstitious dread.”
They may have been born in the 1700s, but these men were no fools. You start digging for treasure, you better be ready for all sorts of traps, ghosts, curses, all of it is on the table when you’re digging for treasure. After tale of this attempt reached the Liverpool Transcript in 1856 it became open season on the island, with multiple companies sinking millions upon millions of dollars into this search. Including Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Old Gold Salvaging Group, who made the trip up there in August of 1909.
The area on Oak Island said to contain the treasure was known as The Money Pit, which is about as fire a name for a treasure cove as I can think of. You tell me there’s £2 million just sitting around waiting to be collected in a place called THE MONEY PIT and I’m on the next thing smokin’ to go collect. FDR’s Old Gold Salvaging Group excavated down 113-ft (83-ft further than McGinnis and the boys were able to, clearly they weren’t as worried about curses). They sent down several groups of divers but couldn’t find anything of note, packed up their bags and went home.
You find a stone tablet like that, yeah you keep digging. Why anyone ever stopped digging I’ll never understand. Oh, that’s right death. Death will stop you from just about everything. Over the years, at least six Money Pit explorers have died during their search. Booby traps and treasure curses aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. This is real life out here. Not everyone can be Benjamin Gates and walk away unscathed from every exploration.
Outside of just £2 million in good ol’ fashion golden doubloons, it was also rumored that Shakespeare’s original works and the crown jewels of France were buried on the island. That level of history paired with actual gold is going to keep intrigue up and the hunters coming year after year. Portions of the island were bought, sold, and resold to groups like FDR’s for their right to search. In April of 2006, a couple of Michigan brother, Rick and Marty Lagina, bought half the island (which is such a flex on its own) and started filming a reality show in 2014 for The History Channel to document their search.
And after hundreds of years of search, finding only clues enough to keep the search going from generation to generation, the Lagina Brothers struck. Outside of general artifacts, they found a Roman sword, a medieval cross with potential connection to the Knights Templar, and – most notably – a 500-year old ruby.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit – that ruby is weak as hell. It’s merely technical treasure, not a chest overflowing with golden coins. But, it feels like just the beginning. That ruby was found earlier this year. If I’m the Lagina brothers, I keep pushing forward. This is only the beginning in my mind. Nowhere close to the end. That chest is out there, just waiting to be unearthed. And if two brothers can get through high school with the last name Lagina, they certainly have the gumption and determination to see this thing through to the end.
This is why treasure hunts and legends of buried treasures will always get play. Because this isn’t like aliens or other shit that can’t be fully proven to this point. Treasure is legitimately out there. Like, right now. Go fucking get it. And make National Treasure 3 already, Hollywood, you cowards, what’s your goddamn problem?