Narrator: Tonight on the curse of oak island...
What type of things would this be used for?
Why put a ringbolt in a rock here?
Working with block and tackles, heavy cargo,
-heavy stuff. -Right.
Gary: Ooh.
That's nice. Musket decoration.
-It might speak to wealth. -Yeah.
Rick: Which way do you think
we should chase this?
Everything is telling me
it's turning up to the money pit.
-That's great. -Terry: Wow.
Look at this.
Terry: It's exactly what we hoped for.
We're heading to the money pit.
Narrator: There is an island in the north atlantic
where people have been looking for an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.
So far, they have found a stone slab
with strange symbols carved into it,
mysterious fragments of human bone,
and a lead cross whose origin may stretch back
to the days of the knights templar.
To date, six men have died trying to solve the mystery.
And, according to legend,
one more will have to die
before the treasure can be found.
♪ ♪
another historic day has begun on oak island...
-Rick: Here we are. -...As brothers rick and marty lagina,
along with their partner craig tester
and members of their team,
continue searching for clues that they hope will soon reveal
the answers to a 225-year-old treasure mystery.
-Rick: Let's take a look. -Doug: Yeah.
Narrator: And in the artificially-made triangle-shaped swamp
where a mysterious stone road was unearthed several weeks ago
that may be connected to the money pit treasure shaft,
rick lagina is eager to share a potentially critical discovery
that was just made nearby
with fellow oak island landowner tom nolan.
Rick: How's it going, gary?
Good.
Why-why don't you guys come over here and, uh,
-show him what you found? -Of course.
-Look at the smile on his face. -(laughter)
it's a big top-pocket find, for sure.
Feast your eyes on some ancientness from the swamp.
Oh, look at that.
You've got yourself a ringbolt.
-Gary: Yep. -Wow.
Gary: Is that magnificent or what?
Tom: Yep. That sure is.
The fact is, your dad did have a map that showed a ringbolt
in this general vicinity.
-Tom: Yeah. -Rick: You're looking at holding
something that your father based a lot of his-his efforts.
Yeah. I can imagine if dad was here,
he'd be quickly plotting the location
of this and trying to tie it into the other ringbolts
-to see, "okay, where do I go now?" -yeah.
Narrator: Back in the early 1960s,
tom nolan's father, the late fred nolan,
approached m.R. Chappell,
who owned the eastern end of the island,
to help him excavate the fabled money pit.
However, when fred's offer was denied,
the determined professional surveyor purchased eight lots
across the center of oak island, including the swamp,
and spent the next several years investigating the property
and, incredibly, made a number of compelling discoveries.
Among them were two large iron ringbolts
that fred found embedded in boulders
on the eastern edge of the brackish bog.
Believing they might have been used to anchor a ship
within the swamp at some time, he drained the area in 1969
and was stunned to discover not only wooden scuppers
but also part of a mast
belonging to a large sailing vessel.
This led fred to the theory that the swamp
was artificially created
to hide the wreck of a treasure galleon.
Could this iron ringbolt, found next to the stone pathway,
be more proof that fred nolan's suspicions
of the swamp are true?
It's hard to believe I've got one of these in my hand.
And probably one that he didn't know was here.
-Yeah. -It's, uh, it's quite a moment.
Tom: And hopefully it takes us in the right direction.
-Mm-hmm. -More questions, though, rick.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-(chuckles) -yep. Absolutely.
Tom: Dad believed that the answers to oak island
certainly laid in that swamp, and to be able to do
what we're doing here today is--
hopefully it will bring a lot of his dreams
and aspirations to-to light.
Carmen might be able to enlighten us about the purpose.
-Craig: Yeah. -You know, how old it is.
Rick: I think we all believe
-it's pre-1840. -Gary: Yeah.
And I'm c-certain we're gonna find another ringbolt
if we keep following this road.
This is the highway to treasure.
-(laughter) -tom (laughing): Highway to treasure.
Narrator: While, rick, craig, tom and the team
continue investigating the swamp...
Scott: Well, so far, so good.
Yeah. We had high hopes, and so far
-we haven't been disappointed. -Nope.
Narrator: ...In the money pit area,
project manager scott barlow, charles barkhouse,
geologist terry matheson and surveyor steve guptill
are supervising the team's core-drilling operation
at borehole cd 8.5,
a borehole where they believe that they've encountered
the so-called tupper shaft,
a 19th century structure built by the truro company
that reportedly sits just ten feet northwest
of the original money pit.
If the team can verify the orientation
and dimensions of this shaft,
they could be one major step closer to locating
the fabled money pit treasure vault.
Steve g.: 53 to the bottom.
Terry: All right.
Scott: It's still very soft.
Terry: Oh, yeah. This is loose.
Well-- whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
-Look at that. Look at that. -Hold it now.
-And then you get your encouragement. -There we go.
Terry: So, we got wood again at 58 feet
-and 57 feet. -Yep.
Terry: And encouragement to carry on.
-We're still in the game. -Yep.
Terry: That tells us we're awfully close.
Rick: They need to know the alignment of the shaft,
which will then allow you to make a very
somewhat interpretive u-understanding
of the alignment of the money pit to the tupper shaft.
Unfortunately, again, there's no cardinal direction.
It's incredibly critical to our efforts,
because you could be off by as much as ten or 15 feet.
You know, guys, one of the problems that we face
whenever we're trying to locate one of these early shafts
is we don't know the dimensions of it.
I mean, we-we know the depth,
but we don't know-- was it a ten-by-ten?
Was it an eight-by-eight?
Are they square? Are they rectangle?
We don't know that.
So, this is important to try to figure that out.
Terry: That's why the truest information
you can get is usually at the bottom.
And we'll have more information to try and determine
where the heck all these shafts are and how far they are
-from the money pit. -Yeah.
Terry: So, we got some good stuff going on here.
Charles: Yeah.
Narrator: While the core-drilling operation continues
in the money pit area,
over on the eastern end of oak island...
Marty: Wow, laird.
-You've been busy. -(laird chuckles)
-whoa. -We're trying.
Narrator: ...Marty lagina arrives on lot 25,
where archaeologists laird niven and liz michels
are conducting an ongoing excavation
of the 19th century property that once belonged
to former american slave turned wealthy landowner
samuel ball.
Although he was known to be a hardworking cabbage farmer
shortly after buying this single lot back in 1786,
what is unknown is how mr. Ball became wealthy enough
to eventually own nine lots on oak island
as well as several more on the mainland
by the time of his death in 1846.
One possible explanation was printed in the 1870 publication
known as "the history of the county of lunenburg,"
in which samuel ball is listed
as one of the three young men
who first discovered the money pit in 1795.
Here's the question:
Nothing to link him somehow to a treasure find?
The biggest questions surround "why a cellar this big," right?
But it may be that he needed to stockpile stuff in here.
Well, he grew wealthy through hard work
and doing the right thing...
-Yeah. -...And not being cowed by adversity.
-That's clear. -Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, but he might also have... (chuckles) got lucky.
-Yeah. -So, what are the next steps here?
Uh, well, we're gonna finish cleaning this out
and then probably excavate it out in quadrants
to see what's underneath.
I'm keenly interested in this.
-Yeah. -Okay.
-All right. -Carry on.
Marty: Stay with it.
-I'm gonna go get gary. -Oh, good idea.
Marty: This looks like a fairly substantial house.
Indications that samuel ball was one very successful man.
But did some of his wealth come
from discoveries on oak island?
Narrator: Although the foundation and surrounding area
is a protected heritage site in the province of nova scotia,
because laird niven and liz michels are present
and able to supervise any disturbance of the grounds,
gary drayton has official permission to metal-detect
for any important clues.
Marty: Let's go find something good, gary.
Yep.
(device beeping)
oh.
(beeping steadily)
-that sounds nice. -Yeah.
And it is just there to the side of the tree.
Marty: Yes.
You might have got it out.
Yeah, you have.
Let's see what we've got.
It's in my hand.
Ooh, look at that.
Gary: Let's see what we got.
And we are looking
at a little pocketknife.
-Seriously? -Yeah.
Narrator: On lot 25,
near the foundation of the house
that once belonged to samuel ball,
metal detection expert gary drayton and marty lagina
have just found what could be an important discovery.
Marty: I'd say that's copper or something.
Gary: Yeah. The ends are copper. That's why we detected it.
Marty: They don't make them out of that anymore, do they?
Gary: Not so much.
Yeah. It looks like half
-of a pocketknife. -Yeah.
And the blade must still be in there.
Marty: That looks like a fine gentleman's pocketknife.
So, you know, we're hoping that it's valuable.
And I think samuel ball was just a highly successful man,
and he may have had some things we're unaware of.
Well, we'll see what it looks like
-when it's cleaned up. Nice little find. -Cleaned up.
Gary: This is a great start. It really is.
Marty: It's an excellent start.
-Yeah. Let's keep going. -Yeah.
Marty: I'm excited. Let's go
-find some more stuff. -Yep.
(detector beeping)
oh. Not so good.
Yeah. That doesn't sound as good to me.
Gary: No.
-(low beeping) -marty: That sounds good to me.
That sounds good.
(detector whining)
just there.
Here we go.
-(pinpointer beeping) -oh.
We're on it.
I feel something there.
Oh! Yeah, that's nice.
What is it? A badge?
No. It's not a badge, mate.
Yeah. To me, that looks like musket decoration.
Oh, like you found with samuel ball on it?
Gary: Yeah.
That might clean up and have some kind of design on it.
Or some letters or numbers.
Marty: For sure it has letters on it.
-I can see. -It has?
-Oh, yeah. -I was hoping.
Marty: It says "patent."
-gary: It says "patent"? -Mm-hmm.
-Now you can see it. -Oh, yeah!
Look at that. That's nice, isn't it?
-There ain't any doubt about that. -Yeah.
Narrator: A patent plate?
Possibly from an old rifle or musket?
During the 17th and 18th centuries,
as firearm technology advanced
in europe and colonial north america,
manufacturers placed engraved "patent" plates on their muskets
as a way of protecting the ownership
of any unique innovations,
such as the firing mechanism or the weapon's design.
Similar to a maker's mark, a patent plate
could help reveal when and where an artifact was made,
as well as possibly identify who it once belonged to.
What do you think, gary? How old is that?
Gary: With that design, the way it's got that nice
old-style lettering,
I'd say that's period, mate, for this lot.
1790. 1830s. Samuel ball era.
Yeah. I think it's period.
Gary: Yeah.
Marty: I'd bet a lot that was on a firearm.
It could've easily have been on the, the stock.
-Yeah. -Or the butt.
Maybe that's the way to look for whatever this is.
-That's what I would do. I would start with guns. -Guns, yeah.
Uh, probably british armaments.
-Gary: Yeah. -I mean, if you find out that
that was some kind of nice shooting firearm,
-it might speak to wealth. -Yeah.
Marty: The little "patent" thing was really exciting, because
I view it as yet another indication
that samuel ball had a fair amount of wealth.
Gary, partner, let's put it in the bag.
-Yep. -And we'll go onto, hopefully,
-bigger and better things. -Yeah.
And we'll tell laird about this.
Marty: Yeah. Cheers, mate.
-Gary: We found some cool stuff. -Marty: Yeah.
Narrator: While marty and gary continue searching on lot 25...
Charles: Here we are.
Narrator: ...Approximately 50 miles north of oak island,
jack begley, tom nolan
and oak island historian charles barkhouse
arrive at northville farm...
Charles: Hey, carmen.
...Where they are eager to show blacksmithing expert
carmen legge the iron ringbolt
that was found in the swamp one week ago.
How you doing?
Okay.
Jack: Charles and I brought along a new face for you.
-Hi, carmen. Nice to meet you. -Hi.
-Tom nolan. -Yeah. Good.
Charles: Well, you can tell us what you think that is.
-Okay. -Carmen: Um...
-Really? -Yeah.
Is this specifically made for wood?
Okay.
The ones we have pictures of on the island,
that were in the boulders,
seemed to be a little bigger than that.
-Okay. -Yes. Yes.
Jack: You'd call it a wharf
or an anchor pin?
What-what type of things would this be used for?
Do you see that line right there?
Narrator: Earlier this year,
while conducting a sonar scan of the waters
just off of the south shore, bordering the swamp,
alex lagina, diver tony sampson
and geoscientist dr. Ian spooner
detected what appeared to be the remains
of a mysterious square-shaped rock structure.
Ian: This might be evidence of a human-made structure.
The remnants of an old wharf. Something like that.
Narrator: And one week later,
tony conducted a dive where he confirmed that the formation
was not a natural feature.
Alex: Welcome back. Did you find the square structure?
Tony: Um, there were rocks in a square,
but maybe the remains of an old cribbed wharf.
Narrator: Is it possible that this ringbolt
is connected to the potential ship's wharf,
as well as the stone-paved pathway
recently discovered within the swamp?
And could it also explain the 200-foot-long anomaly
that the team detected using seismic scanning two years ago,
which eerily resembled the shape of a large galleon ship?
We found it right along that roadway.
-Yeah. -In that southeast corner
dr. Spooner dated as being a possible wharf.
So, you know, based upon the structure, this is fitting.
This isn't the first ringbolt we've recovered on the island.
My dad found at least three,
but, I mean, one was found along the swamp.
Not terribly far from that one.
Wow.
That gives it away?
The date and-and the usage?
Jack: What's the earliest date that
you could date work like this back to?
Charles: It definitely predates
the known discovery of the, of the money pit.
Charles: To me, it's quite significant
finding that pin
on the stone road
and the fact that carmen believes it's from a wharf.
I mean, that just springs to mind
a number of theories
based on the fact that the swamp
on the eastern side could have been a cove at one time.
And a treasure ship or ships could have been brought in there
and off-loaded.
Well, thank you very much, carmen.
It's always a pleasure.
(laughs) well, we love to show it to you.
-We'll try to keep digging it up. -Yeah.
We'll be back soon.
-Thank you very much. -Take care.
Jack: That was successful.
Charles: Yeah. Absolutely.
Charles: Hi, guys.
Rick: Welcome back.
Here comes the true believer.
Narrator: After returning from their meeting
with blacksmithing expert carmen legge,
tom nolan and charles barkhouse join rick
and marty lagina, along with doug crowell,
to share the report on the iron ringbolt
discovered in the swamp.
This is exciting.
Carmen was very impressed with this.
I'm impressed with that, too.
This is not a pin that would go in granite.
This is a pin that would go in a wharf.
-Marty: Why the split? -Tom: So it doesn't pull out.
-Charles: Yeah. -Tom: Do that at the other end, and that way it locks it
-into the timber. -And he said
they stopped doing this in 1760.
Here.
Marty: And you're telling me the youngest this could be
is 1760?
But he said 1600s.
Charles: Yeah. 1600s to 1760.
Wow.
So, begs the question: Was that dropped
in the swamp, or did all the wood rot away?
-That didn't float in. -Tom: No.
-We can be sure of that. -Yes.
The fact that it's splayed suggests it was used. Right?
It wasn't just dropped.
Rick: Either way,
it was found on top of the stone feature.
Doug: Do you know what that suggests to us?
That stone pathway was falling out of use
in at least 1760, because
soil started to accumulate on top of it, right?
-Yeah. -Yep. That's true.
So, that means that stone pathway was...
-Rick: Predates that. -Yeah. Predates that.
Yep.
Narrator: Is it possible,
as oak island historian doug crowell is suggesting,
that the iron ringbolt could actually predate
the discovery of the money pit by as much as two centuries?
If so, could it also be a key
to dating the stone pathway it was found on?
As well as what the pathway's purpose was?
What comes to mind for this ringbolt, its function,
is that there could have been a-a wooden wharf
in what was then an inlet from the sea.
Certainly deep enough for a vessel
that goes back and forth to the big ship.
This thing could have been driven into it
and it would be an anchor point.
So...
Highly intriguing and old.
I mean, that fits what we were hoping for the swamp.
And maybe helps explain the road.
And also is exciting in terms of,
okay, what are you off-loading here?
-And where were they taking it? -Yeah.
We're gonna follow that thing
-and find out. -Charles: Yeah.
Rick: What would your father say?
Tom: This all sort of fits in with his theory.
I'm not just sure what he would have thought of it.
Except that, "I told you so."
-(laughter) -there you go.
I-I'm gonna kinda say that myself.
(chuckles)
marty: All right, well...
As much as it's a beautiful day to sit right here, isn't it?
-There's work to do. -There's work to be done.
There's work to do. Yeah. Okay.
Let's do it, then.
Charles: Yeah.
Narrator: Later that afternoon...
Terry: We're gonna carry on to 110, easily.
-All right? -Sounds good.
...While the drilling operation continues in the money pit area,
in the uplands near the eastern border of the swamp,
archaeologists dr. Aaron taylor and miriam amirault
continue their efforts
to track the path of the massive stone feature.
So, if we can get these cleared off.
-Mm-hmm. -And hopefully see where the road ends.
And then maybe it'll tell us where it starts to turn up.
Yeah.
If you find any stones
that don't look like they're in place,
like this, this blue slate...
Does that just look out of place to you?
Yeah. Maybe a bit.
Hey, craig!
Yo!
Aaron: Can I bother you for a second?
Sure.
-Let's go have a look. -Yep.
Look at that.
Hey, guys.
-Hey. -Good day.
This is the area where the ringbolt was found.
Mm-hmm.
So, I came down on this blue-y slate
that looks out of place.
It doesn't look like it really belongs there.
And if you come closer...
To me, that just looks like it's been pecked
or a circular piece has been punched out of it.
I don't know, but it doesn't look natural.
But why don't we get dr. Spooner over
and see if he can explain.
You know, maybe there's a natural process.
It just looks too human-made to me.
Okay.
Dr. Spooner, you come over and take a look at something?
On my way.
What do you got?
I came to this slate and, to me, it just looks out of place.
-Right. -And it's got
an unusual circular piece.
You can take it right out. That'd be fine.
-Right. -Does that look natural?
Ian: Let me pick up my little whisk here.
Well, you know, with the ringbolt being here
and then this circular feature,
it doesn't quite look like what I'd expect.
To me, usually when these rocks break,
it's just an edge like that, but to,
to have that little indent,
is kind of, kind of odd.
We should take a look at these stones a little more carefully,
see if there's any attempt to make a hole
-in any of these stones, but... -Yeah.
The question begs,
why put a ringbolt in a rock, in a hole, here?
I think it suggests working with block and tackles.
Or, you know, it's like heavy cargo.
-Heavy, heavy stuff. Right? -Right.
I can buy it if this was just, you know,
Sunday groceries coming down the road here,
-you don't need ringbolts. -Billy: Yeah.
Narrator: Although this ringbolt found in this area
is believed to have once been embedded
in a wooden ship's wharf,
is it possible that this piece of slate
was connected to the other ringbolts
found several decades ago in this area by fred nolan?
Ringbolts that were embedded in rocks.
And if so, could they have been
part of a chain and pulley system--
as billy gerhardt is suggesting--
to haul some kind of heavy cargo or chest
out of the swamp and along this stone pathway?
Given all those facts,
that the road appears to be turning upland,
you have the ringbolt...
It could be some sort of support
for a pulley system
or a way to assist in hauling
large cartloads of something.
It's too early to tell.
Ian: It's unequivocal we've got a road--
and a road built to last.
It's really quite a nice little road.
-Yeah. -Ian: Yeah.
All hidden under swamp.
And why?
To me, it's a big problem that needs to be solved.
-Aaron: Well, I'll take this down... -Okay, I'll...
...And see what's going on there.
Okay. Good.
Aaron: We'll see what's in store for us.
Narrator: Another day has begun on oak island,
and near the eastern border of the swamp...
-Hey, bill. -Hey, rick.
-Rick: You've made some progress, I see. -Yep.
...Rick lagina and craig tester
have just been alerted by billy gerhardt
to another potentially important discovery
that he believes may be connected to the stone pathway.
It's got to be good news
-with billy using that shovel. -(rick laughs)
yeah, trying to figure out what's going on here.
And? Your thoughts?
Well, we thought it might be end of the road.
But just in the last few buckets, again,
it's starting to get a little bit interesting.
-We got this high rock. -Right.
And we got a rock right there in front of you.
At first, we just thought it was all jumble,
so we dug a little test hole here,
but look in the test hole. We got cobbles.
Craig: That's a rock down there, too? Cobble?
We have cobble here.
This is the base of the cobble right there.
Billy: So, it looks pretty suspiciously like the road.
But if this is a turn,
well, then, we have to try to figure out what's going on.
Narrator: Another possible section of the stone pathway
running along the eastern border of the swamp?
If so, just how far does it extend...
And where is it leading?
Rick: Hey, gary.
Gary: I was standing here,
looking where this road leads.
It seems to be winding towards that direction.
Uphill to the money pit?
Yeah.
Narrator: The stone pathway
possibly turning in a new direction...
Toward the money pit?
If so, could it actually lead the team
to the location of the fabled treasure vault?
-Hey, steve. -Steve g.: Hey, guys.
-Hey, aaron. -Hey.
Well, if we can take elevations off of these boulders here.
Steve g.: Sure.
This is about two feet above sea level.
So, I would say, based on elevation,
that this is part of the roadway.
But what about that?
All right, so...
Oh, wow.
Yeah. This is all organic.
So, these stones were placed into this organic material.
Then you've got these...
These pieces of wood at the bottom,
which is what we're finding in the other stone features.
So, they put these pieces of wood down
as a matting and then put the stone on top.
So it's definitely man-made, aaron?
I would say so. Yes.
Rick: Let's assume this is a road.
We're almost to that decision point, though.
Whether we turn left, turn right, or go straight.
Which way do you think we should chase this?
Straight ahead to some unknown location
or uphill to the money pit, possibly?
Everything's telling me it's turning up.
Rick: That has always been the thought,
that this was just
a easier way to get to the money pit
with an extremely heavy load.
Um... Is that being borne out here? I don't know.
Is that wood?
I would say so. Yes.
Rick: I think there's hope
that we're finally gonna
further the understanding
of the purpose of this road.
Billy: Well, I think we've got
about six or eight more feet to take this.
The logical way is to keep going the way we're going,
because if it's a turn in the road,
we should find it soon.
We ain't never getting out of here, are we?
(all chuckling)
narrator: While rick lagina and craig tester
continue to oversee the investigation
of the stone pathway near the swamp...
-Terry: It's 98 at the bottom. -Charles: 98.
...Steve guptill has joined
charles barkhouse and geologist terry matheson
in the money pit area
as they have now drilled to a depth of nearly 100 feet
in borehole cd 8.5.
A borehole that has intercepted
what they believe could be
a 19th century searchers' structure
known as the tupper shaft,
which was built just ten feet northwest
of the original money pit.
Terry: That's damn loose.
Steve g.: This is what's interesting.
-Yeah. -We have wood right there.
Oh, yeah. Lots of wood.
Oh, yeah.
(whoops)
steve g.: Hey, scott.
-Guys. -Charles: We got wood, scott.
I like the look of that.
There's where our faith came in to stick with it.
-Steve g.: Yeah. Always does. -Charles: Yeah.
Scott: You know, we should see the bottom of the shaft
if we are in the tupper shaft,
because that bottom few feet is usually in place.
That'll really help us pinpoint the dimensions of
where that wall sits.
It's gonna tell us a lot.
Narrator: It is the team's hope
to verify the orientation of the shaft
so that they will know which direction to move the drill rig
and, with any luck,
locate the fabled treasure vault
that has eluded searchers for more than two centuries.
-What do we got? -103 and a half.
103 and a half. You guys got us a beam by the look of it.
That looks like a piece of wood or something, right there.
Geez. Oh, my lordy.
So, we got some good information from mike.
103.5. He thinks he's out.
Terry: Okay. Well, that would--
that would be about where we thought the bottom was.
And we might be out of the bottom here.
That's a great beam.
Scott: Oh, yeah. We have lots of wood.
Steve g.: Yeah. We're still in wood.
Terry: There's the ax cut there.
There's the wood grain.
And the ax cut is there and back that way.
That ridge is where they cut.
-Charles: That's hand-hewn. -Steve g.: We've got a side,
we've got a wall and we've got a floor.
-Hey, rick. -Rick: Hey, steve.
I've heard, uh, it's pretty exciting up here.
Well, we're-- we were successful in the first hole.
Charles: That's a vertical piece of wood right there.
That's a timber.
You can see where that was cut by an ax, right?
The dip in it here?
-Rick: Wow. -That's hand-hewn lumber.
Rick: That is incredible.
Look at this.
That's fantastic.
Terry: That's a really interesting piece.
So close to the bottom.
Narrator: While drilling in the money pit area,
rick lagina and members of the oak island team
believe they have obtained evidence
of a 19th century searcher shaft
that could help point them in the direction
where the fabled treasure vault may be located.
Rick: We believe we have delineated the wall of the tupper shaft,
but it's critically important to try to find
the proper orientation of the tupper shaft,
because that's the information that we're hopeful will lead us
to what they found, I.E., the original money pit.
Steve g.: So, our last hole, rick,
-we've just come out of cd 8.5. -Yeah.
Steve g.: And based on what we're seeing, it looks like we might be going
right down the center of a shaft.
We-we think now...
...So if this is a wall,
then-then the money pit would have to be over here or here.
Because this is relatively not investigated.
How confident are you that the orientation is this way?
Steve g.: That's the next step.
This-this hole we're in should really help us
confirm or deny this orientation.
Rick: My thought would be, we need
all the information possible to really be certain
of the orientation of that.
Let's just see what another rod looks like.
If you can define two walls, you're good.
-You're golden. Right? -Charles: Yeah.
Well, that's the decision.
End of day, we'll know exactly where we are.
-Yep. -And then we'll make a decision based on that information.
Terry: That'd be great.
Anyway, my hat's off to you guys for-for sticking with it.
-Good luck. -All right. See you later.
Charles: Okay. We got our marching orders.
Narrator: The following morning,
just as drilling gets underway
in a new borehole dubbed bc 8.5...
Rick: Well, gentlemen, this is...
Probably one of the most important meetings of the year.
Narrator: ...Oak island historian doug crowell
has requested a meeting with rick, marty, craig
and members of the team
after making an important discovery
in the files of the late dan blankenship,
which he believes could be critical to the continued search
for the location of the original money pit.
But a decision has to be made,
and I think it has to be made today.
So, there's some new information
that doug has found in dan's files
regarding the money pit.
So, uh, with that, I'm gonna turn it over to doug,
and then we'll have a discussion about what we do next.
So, I'm gonna share a presentation here with you.
We've been compiling the data from the historical record.
Craig's drilling has revealed that the tupper shaft
sits right about here.
It should be contained within that circle.
This shows the caisson oc-1.
It was between those two shafts that we were pretty sure
the original money pit must set.
Which would mean that the money pit would be here.
And what we know about that area is
that this is where we found the wood dated 1706.
The oldest wood that we've brought up
out of the money pit so far.
Narrator: Last year, while drilling the borehole known as oc-1,
the team obtained evidence of a wooden tunnel
some 150 feet underground that was dated to 1706,
nearly 90 years before the discovery of the money pit.
This find led the oak island team to believe
that the original treasure shaft
and the fabled vault
would most likely be located in that area.
Doug: I think we would have been hard-pressed
for someone to convince us that we didn't find
the original zone for the money pit.
But we have some diagrams from the 1890s,
and this revealed the tupper shaft in relation
to the money pit that they were working in at the time.
"a" is the tupper shaft.
And the money pit is over here.
This is kind of exciting because being able to delineate it
has given us a whole new place to look for the money pit.
We've been looking to the east of the tupper shaft.
And that diagram suggests that the money pit's to the west.
Wow.
T we wouldn't even know
where the hell the money pit is after all those holes?
Yeah.
Steve g.: I mean, we've put in
close to 400 holes since I've been here, and...
-God. -...That's sonic holes.
Marty: It would explain a lot if we have been
-looking in the wrong spot. -(laughter)
rick: The troubling thing is,
is it possible that for 200 years,
people have not looked in the correct area for the money pit?
Marty: The historical records
that we're using to try and refine our search
for the money pit are the same sort of thing
that happens all over oak island.
They're great, they're very helpful,
and they're maddeningly difficult
and perhaps inaccurate.
And so, we're trying to weed out what's useful and what isn't
by trial and error, I guess.
Alex: Well, what's the decision?
I'd be willing to sacrifice a shot
at the eastern location to be confident
that we fully explored the western location.
-Right. -So, my vote's
to go for the site on the west.
Do we only have time for one?
We don't have a ton of time left.
-I'd go for both. -Scott: We have to start somewhere,
so we need a priority.
-Okay, west. -(laughter)
doug: And the interesting thing is, c-1,
if that's where the money pit actually is,
c-1 did present that shiny gold object.
C-1 hit some shaft and it could be part of the money pit.
Yeah.
So, I like the west side.
Narrator: Ever since rick, marty,
craig and the team first drilled borehole c-1
five years ago at the suggestion
of oak island historian charles barkhouse,
it has remained a tantalizing mystery.
Narrator: Not only did it encounter a void
measuring some 20 feet deep by ten feet wide...
Craig: Here we go.
...But when cameras have been placed down inside,
three different gold-colored objects have been seen
embedded in the walls.
Charles: It looks metallic. The hell is that?
Narrator: Although numerous dive operations over the years
have failed to determine just what they are...
Dave: Going down.
Narrator: ...Is it possible
that the information doug crowell has found
means that c-1 might be connected
to the original money pit after all?
Marty: Okay, well, rick, you haven't said anything.
You want to do the west?
Yeah. Yep.
You have to go west. You have to chase the historical context.
Yes.
-Otherwise, why are we here? -Yeah.
Scott: One ace in the hole
we may have is, we know there was a shaft in c-1.
-Yes. -Marty: That's about
as most enthused I've heard you, man.
Scott: Everybody is very optimistic and excited about this.
So hopefully it leads to something good.
Marty: Well, there you have it.
So, it's just a matter of establishing a grid
and, uh, putting steel downhole.
The question is,
where is the money pit?
That has always been the question
regarding any of the work over the last 225 years.
I mean, we've drilled exhaustively.
It's almost a foregone conclusion
that we've been looking in the wrong places.
We can't drill the entire money pit,
at least certainly not this year.
And, thus, we need to remain focused on the c-1 location.
Marty: Okay. I say make it so.
That's my vote.
-Agreed. -Yep.
-I'm in. -I'm in.
-Definitely. -Yeah.
Well, let's dig the west and call this war room adjourned.
Absolutely.
Marty: All right. Thanks, guys.
-Rick: See you. -Steve g.: See you, guys.
Narrator: As another productive
and surprising week comes to an end on oak island,
rick, marty, craig and the team remain unwavering
in their efforts to solve a 225-year-old mystery.
Will their new drilling strategy in the money pit
finally help them close in on a legendary treasure vault
that is believed to contain everything from gold,
jewels and priceless documents
to possibly even sacred religious artifacts?
One thing is certain.
They are now following a path that could soon reveal
the ultimate secrets of this storied island
in the north atlantic.
The question is: Just where
will that path lead them?
Next time on the curse of oak island...
Yeah. Look at that.
-The top of a keg. -Wow.
(detector beeping)
holy schmoly.
Marty: Well, how about that?
Rick? Come look at this.
-We just found this. -Wow.
That's the most significant artifact we have.
-Hey, guys. -What do we got, gentlemen?
Rick: That is incredible.
Debris field, baby.
It might actually be the money pit.
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