The Oak Island mystery involves stories and legends about hidden treasure and strange objects found on or near Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. Many people and groups have dug on the island over the years. The original hole, whose location is unknown today, was dug by early explorers and is called "the money pit."
Since the 18th century, people have tried to find treasure and artifacts. Ideas about what might be buried there include pirate gold, Shakespearean manuscripts, the Holy Grail, and the Ark of the Covenant. Some believe the Grail and the Ark were hidden there by the Knights Templar. Over the years, items like wood from a hole have been found on the island, some of which are hundreds of years old. However, the supposed treasure has never been discovered.
A curse linked to the treasure is said to have started over 100 years ago. It claims that seven people will die during the search for the treasure before it is found.
History
Very little is known for sure about early treasure searches on Oak Island. The first stories about these events were passed down by people over many years, beginning in the late 1700s. Later, publishers started writing about these stories and investigated them. The first known story about treasure was printed in 1857, and five years later, one of the people who originally dug for treasure gave a statement about the story and the work done by the Onslow and Truro Companies.
The earliest recorded story, written in 1863, describes a dying sailor from Captain Kidd’s crew (who died in 1701). He said that treasure worth £2 million was buried on the island. According to the most common version, Daniel McGinnis found a hole in the ground in the summer of 1795 while looking for a farm. He believed the hole matched the story about Captain Kidd and asked two men, John Smith and Anthony Vaughn, to help dig. They uncovered a layer of flagstones 2 feet (61 cm) below the surface. Early accounts only mentioned "marks" at 10-foot (3.0 m) intervals, while later stories said oak platforms were found there. The pit walls had tool marks, and the soil was loose, not packed tightly. The men stopped digging at 30 feet (9.1 m) because of fear. Another version says all four people involved were teenagers. In this version, McGinnis found the hole in 1795 during a fishing trip, and the story ends the same way.
In about 1802, a group called the Onslow Company traveled from Nova Scotia to Oak Island to search for treasure. They dug the hole to about 90 feet (27 m), finding logs, charcoal, putty, coconut fiber, and a stone with symbols. The pit then flooded with 60 feet (18 m) of water, and the group gave up after trying to dig a tunnel from another shaft, which also flooded.
The last major group before published records was the Truro Company, formed in 1849. They dug the hole back to 86 feet (26 m), but it flooded again. They used a special drilling tool called a pod-auger to drill five holes into the original shaft. The auger passed through spruce and oak platforms, metal pieces, and clay. The Truro Company then dug a new shaft 109 feet (33 m) deep and tried to connect it to the treasure. However, seawater flooded the new shaft, and workers believed the water was connected to the sea because the water level changed with the tides. The company shifted focus to a nearby cove called Smith’s Cove, where they found a flood tunnel system. When they failed to block the tunnels, they dug a final shaft 118 feet (36 m) deep. During this work, the original shaft collapsed, and it was later guessed that treasure might have fallen into a deep hole, causing the new shaft to flood. The Truro Company ran out of money and ended in 1851.
The first published story about treasure on Oak Island appeared in 1857 in the Liverpool Transcript. A more detailed account by a justice of the peace in Nova Scotia was published in 1861 under the title “The Oak Island Folly.” The first detailed account of events on the island was recorded in 1862 when Anthony Vaughan’s memories were written down. This article also described the Onslow and Truro Companies, the mysterious stone, and the wooden platforms found by the Truro Company. These accounts were later printed in other newspapers and a book from 1895.
In 1861, a group called the Oak Island Association tried digging again. They reached 88 feet (27 m) in the original hole and dug two more shafts. One missed a flood tunnel, and the other connected to the original shaft at 105 feet (32 m). Both shafts flooded when a tunnel was breached. At one point, a platform at 98 feet (30 m) collapsed, dropping the treasure and 10,000 board feet (24 m) of wood to 119 feet (36 m) below ground. A pump boiler exploded in 1861, killing someone, and this event was later written about in a novel. In 1862, a new shaft was dug 107 feet (33 m) deep and used to pump water from the original shaft. Tools from earlier groups were recovered, but the pumps could not stop the flooding. The Oak Island Association also tried sealing flood tunnels at Smith’s Cove but failed. In 1864, another attempt to reach the treasure failed again, and saltwater weakened the original shaft. Engineers declared the shaft unsafe, and the group stopped digging when they ran out of money.
In 1866, a group called the Oak Island Eldorado Company (or Halifax Company) formed to search for treasure. By then, many shafts, tunnels, and holes had been dug by earlier groups. Their plan to block flood tunnels at Smith’s Cove failed, so they focused on the original shaft. They found wood, coconut fiber, clay, and blue mud but gave up in 1867.
In 1896, an unknown group arrived with steam pumps and drilling tools. The pumps could not keep water out of a flooded shaft, but they collected samples from the ground.
Water in the money pit
In 1862, an account described how the Onslow Company had dug a pit to a depth of 80–90 feet (24–27 metres). At this point, seawater flooded the pit up to the 33-foot (10 metre) level. Attempts to remove the water were not successful. Explorers later suggested that a complex drainage system might have connected the ocean beaches to the pit.
In 1851, treasure hunters claimed they found coconut fibres buried beneath the sand at Smith’s Cove. This led to the idea that the beach had been used as a siphon, which could have directed seawater into the pit through a man-made tunnel. A sample of the material was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in the early 1900s, and scientists there confirmed it was coconut fibre.
One expedition reported finding a tunnel lined with flat stones at 90 feet (27 metres). However, geologist Robert Dunfield examined the walls of the pit after it was re-excavated and found no evidence of a tunnel.
In 1995, a two-week scientific survey was conducted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution at the request of businessman David Mugar. Using dye tests in the pit, the scientists concluded that the flooding was caused by natural processes involving the island’s freshwater layer and tidal forces in the underground rock layers. This finding disproved the idea of a man-made tunnel. Scientists who reviewed videos from 1971 said the images were too unclear to draw conclusions. Earlier reports of "five finger" or "box" drains at Smith’s Cove are now believed to be remains of an early salt-making site, with no connection to the pit’s flooding.
Oak Island is built on a system of hills formed by glaciers and contains water-filled cavities made of a type of rock called anhydrite. This rock dissolves easily when exposed to water, creating caves and empty spaces underground. The bedrock beneath the pit area is located at a depth of 38 to 45 metres (125 to 148 feet).
Stone with alleged markings
A stone discovered 90 feet below the ground was reported to have "mysterious markings." This was first mentioned in a July 2, 1862, article in the Halifax Sun and Advisor, which described a June 2, 1862, letter by J. B. McCully. McCully shared a secondhand account of the stone's discovery during an early 1800s excavation. He wrote: "Some layers were charcoal, some putty, and one at 80 feet was a stone cut square, two feet long and about a foot thick, with several characters cut on it." An 1863 newspaper article stated that the stone was built into the "chimney of an old house near the pit." A later article claimed the stone was kept by the Smith family. On January 2, 1864, John Hunter-Duvar, secretary of the Historical Society of Nova Scotia, contacted treasure hunter George Cooke. In a January 27 letter, Cooke said Smith placed the stone in his chimney in 1824 and showed it to others around 1850. Cooke described the markings as "crudely cut letters, figures, or characters" that looked "as if they had been scraped out by a blunt instrument, rather than cut with a sharp one." Cooke also noted that by 1864, the chimney had been enclosed in wood and surrounded by a staircase, making the stone invisible.
An undated letter from William Blair after 1893 mentioned Jefferson W. McDonald, who first spoke about Oak Island in 1893. McDonald had worked under George Mitchell, a carpenter who also described removing a partition in Smith's house to examine the stone's characters. McDonald said the characters were visible but no one could read them. Mitchell was the manager of the Oak Island Association, formed on April 3, 1861, and dissolved on March 29, 1865.
In his 1872 novel, The Treasure of the Seas, James DeMille wrote about being a summer resident of Chester Basin in the late 1860s. Characters in the book found the stone had been removed from the chimney when they arrived on the island. No one had previously decoded the "mysterious symbols" on the stone, which an inn landlord described as "rather faint and irregular." The landlord also said some people claimed the symbols were not an inscription but "accidental scratches." Reginald Vanderbilt Harris wrote in his 1958 book, The Oak Island Mystery, that the stone was removed and taken to Halifax around 1865–1866. Harris did not provide a source for this claim.
An 1893 Oak Island Treasure Company prospectus stated the stone was moved from the chimney to Halifax, where James Liechti was said to have translated it as: "Ten feet below are two million pounds buried."
On August 19, 1911, Collier's magazine published a firsthand account by Captain H. L. Bowdoin, who saw the stone in use at Creighton's bookbindery in Halifax. Bowdoin described the rock as "of a basalt type, hard and fine-grained." He saw no symbols on the stone, though he was told they had worn off. Bowdoin doubted this due to the stone's hardness.
Charles B. Driscoll wrote in his 1929 book, The Oak Island Treasure, that Smith placed the stone in his fireplace with the strange characters on the outside so visitors could see them. Years later, the stone was moved to Halifax, where experts failed to translate the inscription. It was then taken to the home of J. B. McCulley in Truro, where it was shown to many people. Eventually, the stone was used by a bookbinder to beat leather for years. Later, with the inscription nearly worn away, it ended up in a Halifax bookstore. Driscoll said he did not know what happened to it afterward, but many people had seen it. No one ever claimed to have translated the inscription.
The stone was reportedly brought by A. O. Creighton (of the 1866 expedition) from the Smith home to Creighton's bookbindery in Halifax. Harry W. Marshall, son of a bookbindery owner, wrote in 1935 that one researcher claimed the cipher translated as: "Forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried." The symbols linked to this translation first appeared in Edward Rowe Snow's 1949 book, True Tales of Buried Treasure. Snow said he received the symbols from Rev. A. T. Kempton of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but no details were given about how Kempton obtained them. Kempton later wrote in a 1949 letter that he got his information from "a school teacher long since dead."
Investors and explorers
Franklin D. Roosevelt was inspired by family stories from his grandfather, Warren Delano Jr., who had experience with sailing, trading, and helping fund Oak Island. Roosevelt became interested in the mystery of Oak Island in late 1909 and early 1910. He followed the story throughout his life, until his death in 1945. During his time as a leader, he kept track of efforts to recover treasure and develop the island. In 1939, while in Halifax, Roosevelt planned to visit Oak Island in secret, but heavy fog and global events prevented the trip.
Australian-American actor Errol Flynn invested money in a treasure hunt on Oak Island. Actor John Wayne also invested in drilling equipment used on the island and allowed his equipment to be used for the search. William Vincent Astor, who inherited money from his family after his father died on the Titanic, invested in treasure hunting on the island without being actively involved.
Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd Jr. also invested in treasure hunting on Oak Island without being directly involved. He kept track of the progress of these efforts and shared information about the island with Roosevelt. The two men formed a relationship, which led to the creation of the United States Antarctic Service (USAS), a government program, with Byrd in charge.
Potential explanations
Many ideas have been suggested to possibly connect Oak Island with natural events, historical people, or ancient objects; however, none of these ideas have been proven.
There is a lot of discussion about how the pit on Oak Island was formed and what might be inside it. Joe Nickell says there is no treasure in the pit. He believes it is a natural feature, likely a sinkhole connected to limestone tunnels or caves. The idea that the pit is a natural formation, such as a sinkhole or a geological fault, has been around since at least 1911. Sinkholes and caves, which are sometimes linked to the "booby traps" described on Oak Island, are also found on the mainland near the island.
The pit’s appearance may look like it was made by people because the natural debris inside a sinkhole is softer than the surrounding ground, creating the impression that someone dug there before. The "platforms" of broken logs are thought to come from trees that fell due to strong storms or wildfires, eventually ending up in the hollow area.
Author Joy Steele suggests the pit might be a tar kiln used during a time when Oak Island was part of the British naval stores industry. Another idea, as mentioned earlier, is that the site could match an illegal salt-making operation from the same historical period.
One early theory claims the pit held treasure buried by pirate Captain Kidd. Kidd and another pirate, Henry Avery, supposedly shared treasure, and Oak Island may have been their shared hiding place. Another pirate story involves Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, who supposedly buried his treasure in a location only he and Satan could find.
Some theories suggest that groups like the Templars, Masons, or Incas might have created the pit to hide their treasure from European or Spanish forces. William S. Crooker proposed that British engineers and sailors dug the pit to store loot from the British invasion of Cuba during the Seven Years’ War, valued at about £1,000,000.
John Godwin wrote that the pit’s size and complexity might mean it was dug by French Army engineers who hid the treasury of the Fortress of Louisbourg after British forces captured it during the Seven Years’ War.
In his book Oak Island Secrets, Mark Finnan noted that Masonic symbols were found on Oak Island, and the pit and its contents seem to resemble parts of a Masonic initiation rite involving a hidden vault with a sacred treasure. Joe Nickell points out similarities between Oak Island stories and the "Secret Vault" story in York Rite Freemasonry, as well as the Chase Vault on Barbados. Freemason Dennis King explored Masonic connections to the Oak Island legend in his article, "The Oak Island Legend: The Masonic Angle." Steven Sora suggested the pit might have been dug by exiled Knights Templar and could hold the Holy Grail or the Ark of the Covenant.
In his 1953 book The Oak Island Enigma, Penn Leary wrote that the pit was used to hide manuscripts proving Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s works and led the Rosicrucians. Leary’s later book, The Second Cryptographic Shakespeare, identified hidden codes in Shakespeare’s works that support Bacon’s authorship. Mark Finnan expanded on Leary’s ideas, which were also used in the Norwegian book Organisten and the TV series Sweet Swan of Avon.
Another theory claims that the Rosicrucians and Francis Bacon organized a secret project to make Oak Island the home of a legendary vault containing ancient manuscripts and artifacts. Researchers like Petter Amundsen and Daniel Ronnstam say they found hidden codes in Shakespeare’s works, rock formations on the island, and other 16th- and 17th-century art and documents. Ronnstam believes a stone found at 90 feet (27 meters) contains a code created by Bacon.
Some unproven stories suggest Marie Antoinette’s jewels, which are now only in museum collections, may have been hidden on the island. On October 5, 1789, a mob in Paris attacked the Palace of Versailles. According to an unverified story, Marie Antoinette told her maid to flee with her jewels. The maid may have taken the jewels, along with artwork or documents, to London and later to Nova Scotia.
In the late 1970s, Barry Fell, a marine biologist and pseudoarchaeologist, claimed the symbols on a stone resembled the Coptic alphabet and read: "To escape contagion of plague and winter hardships, he is to pray for an end or mitigation the Arif: The people will perish in misery if they forget the Lord, alas." Fell believed Coptic people from North Africa traveled to Oak Island and built the pit. However, most mainstream scholars do not support this idea.