The Curse of Oak Island (2014) s04e04 Episode Script

Of Oak Island
We found the location
of the 90-foot stone.
The stone that was brought up
from the Money Pit with
an inscription on it.
This is it,
right straight ahead.
- It's like a maze down here.
- Jeez, look at this place.
Come take a look at this!
- What you got here?
- It's a big stone.
Well, look at that!
Here they come.
Today is when it begins.
We're gonna dig a big hole
in the Money Pit and find out
what's there.
Right, brother?
- Absolutely.
- It's go time.
Here we go. Make hole.
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 found.
Here they come!
- Big truck.
- Big truck!
Once they pass that gate,
it's begun.
It's an historic day.
Time to dig in the Money Pit.
For brothers, Rick
and Marty Lagina,
today marks the beginning
of a culmination
of more than a decade
of research,
data collection,
and painstaking hard work.
- Andrew!
- Good morning, Marty.
- How are you?
- Welcome back to Oak Island.
- How do you do, sir?
- This is Mike Turnbull.
This is our general manager.
Mike, nice
to meet you. I'm Marty.
- Good to see you again.
- Good to see you.
Got us some bits
and pieces here?
- Yes.
- How many loads we got total?
Today, probably in
and around fifteen.
- Then how many more loads?
- Twenty-five.
Yeah.
So the site back there
looks big now
but it's gonna get small
real quick.
We're gonna dig a big hole
in the Money Pit and find out
what's there.
That's what we're gonna do.
Right, Brother?
Absolutely.
Today, is when it begins.
This huge gear is coming in,
on multiple low float rigs
to get this process started.
And it's very sobering because
it's a commitment of our time,
our money and our energy.
We're focused on
the Money Pit dig.
We are bringing high tech gear
for the sole purpose
of trying to figure out
the mystery of Oak Island.
If there ever
was the right spot to dig,
I think we're digging it,
in the Money Pit.
So, you know, I mean,
I-I can't wait.
I can't wait for that big ol'
pipe to get down there.
There's no question about that.
Now that the area leading
to and around the original.
Oak Island Money Pit is cleared
and leveled,
it is time for the massive
drilling
and digging equipment
to be brought in.
We're gonna actually
dig in the Money Pit.
We're throwing everything
we got at this thing this year.
We're gonna know in terms of
days, not years.
Working from archival maps
and carefully calculated
measurements,
Rick, Marty and their partners
have identified
two target sites,
places which they hope will
lead them to the ultimate
discovery.
The first, known as Valley 3
Definitely got wood.
Is the site of
a possible treasure vault,
which Rick Lagina and Oak
Island partner Craig Tester,
believe they located while
looking for the Money
Pit site two years ago
You think you're on the fault?
The second target site,
named C1
Here we go.
Is the place where last summer.
Rick and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse
discovered what appeared
to be a shiny, golden object
located in a large void
some 170 deep underground.
Daniel!
What do you think, Dan?
You prepared
a hell of a big area here.
At the age of 93,
Dan Blankenship has invested
more than five decades
of his life to solving the
Oak Island mystery,
and is still going strong.
So in all your years here,
I mean, did you ever see it
coming to this?
No.
- Good.
- The old saying, Rick, is
nothing ventured, nothing
gained.
Exactly.
This is the culmination for
you and your brother of your
belief in Oak Island.
Always have.
A tremendous amount
of work went into this.
There's no question about it.
Not gonna leave, leave a stone
unturned or get half an answer,
that's ridiculous.
Well, after over fifty years
I'd like to have some positive
answers one way or the other.
We hope for this year.
I hope so, too.
It's about time!
Yeah, it's about time.
Look, nobody wants this
to happen any more than
Dan Blankenship does.
He's committed his whole
adult life to this.
And now, maybe, we're within
reach of getting him
the answers that I think
he deserves.
For the Laginas
and their partners,
the anticipation is intense,
as the promise of
discovery becomes imminent.
The most ambitious and
expensive attempt to solve
the Oak Island mystery is
just days away.
The essence of Oak
Island is the Money Pit.
I mean, that's what
captivated me,
us, as little boys,
The Money Pit.
Is there something in
the Money Pit?
I absolutely believe there is.
Welcome to what we
affectionately call
our war room.
- Thank you.
- Appreciate that.
While waiting for the
final pieces of digging
equipment to arrive,
Rick Lagina has invited
Oak Island researchers,
Doug Crowell and
Kel Hancock to report on
their ongoing investigation
into the fate of one of.
Oak Island's biggest mysteries:
The 90-foot stone,
which was first discovered in
The Money Pit
and has been missing for
nearly 100 years.
So what have you got for us?
Well, in 1864,
a three-part account was
published in a local Nova Scotia
paper about the hunt to date.
The stone disappeared.
That immediately caught
the interest of the.
Halifax Historical Society.
They wrote a letter and said,
"where is the stone now?
Who can we talk to to see it?"
We wanted to try to
find that historical
society's accounts of the stone.
The thing with historical
societies is that they
publish proceedings,
and we're trying to find
those proceedings.
There's a lot of unknowns in the
stories of the 90-foot stone.
When the Money Pit was
first excavated by
the Onslow Company in 1804,
a large, olive-colored stone
was reported to have had
a number of strange symbols
carved into it,
which when translated, read:
"Forty feet below
two million pounds are buried."
In 1865, it was removed from
Oak Island
and taken to Halifax,
where it was reported to have
been displayed in the window
of the Creighton and Marshall's
Book Store
in order to help raise money to
find the Oak Island treasure.
But when the book store
closed in 1919
the stone disappeared, and has
never been seen since.
We decided to look at the
accounts of it being in Halifax.
So, Doug has our information
here and we'll share with you
what our investigation
turned up.
- Great.
- It would be
highly meaningful to me,
if that stone actually
showed up.
The real stone, and it could
be verified as the real stone.
Doug and Kel bring a serious
interest in Oak Island and also
they have a-a background,
if you will, in proper research.
And the Oak Island story is
all about looking backwards.
Researching things that are oral
tradition and-and pursuing that.
Okay, so where then
does this lead us?
Well gentlemen, we found
the location of the stone.
The last known location
of the stone.
At the Halifax Seed Company?
At the Halifax Seed Company.
It certainly looks as if this
was the building that was the
bookbindery from the stories
of the 90-foot stone.
Creighton and
Marshall book store.
And it exists;
It's not torn down?
It's there? It's in Halifax?
- It's standing today.
- It's standing today.
Now in the stories,
Creighton and Marshall closed
down in 1919.
But the last time
a searcher saw that stone,
wasn't it Bowdoin?
- 1909.
- Yeah.
Correct.
In 1909, treasure hunter
Captain Henry L. Bowdoin,
along with future U.S. President.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
lead an attempt to solve the
Oak Island mystery.
Bowdoin traveled to Halifax
to see the 90-foot stone
at the book store, but became
horrified when he found out
the stone was being
used as a cutting board
for leather book jackets.
Convinced the symbols
on the stone
had been completely worn away,
Bowdoin left Halifax
disappointed,
and, after it was last
seen in 1919,
the whereabouts of the stone
have remained unknown.
I can't believe that somebody
hasn't taken a picture
of this thing,
or even a rubbing of it
I refuse to believe
that there is not something
that exists somewhere
in a Bible, in an attic.
Somewhere.
Maybe the bloody
thing's in the basement!
- You never know.
- Yeah.
So, what's the next step?
The next step is to visit
the location.
Perfect.
We'll have a look
and see if there's anything
in the basement.
Okay, I say we appoint
an ad-hoc committee.
And I know who I'd like
to appoint, him for sure.
- And Alex.
- Yeah, I'll go with you.
- Solid.
- Thank you very much
for coming and sharing all
this with us.
- It's always interesting.
- Right, all right.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Go get the stone!
Coming up
It is the start
of a new day on Oak Island.
One that sees the assembly
of massive
100 and 300 ton cranes
at the Money Pit site.
So guys, right here ahead
you see, over to the right?
That's our target.
- That's it.
- Okay.
Cool.
This is also the day
that Marty Lagina's son.
Alex and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse,
along with Doug Crowell
and Kel Hancock,
have traveled some 60
miles north to the city
of Halifax in search of Oak
Island's most mysterious
and important artifact:
The so-called 90-foot Stone.
Yeah, so this is it.
Right straight ahead.
With the purple awning
and everything?
Yep. With the purple awning.
So Doug has a picture.
And if you look at this picture,
you can see that the row
of windows on the second
floor is identical.
And if you look just above
the purple facade over there,
you'll see where this window,
this window,
and that vent hole had been
bricked in or patched over,
and it matches identically.
Yeah, I mean, you can
superimpose it perfectly
it looks almost the same.
This photo is the last known
location of the 90-foot stone.
This is it.
And we're looking at it,
I can tell right now.
Right there.
I've been looking for
the 90-foot stone for years now,
and we are gonna be able
to generate some other leads,
I think.
So this is most
likely the window
that the 90-foot stone would
have been placed on display.
That's pretty cool to think
that it could've been
right there.
- Yeah.
- And we're standing here now.
- We're standing right here.
- That's very cool.
Well guys, Dr. Marble
and Joe Landry are waiting
for us inside, so let's go in
and see them.
Great. After you.
Thanks, Doug.
Having identified
the exact location
of where the 90-foot
stone was last seen in 1919
Hello there, how are you?
Doug and Kel have arranged
to meet with.
Dr. Allan Marble,
the former president
of the Royal Nova Scotia.
Historical Society, along
with building representative.
Joe Landry.
This is the area we're
interested in, right?
Yeah, this-this would be
Now, of course, gentlemen,
you know we're interested
in the story
of the 90-foot stone,
and the fact that it was brought
to a bookbindery in Halifax
- to be put on public display.
- Yeah.
We're pretty certain this is
the location.
Well, I've done a lot
of reading on it over the years
and I knew the stone of course,
when it was found and where it
was in different eras.
And I knew that it
had been here.
The first thing I noticed when
I walked inside was how
modern the inside of the
building was.
It had clearly been renovated
and it was not anything
like what I imagined
a book bindery to be.
Are there any areas
of the building
that have not been renovated
or maybe fewer times
than this area?
It's to a large extent
pretty much like it was.
I mean, we've changed,
we put linoleum on the floors
and tiles on the ceiling,
but apart from that,
very little has changed.
Is there a basement
to this unit here?
Yes.
The basement runs the whole,
the whole length of the block.
Perhaps we should
take a look at that.
Okay. Yes. We can head to the
back of the building here.
- Excellent.
- We'll follow you.
Is it possible that clues
regarding the current location
of the 90-foot stone might still
be found at the old book bindery
nearly 100 years after it
was last reported to be here?
Mind your heads.
Careful of the debris
on the floor.
Yeah. Geez, look at this place.
We got a stone wall
in here, guys.
All right.
Yeah, this was a little bit more
like we were picturing, I think.
Yeah, yeah, this is the old
stone foundations.
- Here's some granite.
- Yeah.
These look like they were put
in to repair the wall.
Get a photo of this.
- This is interesting.
- Yeah.
Look at this, Charles.
- An archway.
- Yeah.
- Hey guys!
- What do we got?
You might want
to come look at this.
A boarded in archway.
Just wondering
what this might have been.
Well, Halifax is riddled
with tunnels and the origin
of them and the reason why
there is so many
is for military security,
- military transportation.
- Right.
Underground military tunnels?
Could this strange,
boarded-up archway
really provide a clue as
to how the 90-foot stone seemed
to vanish without a trace?
Why don't we head back upstairs
and we can figure out
our next move.
- Agreed.
- Sounds good to me.
- Yeah.
- After you, Kel.
I knew it was kind of
a long shot that maybe
we'd find something down there,
but it was worth a look.
- Different exit, hey Joe?
- Indeed.
- This building's like a maze.
- It is.
Well guys,
I think we're leaving here with
some good information.
We can look into a little more
of the owners of this building
throughout history.
We can look for anybody
that may have taken a photo
of the storefront when the stone
was on display.
But the other possibility,
it may be closer than that;
I've been told that there was
a member of the Halifax Club.
Which is just down here
a short distance.
He was a member
at least until 1982
and he told his son
that in fact there was a stone
in the floor of
the Halifax club,
which he thought was
the 90-foot stone.
I don't know, but that's
what he told his son.
Is the Halifax Club
still in operation?
It is. It's just three
blocks up Hollis Street
and I can take you up there
if you'd like to take a look.
Another lead, yeah.
You never know,
the-the Marshalls
and the Creightons may have
been members of the Halifax Club
which you could
possibly determine.
In 1919, when they realized they
were closing up the shop
they may have decided to
donate it to the Halifax Club.
It's a possibility.
Seems pretty plausible to me,
honestly.
It's worth tracking down anyway.
- Let's go look.
- Yeah.
- Joe, thank you for joining us.
- You're welcome.
Could Alex and the team
actually be within reach
of locating one of the key clues
in solving in the
Oak Island mystery?
All right guys,
let's go for a walk.
Yeah.
While Alex Lagina
and Charles Barkhouse continue
their search for the 90-foot
stone in nearby Halifax,
back on Oak Island, Craig Tester
and his stepson, Jack Begley,
begin a strategic investigation
at Smith's Cove.
Probably over
by this pine tree right here,
try to start it right in there.
Okay.
Working with ground
penetrating radar experts,
Matt Savelle and Luke Melanson
from Canadian Seabed
Research Limited
Right here's good.
Craig and Jack are hoping
to locate evidence
of possible underground
flood tunnels,
the same flood tunnels that
reportedly feed ocean water
into the Money Pit
and as a result,
have thwarted
treasure-hunting efforts
for more than two hundred years.
Traditionally,
there was a flood tunnel
that went from Smith's
Cove here,
up to the Money Pit.
So it cut right through here
somewhere.
In 1850, searchers
from the Truro Company,
working at Smith's
Cove, unearthed evidence
of five intricate box drains.
They were constructed
of flat paving stones
and covered by layers
of coconut fiber and eel grass,
which were intended to filter
out sand and debris.
Unfortunately, generations
of repeated excavations have
destroyed important evidence.
But if the Oak Island team
can locate even one
of the box drains
and trace it back
to the Money Pit,
they may be able to shut off
the booby-trapped
flooding system.
They also may be able
to determine just
who constructed the box drains
in the first place.
I think the Smith's Cove
work is gonna be instrumental
in understanding what possibly
happened on Oak Island.
You find the box drains
Box drains lead
to a flood tunnel.
The flood tunnel leads to the
Money Pit.
It all begins at Smith's Cove.
When the finger drains came
together, they formed a "V",
and that "V" would
be facing this way
and came toward shore.
So if we could find out where
the "V" is cut in through here,
- that'd be significant.
- Okay.
- You ready?
- Okay.
This is quite the mystery.
We want to see for ourselves
that this flood system is here
and how much of it is real,
how much of it is just story
that was expanded
over the years.
As the Ground Penetrating
Radar System is pulled back
and forth in straight,
parallel lines,
electromagnetic pulses are
sent through the earth.
If successful, Craig
and the team might be able
to detect underground
structures or tunnels
that lie below the surface.
- That's good.
- Yeah.
- Any penetration?
- Nothing, well, yeah,
but there's nothing striking.
Okay.
You don't get an exact image
of what's down there,
but you'll get what they
call a parabola.
We're getting preliminary
results.
Maybe it could be
wave action from
200 years ago that
cut into there.
But it's definitely something
we need to pursue.
That was an interesting one.
It's got a very distinct "U",
and you can see
the little little V's
along the bottom of it.
Is it possible that Craig,
Jack and the team have just
discovered evidence
of manmade construction
at Smith's Cove?
We started getting good hits
and it really looked like we
were seeing
these spikey responses from
the ground penetrating radar.
I felt it was very good
reflections.
It was definitely seeing
some sort
of gouge being cut in there.
Just based on this, you know,
I think I have an idea
where I would like us
- to do an excavation.
- Yeah.
While Craig Tester
and Jack Begley
wrap up their team's operations
at Smith's Cove,
Alex Lagina and his team arrive
at the Halifax Club
where the mysterious 90-foot
stone slab from the Money Pit
was reportedly
seen back in 1982.
Now, this is a very
classic building.
A beautiful building.
Yeah.
Here it is right here. 1862.
Built in 1862
by Scottish-born stonemason,
George Lang,
The Halifax Club was an
exclusive male-only fraternity
whose members included
the most prominent
and distinguished men
of the city.
Its headquarters was also
a meeting place where business
could be conducted in private.
Could the 90-foot stone
really have ended up here,
embedded in the floor?
And if so,
who brought it here, and why?
Wow, it looks like they're
doing some renovation.
They sure are. Yes.
So the story you heard is
that the stone was in the floor?
Yes. They said it was supposed
to be seen in the floor.
But of course we don't
know which floor,
whether it was here or in here
or up in the dining room
or where it was.
No information was given.
I was picturing we'd be walking
into this intact building
and just be able to go right
to the stone and look at it.
No. This is a wood floor.
But of course it didn't
work out that way.
- Hey guys, what's up?
- Hey!
Alex. Nice to meet you.
Shortly after their arrival,
Alex and the team are
met by Ryan Burke
and Zach Woodworth,
who are members of the Halifax
Club's construction crew.
You could probably
look in the basement.
- Basement.
- Over a stone wall,
or something like that.
Right. Okay.
Well let's-let's just start
in the basement.
I mean, it seems like
the best bet.
- We can cross that one off.
- Absolutely.
A large stone,
the size of the one
that we're looking for
is very heavy.
So the logic is,
if you're looking for somewhere
that's gonna support the stone,
you put it in the basement.
From this point
on would be the old building,
before it was renovated.
Up that way is post renovation.
So that's all newer down there?
- Yes.
- Yeah, we'd definitely be
interested in this side then.
All right.
Okay. Let's have a look
this way.
All right.
Yeah, the floor's all gutted out
and everything.
- This is all pretty torn up.
- Yeah.
- Same here.
- Yeah.
In here it was just wood floor
and we haven't actually touched
any of the dirt below it.
We just tore up all the
old wood.
So there was just dirt
underneath wood?
Yeah.
There was
some stone walls, though,
and little foundation pieces.
I didn't see anything special.
Okay.
- There's a sub-basement.
- Yeah, yeah.
Any idea how to get down there?
- Absolutely.
- That's the next stop.
Alex!
- Yeah?
- Come take a look at this.
All right. Where are you at?
- Over this way.
- Over this way?
Yeah. Watch your step there.
- It's through here.
- In there.
All right, what you got here?
- It's a big stone.
- Well, look at that.
- It's a big stone.
- Well, look at that!
Approximately 60 miles
from Oak Island,
Alex Lagina and members
of the Oak Island team are
investigating a location
where the 90-foot stone slab
from the Money Pit was
reportedly seen back in 1982.
- Is it slate?
- I think it's limestone.
It's also bigger than what
we're looking for,
in terms of the dimensions.
I think it's a bust.
We learned a lot today even
though we didn't find anything.
I think the first order
of business is to get
the real story
about why the stone was
supposedly in the Halifax Club.
If we can get that story
from the person
who saw it or from their
direct descendant,
we may have a better shot
at finding it.
One thing I would
suggest you do is talk
to the historian
of this building.
There should be a collection
of photographs,
and if there was something as
unique as a stone in a floor
that had any symbolic
representation on it,
someone would have
photographed it.
- Yeah.
- But for now,
we didn't find what we were
looking for,
but I think we made
some progress.
We've got some good leads
to chase down.
- Let's call it a day.
- Yeah.
While Alex Lagina
and Charles Barkhouse make
their way back to Oak Island
You need me to pull it?
We'll pull it up to here
and lock it all together.
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Craig Tester,
are removing a number of
logs from the Money Pit area
Okay!
In order to make room for
their large-scale excavation.
Okay. Heads up.
We got company.
We've got company!
- Shut it down for a minute.
- Right.
Rick, come here.
Hi, Rick.
Welcome back. Welcome back.
Of all of the lives that have
been touched by the 221-year
search for treasure
on Oak Island,
perhaps none has been affected
as personally or tragically as
that of Lee Lamb.
I'm not sure if
you met my brother.
- This is Marty.
- No, I've never met Marty.
- I've heard all about you.
- We're Italian.
You're not going to
get away with that.
She has returned to Oak Island
after an absence of three years.
And with her are her
two children,
Claire Bradfield
and Brook Helland.
Looks a little different.
Doesn't it, Lee?
Where am I?
- You're at the Money Pit.
- You're at the Monty Pit.
For goodness sake.
This is a fairly large
scale project this year.
It's amazing. I mean, fantastic.
What's gonna happen here, Lee,
is right near the Money Pit,
right where we think the
old vault from years ago
- Okay.
- We're gonna dig
a 40 inch hole big enough
for a person to get down.
Really.
All the way down to
as deep as 200 feet.
Wow.
You know, I can't help but
wonder what your father could
have done if he'd had that.
Yes!
In 1959, Lee's parents,
Robert and Mildred Restall,
along with her two brothers
Bobby Jr. and Rickie
moved to Oak Island in an
effort to solve the mystery.
For six years they braved the
harsh weather of the north.
Atlantic while doing
extensive work in the swamp,
at Smith's Cove and
at the Money Pit.
I feel that the treasure is
here and that we can get it,
and we're going to stay here
until we do.
But on August 17, 1965,
while investigating
a flooded 27-foot deep shaft
at Smith's Cove,
Robert was overcome
by deadly H2S gas
and fell into the water below.
Although Bobby Jr.
And four other men
jumped in to help him,
they too were
quickly incapacitated by the
deadly gas.
Despite a frantic rescue effort,
both Robert and Bobby Restall
perished along with two others.
Soon afterwards,
Lee Lamb's mother
and brother left the island
and never returned.
So Lee, what brings you here?
Well, I brought something
to show you that may please you.
I'd love to see it. Absolutely.
Okay, Brook, maybe you
could take it out.
You know, when Lee Lamb
comes to the island,
it's always a reminder embodied
within a living person
of the Restall years.
Why don't we just bring that
over on the tail
of the Yukon so we can
have a look at it.
That would be great.
I don't think Oak Island
would mean as much
without the sacrifices
that family made.
I mean, the price that family
paid is incredible.
- Shall I show you?
- Yeah, please.
So this was found on the beach.
It's the 1704 stone.
- That's almost mythic.
- Yeah.
In 1960, the so-called
1704 stone
was discovered by Lee's
mother Mildred,
while Robert and Bobby Restall
were looking for evidence
of box drains and flood tunnels
at Smith's Cove.
Although it has never
been determined just
when the stone was carved
or who carved it,
it has always been considered
an intriguing piece
of the Oak Island puzzle.
- You really should feel it.
- I'd love
Like, feel the depth
of the carving.
Feel the stone.
Somebody worked on that. 1704.
And of course, we don't know
if it's a year
or if it's a distance.
Looking at the 1704 stone,
I think about the sacrifices
that others have made
on this island
and it makes us realize
how serious a quest
this has been and-and will be.
It's an intense moment
because within that stone,
that hardened surface is raw
emotion.
Here in your hand you hold
a family's legacy.
Painted in that stone are
the pictures of her mom,
her father, her brother.
So for Lee Lamb,
that stone is the Restall
treasure.
I mean, Dad wrote
in his letters,
it came from three feet
or deeper.
- Wow.
- That is was down among
the beach work that
the pirates did, I mean
I'm thinking we can actually
go down to Smith's Cove.
'Cause we'd like to show you
what we intend to do.
- Great. Wonderful.
- Yeah.
- Brook?
- Yeah?
This is the monument that
that's what Dan put up.
- Really?
- It's really lovely.
When Lee Lamb visited Oak
Island three years ago
These are Bobby's journals.
She brought with her a series
of journals written
by her brother Bobby,
shortly before his death.
In them were contained maps
and other important information.
The journals also suggested
the Restalls were just days
away from making
a major discovery,
before Lee's brother Bobby and
their father, Robert Restall,
along with two others,
Cyril Hiltz and Karl Grasser,
died tragically at the bottom
of a treasure shaft.
We'd like to show you this area
and then we can point out
where we,
where we're going to do
the work,
but then you might reference
where the stone was found.
Show me the cofferdam.
The one that you
may be referring to
is what the searchers put out
there in like 1850, 1960
Yes I am, but that's the only
one there was then.
That would be, you can
see the big boulder.
- Yeah.
- Then you come this way.
And then there's a line of rocks
sticking out of the water
right now.
- Yeah.
- That would have been the edge
of that cofferdam.
The reason I was asking
about the cofferdam is,
that the filter system was
situated
- precisely in the middle of it.
- Sure.
So you know, so you could, if
you could see it,
then you know where the filter
system was.
- Right.
- And that's where that
- 1704 stone was found.
- Okay.
I think that
everything Lee Lamb said down
at Smith's Cove makes sense
with our understanding of
what happened down there,
and where her father was digging
and where her father found
the box drains.
I think everything she
said verifies
that it's worth our while to
have a look
ourselves to try and
unearth one of those things.
This end of the cofferdam
was the little bedroom shack
that Ricky and Bobby used
was right there.
And right besides that and back
about three feet was the
vertical shaft that Dad found.
- Okay.
- So that part got very dug up.
So you have a better chance
of finding something pristine
at that end.
That's fantastic, 'cause
that's what we want to look for.
But he found a shaft over here?
Your dad did?
I guess I didn't know that.
- A vertical shaft, yeah.
- A vertical shaft.
Do you know where that is?
It's on the maps right?
This shaft? How come we never
went to have a look at that?
Well, I'd be surprised if you
can see anything
because when Robert Dunfield
left the island
Right, but if it's on the map,
we could find it.
Good luck with that.
Within days of the tragedy
that claimed the lives
of Lee Lamb's father and
brother,
Robert Restall's business
partner and fellow
treasure hunter,
Robert Dunfield,
took over operations on
Oak Island and launched
what many believe was an
all-out assault on
the Eastern end of the island.
In an effort to stop the
booby-trapped flood tunnels
believed to exist
at Smith's Cove,
he bulldozed tons of earth
over the entire area.
Even more invasive
was Dunfield's
excavation of the Money Pit
which involved the digging
of a massive 100-foot wide,
140-foot deep hole.
When it collapsed due to
heavy rain and flooding,
the hole was hastily filled in
and several valuable clues that
had been carefully documented
during the previous 150 years
of treasure hunting were
potentially lost forever.
Bring that frontend loader
down here, and I can clear it.
- Yeah, I know, David.
- No, no, no, David.
Not quite like that, no.
Now we'll have to go back
and revisit the maps,
her father's maps,
and Bobby Jr.'s maps to see if
it is that easily locatable.
Look, I don't even
want to say goodbye,
because as you well know,
you're always welcome here,
but we thank you
graciously for coming,
and every time you come we
learn something.
Well thanks, Rick.
I'm, you know, I'm just amazed
at how welcoming you have been,
- all of you.
- All I can say
- is drop in more often.
- Okay.
Okay, well, let's get going.
Lee Lamb's surprise visit to
Oak Island has brought
even more hope of new
discoveries
to Rick, Marty, and their
partners.
And all though much on the
island has changed over
the last 50 years,
the island's ability to stir
the imagination and fuel
obsession remains undiminished.
After more than a
decade of exploration,
research, and persistence
and after an investment of
millions of dollars
- Now, there it is.
- There it is right there.
- Here it comes.
- Big gray truck!
The oscillator.
Brothers Rick and Marty
Lagina are about to witness
the beginning of a
life-long dream.
They are ready to begin the
first excavation of
the Money Pit in more than
half a century.
It's really exciting
because we have the equipment
and we can find the old
vault if it's there.
So, high hopes that we're right
on and we're gonna bring up
something very significant.
We have the material,
the equipment and the manpower
to do it.
It's the Money Pit,
for gosh sakes.
And, you know, we hope we're 140
feet away from getting,
finally, real answers
from Oak Island.
- You guys about ready?
- Yeah!
- Yes.
- Absolutely.
All right. So, we got the crane
rigged up, it's going to take
that first piece of can and
place it inside the oscillator.
At that point,
we're going to need
someone to turn this thing
on and
We want Dan to do it.
It'd be great if Dan,
his dad, could be part of it.
- Would be great.
- That'd be wonderful.
- Let's do it.
- Here we are right here.
All ready to go.
He's all geared up.
Now that the final
piece of equipment,
known as the oscillator,
has arrived,
it will be used to slowly
grind a number of massive,
60 foot-long steel caissons
into the ground
above the team's first target:
A possible wooden box known as
the Chapel Vault.
Once located, some 140 feet
deep underground,
and eight ton excavating tool
called a Hammer Grab,
will then remove the earth, and
hopefully treasure,
from inside the 40-inch
wide hole.
So right now they
have the starter can
suspended in the air.
That can's about 30,000 pounds.
That's the oscillating portion
of it?
Yes, so there's the teeth
on the bottom,
that's going to go down and
start cutting the earth.
So you'll see the guys
right now, they have the leads
and they're just guiding the can
right in.
Looks like we're ready to go,
you guys ready?
- We're ready.
- We were born ready.
Let's do it.
Time to let the big dog eat.
Come on, Dan. Show us your
stuff!
Daniel, this is Kent.
He's a big fan of yours.
Mr. Blankenship.
What a, what a pleasure.
What a pleasure, sir.
What I do with a big iron like
this and see a man do it bare
handed and with just as hard,
it's pretty neat, brother.
We didn't do it bare handed,
we had a pick and a shovel.
All right, if you're ready.
Dan, if you can go ahead and
turn that on for us,
please, sir?
- Beautiful.
- All right.
We've got the stage set,
the gear is set,
the players are set.
- It's go time.
- All at the same time.
- All at the same time.
- Here we go!
One two three
Make hole!
Here we go.
- Heading down, Dan.
- Digging, digging.
- That's it!
- Yes sir, yes sir.
Good day!
For Rick, Marty, and the team,
the hope of a great discovery
and possible answers
to the Oak Island mystery has
never been higher.
All right, slamming can.
But once they reach
their targets deep underground,
what will they find?
A chest full of untold
riches in treasure?
A vault filled with priceless
religious objects?
Or will it be something
even more incredible
and mysterious
than anything they,
or anyone living, could ever
have imagined?
Next time
on The Curse of Oak Island
Here we are, digging
in the Money Pit.
Nothing like this has been done
since 1801.
- Wait 'til we hit something.
- You better believe it.
The treasure of Tumbes
is the biggest
missing treasure of gold.
I think it's on Oak Island.
This could be the year, Dan.
We're poised on the vault.
How prophetic is that?
We're feet away from what
we've labored for,
for eight years.
- Come on, baby.
- Wood!
- Ho!
- Wood!
Well, I'll be damned.
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