Pirate William Kidd's Treasure hidden at Oak Island? Oak Island,
Nova Scotia is the site of one of the world's greatest
archeological enigmas. For the past 200 years, its deadly secret
has lured adventurers and explorers, among them Franklin D.
Roosevelt, John Wayne, and even Errol Flynn. Long ago, someone came
to this island and buried something. Exactly who they were and what
they buried remain unknown to this day. Yet over two million
dollars have been spent and six lives lost in the search for an
answer. To those who have risked their lives exploring the
underground tunnels and shafts beneath Oak Island, abundant
evidence points to a vast treasure, crown jewels, even an Incan
horde. Others say it must be a hoax, and have cynically named the
diggings the Money Pit.
The mystery began one day in 1795 when a 16-year-old Nova Scotian
lad named Daniel McGinnis rowed his boat out to the island to
explore. As he entered a clearing in the forest, he noticed a large
depression in the ground just below an old oak tree. It looked as
if someone had dug a hole and filled it in again. Lacking tools,
McGinnis returned home and enlisted the aid of two friends: John
Smith, age 19 and Anthony Vaughan, age 16. The three boys hurried
back to the island carrying picks and shovels and visions of pirate
treasure. They began digging, and four feet down they found a layer
of flagstones not native to the island. Then ten feet down they
found a platform of oak logs which were closely set together and
embedded in the walls of the shaft. The boys were excited, certain
that they had stumbled upon a long-lost buccaneer's trove. But
below the oak platform they found only more earth, although it had
obviously been dug before, as it was loose compared to the hard
clay walls of the pit. At a depth of 20 feet they encountered
another oak platform, and yet another at 30 feet. By this time the
pit was so deep that the boys could not easily remove the logs.
Discouraged by weeks of fruitless digging, the young treasure
hunters abandoned the project. But they did not forget.
Continued here: http://members.tripod.com/~Zomb/OAKISLAN.HTM
