The Curse of Oak Island (2014) s03e03 Episode Script

1
Tonight on the curse of Oak Island
I don't move some dirt wreck
machine right there it's time to dig and
you told me if you know where 30 rods to
their lands right on that line x marks
your spot that right there
I claim this spot
we're digging on Oak Island
we can see something wait what's that
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 bits of
gold chain a stone slab with strange
symbols carved into it even a 17th
century Spanish coin 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
it is another day in the quest to find
treasure on Oak Island
here we me beat all this stuff and it's
on this day that Rick and Marty lagina
along with their partners have traveled
almost 60 miles from Oak Island to
Halifax in search of large-scale digging
equipment everybody decide what they
want to collect that little cat there
Rick
one of each sounds good
hello hi Scott Ferguson Scott my Carl oh
hey nice to meet you
so you guys are here looking for some
equipment yes sir
hopefully yeah we got all excited
driving in here you know I mean good
it's like that's like pornography for us
out there yeah it's just a great place
to be we're eager to see those big
yelling machines
feeling a little kid in a candy store we
will be yeah well we'll take you out
back and we can go on a little bit of a
shopping spree let you guys see
something okay see some equipment I'll
do it
when we saw that equipment I think there
were smiles on all our faces and yeah
love to being new after spending 50
years of dreaming decades of researching
and the past two years actively
identifying likely targets the Oak
Island team is now ready to dig and dig
deeper than ever before so here's one
machine we're looking at right here wow
that looks like plenty of machine my
brother needs to step up to the plate on
that I can work this thing
Marty had all your remote monitoring
these are the tracks right that's that's
the controllers yeah and then a joystick
control bucket curl on either side right
and boom lift on the right so this is
the boom down that'll be your curl okay
I've got this we'll take it no this is
fabulous this will do everything we need
to do and probably more about can't wait
to get it to the island and we're gonna
use the big excavator to dig what do we
want to dig this one here with the
backhoe we can do with more fine-tuned
digging where we might need to do that
that looks comfy okay
this is mine and then with the bulldozer
Rick is a good bulldozer operator
I don't move some dirt wreck Wow and we
can use that to scrape off or level or
whatever we need to get into any sites
for future drilling yeah which is our
little brother here the d4k these are
beautiful machines yeah they're one you
boys get up there take a look see eight
there you go
what I think Peter grandpa Ted loved
running a bulldozer yeah he was never
happier than when he was driving a
bulldozer what give me started as Rick
and Marty's youngest nephew Peter
Fornetti has been steeped in the various
legends and theories about Oak Island
ever since he can remember he's wanted
to considered by his family to be the
one who most closely shears uncle Rick's
passion for solving the 220 year old
mystery okay so what do you guys think
well here's the deal I've got strong
opinions on the excavator backhoe side
and he's kind of mr. dozer man so okay I
think we'll take that big excavator the
backhoe and that big dozer excellent
okay yeah write it up deal we start
moving some dirt around yeah
okay
okay Big Brother let's have a little fun
as they await the delivery of the heavy
digging equipment Rick and Marty lagina
along with Craig tester stepson Jack
Begley meet at the most infamous
location on Oak Island the money pit hey
Jack hey Marty hey Rick all right what
we're gonna do we're gonna look for the
x marks the spot from Robert Marcos
let's go all right
hey Robert good morning Gloria I'm Marty
Marty pleasure yeah pleasure to finally
have a seat while back home in Traverse
City Michigan Marty lagina and business
partner Alan Koh Strava arranged to meet
with Oak Island theorists Robert Markus
I want you to knock our socks off okay
because my brother Alan Craig and I we
really want to accomplish something this
year it's time to dig and you told me
you're gonna convince me that you know
we're yes sir
all right go for it based on his years
of studying books maps and historical
records his Marcus's belief that the
lost treasures of King Solomon's Temple
including the Ark of the Covenant were
buried on Oak Island hundreds of years
ago by the Knights Templar
but while that in itself is not a new
theory
what makes Marcus's findings unique is
that he believes the treasure lies
buried not at the bottom of the money
pit or the Oak Island swamp but at a
very different location you know the
history of Oak Island one of the
characters is Gilbert Hedden yeah
the thing about Gilbert which I really
found interesting is he actually had
something physical to look at and it was
a math and it was Matt based out of a
book written by Harold's Wilkins back in
1935 and it was called Captain Kidd and
his skeleton island in 1937
industrialist politician and Oak Island
treasure hunter Gilbert Hedden believed
he had made a critical breakthrough when
he saw a startling treasure map in the
fictionalized account of real-life 17th
century privateer Captain William Kidd
this is the map that was in the book but
as you can see one of the things that's
strange is the reference to North okay
North is upside down
the text and everything is right side up
but North is upside down and that's not
the way we're taught to read a map the
other thing is with the shape of the
island itself this little Peninsula land
that comes off the elephant's nose the
elephant's nose if you look at your Oak
Island
there's your elephant's nose right there
right and North is up so this would be
like that if you're looking at now all
the text is upside down right and North
is up
Gilbert Hatton was fascinated by the
multiple similarities between the map
and Oak Island such as the strange
oblong shape stone markers a swamp and
of course a treasure site indicated near
the exact spot where the money pit was
located
excited by his findings Hedden traveled
to England to meet with the author of
the book
Harold Wilkins but Wilkins insisted that
the map was nothing more than a figment
of his imagination disappointed and
desperately short of money Hedden
returned home and soon after abandoned
his search for the treasure when he was
first confronted on this mr. Wilkins
said this is a rendition he had seen
this map somewhere before so the
question is what did he see
I myself personally believe this map was
actually created by the Zeno brothers
and Henry Sinclair
I believe this map was actually created
by the Zeno brothers and Henry Sinclair
Oak Island theorists Robert Marcus has
just informed Marty lagina about the
existence of a treasure map that was
reprinted in a book about Captain Kidd
back in the 1930s
although the identity and location of
the island in the book is unknown when
turned upside down it bears striking
similarities to Oak Island similarities
which according to Robert Marcus are no
coincidence it is his belief that the
map was based upon one drawn by the 14th
century Scottish Explorer Henry Sinclair
along with his companions the Zeno
brothers
I know a little bit about this story
they're Italian navigators right yes for
centuries there have been many who
believe that the Zeno brothers along
with Sinclair traveling under the
pseudonym seach Meany sailed as far west
as Nova Scotia and as early as 1398
nearly 100 years before Columbus
according to legend once there
they hid a vast religious treasure
possibly the Ark of the Covenant and the
golden menorah from the temple of King
Solomon to ensure they would one day be
able to find it again
they created a map which was coated with
a numeric key featuring the numbers 7 by
8 by 4 I believe mr. Wilkins
misinterpreted the 7
there should be one by it by for workers
and that is based on a stone that was
found in Massachusetts this is called
the boat stone located in Westford
Massachusetts the so called boat stone
has left researchers and historians
baffled since its discovery in 1932 it
is a round 2 foot in diameter stone on
which can be found what are believed to
be 14th century carvings of an ancient
sailing vessel an arrow and the numbers
one eight four
could this map really be an important
link between the boat stone and the 14th
century Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair
this is the starting point okay the boat
represents a coastal range followed the
coast in the number a hundred and eighty
for the unit of measure back then was
called a league now one hundred eighty
four leagues north takes you to Overton
Nova Scotia when you get to there you
find the stone within the stone right
here you have a depiction of the circle
with the Templars cross in it I believe
the Templars have carved this now
looking in the directions you have a
northeast quadrant from that stone to
travel north east takes you to the south
end of Mahone Bay and at that you find
this right here this giant boulder and
if you're looking at this stone that's
my home Bay
okay yeah so you're looking at my home
base I mean something's great here what
happened you have an island to look for
out of 300 Islands find the one that's
shaped like the one that was in the book
the one with the elephants from here you
come across Oak Island
what's the next thing you do the next
thing down from 1 by 8 by 4 which is
actually from one body by 4 the first
thing you do is behind the tree the
first tree that the beginners boys found
in 1795 the tree that was so obvious in
1795 after seen strange lights coming
from Oak Island
the teenager Daniel McGinnis along with
two companions went to investigate
what they found was an unusual circular
impression in the ground under the
branch of an old oak tree believing the
impression to be evidence of something
buried below the boys began to dig
deeper and deeper until that came upon
wooden planks and stones at 10-foot
intervals over the next few years they
found bits of gold chain coconut fiber
and even a large stone slab edged with
strange markings until the hole became
flooded with seawater and the legend of
the Oak Island money pit was born
looking at this right here you have the
money pit where the tree was yeah now if
you do what it says 14 north and go
opposite you go 14 radsolv the next
thing you have to do is you have to go
30 rods and it says south west you have
to go with north east
thirty rods to their lands right on that
line x marks your spot let me ask you
something if I said to you right now
you can have five million dollars or
I'll give you enough money to dig you
can have what's here what would you do I
dig okay well I like that answer
interesting thing about Robert Marcus is
that a lot of people come and have this
theory in that theory but he is willing
to put an X on the map right here 40
feet down why not dig the x marks the
spot before Marcus is it is who knows
what we might find I had Jack look for
the spot via GPS Jack did it the modern
way you and I are gonna do it the
old-fashioned way and we're gonna see if
we end up at the same spot as now no
problem this is gonna be like an
old-fashioned treasure hunt we have an x
marks the spot employment this is an old
fish you know what you are so right on
that okay let's find out though the
exact location of the original money pit
has been lost since the 1860s due to
repeated excavations
Rick Marty and the team believe they may
have rediscovered it last year
definitely when they drilled into what
could be a treasure vault first reported
in 1897 that's what they found at the
top of the wall okay so we want to go
339 feet due east from that point and
remember that we're already fourteen
feet north okay yep okay what's the
measurement 200 something right we got
to get our easterlies but don't worry
about the measurement we're gonna find
the spot using Marcus's coordinates it
basically just gives an easterly and a
northerly bearing and to this X but
first we have to find it
yeah that steak has to go to the north
you know that way
Yeah right there just have this edge
line up with that steak over there and
slide it all the way that way does that
look about right yeah in the U P we do
what we have to do in order to
accomplish the task at hand and that's
what we did we use a 2 by 6 and we use
the measuring tape I mean it doesn't get
more basic than that that's you per
engineering it surely is you per
ingenuity that it right there
so we found we believe with a reasonable
degree of accuracy where Robert Marcus
would like us to dig I claim this spot
plus there it is x marks the spot
according to mr. Marcus it's worth a dig
let's dig it it'll be farming yeah
tomorrow we dig
Oh red truck coming where comes a truck
yeah that looks like capability right
there
finally after years of research
experimentation and planning it is time
to start digging that looks good I like
the looks of that
and to find out once and for all if any
of the myths and legends about a
mysterious buried treasure are true to
see that stuff come across the causeway
it's like bringing in the tanks when
you're an infantryman you know you know
yeah we could use that
that's a nice machine
pretty good-sized excavator I'm thinking
of digging right in the middle of your
house dad I've heard there's treasure
under there
like again welcome to Oak Island thank
you Oak Island thanks Lawrence to be
here did you feel anything when you came
across this did you get it kind of a you
kind of a jitter he did a little little
scary feeling okay well a lot of history
here's the guy I want to meet ya mr.
Blankenship Mike Carlo dan Blankenship
pleasure to meet you sir
you have a lot of history here okay
that's for sure today represents a
momentous day for dan Blankenship at 92
he has spent more time searching for
treasure on Oak Island than anyone else
in its history more than half his life
in fact say this equipment was being
offloaded 40 years ago what would you
have done with it they did
and when Dan was out there watching that
equipment mentioned something you know
Jesus I wish I'd have had those types of
resources when I was doing my work so
it's a big that's a big boon to our
efforts
but now seeing the big digging equipment
represents a milestone that he has been
dreaming up for more than 40 years
because today his determination to find
treasure on the island seems closer than
ever to becoming a reality
let's try give one little fold there and
the way you go
I'm very excited about actually two-week
something I mean we've been frogging
around out here with cameras and
electronics and resistivity and stuff I
mean at some point you have to dig I'm
ready to dig
I want to see the mystery salt what I
like the lagina name associated with the
Oak Island story yet for my father
we asked dad if there's treasure on Oak
Island what should we do and he didn't
hesitate a moment he said do good with
it but as excited as Rick Marty and the
other members of the Oak Island team
feel they are also aware that the
islands long history offers as many
sobering realities as it does
opportunities for success last time
really enormous equipment came across
that causeway there was quite an
excavation that went on out here we have
to be careful to not repeat Robert
dunfield's issues and even had good
intent but use big equipment and we want
to make sure we do this smart
in 1965 just a few weeks after a tragic
accident that claimed the lives of
Robert rest on his son Bobby and two of
their co-workers california geologist
Robert Dunfield took over all treasure
hunting operations on Oak Island after
constructing the causeway which linked
the island to the mainland he brought in
a massive 70 ton digging crane along
with other large-scale digging and
drilling equipment but even after months
of extensive excavations Dunfield
failed to uncover any evidence of
treasure instead he left much of Oak
Island permanently scarred and many of
its important stone markers and
landmarks obliterated it is a legacy
that Marty and Rick are determined not
to repeat I know we're all eager to dig
dig dig but it's getting late I say we
call it a day
round I've grown time for David last
wine time for me tomorrow we hit it okay
let's go right
it
is the start of a new day on Oak
Island
but in spite of the eerie gloom that has
enveloped the landscape
Rick Marty and Jack Begley are
determined to see if Robert Marcus's
incredible theory will figure this out
about a centuries-old map and a
mysterious three number code could
really pinpoint the exact location of a
treasure that men have been looking for
and dying for for over 200 years okay
we found where Robert Marcus would like
us to dig so we're going to dig as deep
as we can with that big excavator we
have it's time to dig while Marty
operates the 40-ton excavator which is
capable of digging up to two yards of
Earth per bucket his brother Rick will
stand ready with the bulldozer just in
case they need to level off the ground
in my mind what we spend out here in
terms of time and money has to do with
risk reward ratio
the reward is huge if any of these
theories are correct
righty-right treasure baby treasure
fine
following up on Robert Marcus's
incredible theory that a 14th century
map created by Henry Sinclair provided
dimeric clues as to the exact location
of the Oak Island treasure
Rick and Marty lagina along with Jack
Begley have started to do
we're digging on Oh God Matt x marks the
spot
it's exciting what how can it not be
excited
now if we hit something of a historical
nature that'd be great
but look nobody is hoping for the
treasure more than I am
that is hard digging
let's see what I got here that is hard
hard hard digging look see you can
always tell see the teeth mark in the
sides
imagine digging that by hand I can't
imagine it makes me understand why the
rest dolls were happy just to get 2
inches a day it is fun to actually dig
on Oak Island it is fun to have that big
piece of equipment and dig why don't I
just keep digging I'll try I keep trying
to dig deeper until I can't dig deep and
yes each bucket that you bring up might
have something in it I mean I was hoping
every time as we got deeper something
would pop out of there
is that Iraq
that's just a rock right sure
it's a piece of one Cimber a wood timber
at the exact spot where theorist Robert
Markus told Marty a treasure vault lies
buried could it be that Rick Marty and
Jack have found the entrance to an
underground vault or treasure tunnel or
could it simply be cribbing the wooden
posts and boards used by miners and
treasure hunters to reinforce deep
tunnels and keep them from caving in
really
doesn't smell bad
although the strange piece of wood may
have turned out to be a false alarm one
supposedly dead end could lead to a
crucial piece of evidence being found
I think I see something no way what is
it hey Rick
is this blue clay
blue clay although the presence of blue
clay appears disconnected from Rick and
Marty search for an underground treasure
vault the existence of layers of blue
clay was first reported on the island by
searchers digging in the money pit in
1803 it has also been a long-held belief
by gold miners that the presence of blue
clay is a sign that gold or silver could
very well be present underground
take a few more
that's why that blue flag it's right in
the bottom
but as encouraging at the presence of
blue clay is it represents less a
welcome clue and more of an unwelcome
obstacle
baby's wet pretty way yeah where's the
water it looks wet right there can you
see that
where right there yeah
oh now it's pouring in from this side
you got a water of course about eight
feet down coming in this foot it's
coming quick - Rick I wonder if we are
close to something
at Marty and Rick simply hit groundwater
or might they have breached one of oak
islands legendary flood tunnels
if so it could mean that they are close
to finding something of great value you
diggin yeah
Oh
see some cribbing or some yeah
so that was my home it's something
you're only gonna get one or two more
scoops and then it's gonna full-blown
you know water you know let me have a
look - just don't take a look what could
have missed I suppose but the water was
already coming in you aren't going to
dig in that particular area much deeper
without it flooding that water table is
consistent there's nothing stopping us
undisturbed yeah BQ I wouldn't take
another step look at that it's breaking
right there
here water coming in there mm-hmm
although Rick Marty and Jack had been
stopped from digging any deeper they
refused to give up on the notion that
the place they are excavating might
still be an important treasure site like
what about the timber
yeah to make
yeah it smells kind of new I guess Jack
about where I would be at is there
should be more of it and there's not
yeah if it was connected something we
dug I dug far enough away to check that
oh yeah you're right
if the laginas and their partners have
learned anything during their years on
Oak Island it's that nothing ever comes
easily and no theory no matter how
far-fetched should be dismissed without
a proper investigation I think for the
time being before dinner
let me paraphrase Churchill we're not
done here
but we're done here for today I believe
Robert Marx's theory requires the
treasure chamber to be in the drawer I
and so we've run out of room fast at
that particular location doesn't mean
we're gonna bend it let's fill this hole
in it's dangerous
the long fable money bitch
now let's see if we can accomplish here
okay gentlemen we're here to discuss
recontouring this when we're gonna need
some heavy equipment to do it and we
need to get the water to run off this
way or you want to check and see if we
can make it go that way see up there all
right let's look after digging at the
precise spot where Oak Island researcher
Robert Markus indicated a vast treasure
could be located and finding only blue
clay and water today Rick Marty and the
team are turning their attention to the
infamous money pit it's really important
Dan that you're here because you have
the most knowledge of what this looked
like originally we know the money pit
was somewhere there we also know that
Robert Dunfield dug very close to this
area right basically it would have been
this whole big area after months of
extensive and arguably excessive
excavations at the site by treasure
hunter robert dunfield in 1965 the exact
location of the original money pit was
lost for nearly five decades
I would get a full barrel that is until
last year when Rick Craig tester and
Dave Blankenship drilled 140 feet down
in an area that Craig had identified
from a series of antique maps and
careful measurements
the result was a core sample that
revealed evidence of what could very
well have been a wooden vault possibly
the same one that was first discovered
by treasure hunter William Chappell back
in 1897
definitely got wood that's definitely
clay concrete and then wood that's the
description that's what they found in
the top of the vault
last year we drilled into what seems to
be one of the original halls but we knew
we were right on the edge we just didn't
know whether we were on the outside edge
or the inside edge or the south edge of
the north edge although finding the
fabled wooden vault suggests the
partners are close to finding the money
pit they still can't be sure of its
exact location what they are sure of is
that finding the money pit and then
excavating it will take time persistence
and an estimated two million dollars
more than the team can risk spending
unless they find absolute evidence that
they have located the pit and that
something of incredible value really
could be down there what other shafts
might we uncover if we kept digging here
probably the hidden shaft
I'm thinking that this is almost exactly
the corner and of course if this is the
end its rectangular so the other end
would be down there in 1937 treasure
hunter Gilbert Hedden constructed a 24
by 12 foot wood crib vertical shaft that
intersected the original money pit at
its northwest corner approximately 125
feet deep underground although Robert
dunfield's massive excavations
obliterated numerous searcher shafts and
tunnels dating back to 1795 the Hedden
shaft was supposedly left intact let's
say we dug down we saw the entire
rectangle of the head and shaft would
that help us get to exactly where the
top of the money pit was bearing in mind
that there's nothing undisturbed above a
100 foot depth I mean just right across
the board
I mean it's just been although though we
could at least with the best of our
knowledge if we had this head and shaft
excavated we would have a much better
idea where the original money pit was we
couldn't be for sure but we know now
won't be far all right Rick what do you
say to getting a good sized excavator in
here and seeing if we can locate this
precisely this head shaft
what do you say I totally agree
if we do this and we say this is it here
is where the original money pit was you
know the 12-foot diameter hole then I'd
like to put a hole right down in the
middle of that thing okay so here's what
we're thinking that we take this and we
dig down a boat not a very big area just
another three feet and we take this
overburden off and we look for the
location of the head and shaft and then
try and use that information and you
could help us to figure out where the
exact money pit was until we see it we
don't know exactly where it is I like to
see all four corners of it when you Ray
I totally agree let's do this
Rick Marty and the team could be on the
verge of the greatest breakthrough they
have ever experienced on Oak Island but
finding the money pit is one thing
digging a 150 foot deep hole to get to
it is quite another
especially since everyone who has tried
has been quickly thwarted by a network
of flood tunnels and a maze a mysterious
underground booby traps
or checking things off the list Big
Brother
as a new day begins so too does one of
the most critical operations in rick and
marty lagina's quest to solve the Oak
Island mystery okay because today will
be the first time in almost 50 years
that ground will be broken in the area
known as the money pit the money pit was
lost long ago over a hundred years ago
according to oral history and some
documentation but they believed at that
point that in connection with the head
and shaft the money pit was very close
thus if we can find the corners of the
head and shaft we can for ourselves come
up with that circle in order to dig up
the head and shaft or what I'd like to
see is bring in the small backhoe you're
good on both of them so bring in a
smaller one find the corner okay then we
know where it is all right let's keep
going let's dig
I wanted to do it I wanted to see one of
these shafts with my own eyes I've seen
nothing but pictures of these things
maybe just lifts your spirits a little
it helps their enthusiasm if the Hedden
shaft verifies that bat fall where we
had the vault could be where the
original money pit was
there's no proper jobsite well a guy
leaning on a show
as the excavation begins Marty must dig
carefully I'll get it
it was exciting to dig that big bucket
into the ground and start moving the
earth but it was a delicate operation -
I mean that's a big piece of equipment
and I'm concerned that in the process of
investigation we don't destroy what
we're trying to find he will also need
to rely on dan henskee memory of where
the head and shaft is located
ask is that all right okay I think right
about there is where you're gonna find
it
okay all right where the shadow is yeah
Esther May 12 feet from there and you're
right about here it's good this he finds
would you'll tell the tale
hold up hold up wait what's that
what Rick what a wreck that oak yeah I
need to take that all
shovel them
right in front of that rock it's going
that way yeah let me dig it this way we
strike out so often on Oak Island where
nothing pans out so running into wood I
wanted to get that scoop in there and
dig that thing out good idea get some
dirt moves' switching from the backhoe
to the 40-ton excavator will allow them
to strategically dig in a longer trench
like fashion
tell you get
campaign much deeper
don't spend much time down there Rick
looks like it's right here there's a
beam
a beam did Marty Rick and the Oak Island
team just find an important piece of
evidence is that a wall that could be
the wall yep I think we found it could
it be that they found not only another
Oak timber but the Hedden shaft itself
on Oak Island every new day could lead
to a dead end or an incredible
breakthrough and every shovel full of
earth could reveal the answer to one of
the world's most incredible mysteries
next time on the curse of Oak Island
isn't that a Templar cross this cross is
Portuguese I do have evidence that puts
them at this location in 1502 1580 we
want to get to the bottom of 10-x this
is not a routine dive
there's a wall here we're hoping it'll
help us identify where the money pit was