The Curse of Oak Island (2014–…): Season 3, Episode 7 - The Missing Peace - full transcript

Tonight on the curse of Oak Island a

deal with Nolan how does that strike it

with mixed emotions it's time to quit

the fighting I don't want to be an

obstacle anymore welcome to the team

ready to put it in the ground Fred right

on your spot

that looks like you it's definitely

man-made

there's a cavity in this slate and that

would be the most important discovery



monocot right there

that's definitely Madame

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

on the mainland a short distance from



the causeway that leads to Oak Island an

important meeting is about to take place

between Rick and Marty lagina and a man

who has so far been shy to aid them in

their search for treasure good come on

in okay got everybody lined up here

everybody's here yep okay I got you the

best seat in the house oh there you go

I can't complain for the laginas and

their partners the meeting offers the

possibility of both an end and a

beginning an end to a decades-old feud

with their Oak Island partner and fellow

treasure hunter dan Blankenship and the

beginning of a new era of cooperation

and collaboration one which they hope

will lead to solving a 220 year old

mystery

well I just want to say Fred thanks for

you know coming on board we're eager to

work with you because we know you have

some sights over the years and you're

talking many years 40 almost 50 years

were two competing individuals and that

was a competition in my mind's eye and

I'm not saying I'm correct in that

analysis but they were competing to

solve the Oak Island mystery

a land surveyor by trade Fred Nolan

first visited Oak Island in 1958 after

reading a book entitled B Oak Island

mystery by Reginald Harris in 1961

landowner Mr Chappell invited Nolan to

come and survey the 140 acre Island

while conducting his work he became

convinced that the stories of buried

treasure were true especially after

observing and measuring several

mysterious stone carvings and other

markers that seemed to be hundreds of

years old after buying land on the

island in 1963 Fred spent the next

several years actively engaged in the

treasure hunt

he even cooperated with rival treasure

hunters dan Blankenship and David Tobias

that is until further disputes over land

caused the relationship to deteriorate

into a series of bitter feuds and near

violent confrontations I had learned

over the years of a very rancorous and

fractious relationship between mr.

Blankenship and mr. Nolan and so my

desire was I think it was our desire to

heal the island to try to get a working

relationship between ourselves because

Dan is our partner and mr. Nolan so it's

time to quit the fighting and cooperate

right well

it hasn't accomplished much no

infighting yeah I don't want to be an

obstacle anymore you know I'm yeah I'm

too old for that now just a few days

earlier Rick Marty and Craig tester met

with dan Blankenship and his son day in

order to get Dan's blessing on a deal to

work with Fred so a deal with Nolan how

does that strike you with mixed emotions

to be quite honest with you because

after all I've had dealings with Nolan

than the past and the fact that you're

even neighbors of didn't like him to

sign something is very impressive to say

the least we're really happy about this

because it allows us to explore the

whole island now the main thing on Oak

Island far as I'm concerned is making a

breakthrough right right you've got

several sites you want to drill right

we're gonna drill them together yeah

yeah okay and you document it at all you

got it all on a map we got a bat super

we surveyed the whole island all right

one evident and regretted it pops back

and forth you know

so anything that was around we picked up

look I've known trust for eight years

and I have asked him pointedly many

times Fred what's your theory and he's

always either politely or indelicately

refused when the American Revolution

starts the British general Astana and

all this treasure done in Boston and

they said well we're not gonna leave

this treasure here so they sailed it all

off to Halifax they knew it was safe

there because Halifax was strongly

British there's the 14th colony yet yeah

in the late 1700s as political unrest

was beginning to take place in the

American colonies

King George the third ordered his

military generals to gather up as much

gold silver and jewels as they could and

send them back to England after loading

four ships the British military sailed

to Halifax in Nova Scotia and were

ordered to keep the treasure under guard

for the winter

but according to Fred Nolan's theory a

large portion of the precious cargo

never made it back to the king a small

group of officers conspired to hide it

under by Oak Island and keep it both as

compensation and an insurance policy

especially if the colonists succeeded in

gaining their independence and the

ousted military might be forced to fend

for themselves so where did it go nobody

knows is the treasure still there on the

island

sure

it's still there but sometimes you

wonder if the place is full of treasure

good let's find it

yeah I think it's great that we're

working together I really do I mean this

is too big a puzzle yeah yeah an

entirely different Fred Nolan walked in

that door I think it finally makes sense

to him to to look forward rather than

backwards and that was extremely

refreshing welcome to the team all right

well let's quit talking let's go out in

the field and start doing something yeah

perfect

Fred first of all I just want to say

thanks for coming to the war room this

is this is where all the magic happens

Craig is here by high-tech high-tech yep

okay you know we're very grateful that

you brought your map and we'd love to

get an understanding at least of where

we're gonna go from here and the whys of

it sure

with his brother Marty away on business

Rick lagina has invited Island resident

and veteran treasure hunter Fred Nolan

to join him and several members of the

team for an important meeting because

now that they've agreed to work together

fred has finally offered to share many

of his maps and artifacts along with

much of his most closely guarded

information it's Fred Nolan the man who

spent 50 years of his life pursuing this

sharing with us his 50 years of

discovery that's amazing how many years

work is this map represents 40 50 years

Wow

fred has data that we do not have and we

cannot recreate fred was here in I don't

know the earliest days but surely by 58

he was here and he brought his skill set

unlike anyone else in the 220-year

search Fred Nolan first began actively

trying to solve the Oak Island mystery

back in 1961 but unlike many of the

treasure hunters before him friend

believed the way to solve the mystery

was to examine the numerous strange

clues and carvings that could be found

on the surface rather than focusing only

on the money pit

he surveyed the entire island and made

detailed maps such as this one that

marked the location of dozens of

mysterious stone markers there are a lot

of marks like these ones here there

boulders I think we know what they mean

but we're not sure because here's the

big boys here it is if there's anything

down there

there's got to be something here this

point is one of the places where we

intend to drill right yeah that's a hot

spot okay you know I've been at it for

so long now mm-hmm

and if I didn't relate this kind of

stuff who would put it together again

exactly we're very grateful for your

work I mean it's it's an incredible

commitment of time energy resources

money you're staring at it right here

it's immaculate and this is only one of

what 104 mmm

104 yep but you're convinced that this

point is where we should look next yep

then let's head off get a good night's

sleep and get back at it tomorrow what

do you say I gotta ask my wife

shortly after Marty's return the Oak

Island team arrives at an area on Fred's

property located near the center of the

island

okay here comes a rig you wanted to back

down or forward

today this is all about mr. Nolan you

know the fact that we have been able to

engage in a working relationship it kind

of is momentous order bought to actually

engage in a discovery process I think

we're all amped up

while drilling in this area several

years ago Fred Nolan believed he had

found an underground cave or cavern some

ten feet beneath the surface it had

always been the 87 year old treasure

hunters wish to revisit the area with a

more powerful drill rig and try to

replicate his findings now with the help

of the laginas and their partners

Fred's wish has come true that's quite a

ways up there we could probably get set

up as far as this all goes trees will be

another another scenario although the

area around the marked drill site is

clear on the ground the canopy of trees

overhead poses a real obstacle for the

drill rig a number of branches will need

to be cleared to bring the excavator

down here knock those off

you know that was just an easy way to do

it to knock those branches off with the

excavator

can you get that

all right yeah if I had taken off in

that direction I would have gotten hit

you shouldn't have been there to start

with and I should have known where the

boom was and not hit it

it was a double mistake all's well that

ends well yeah fine exactly 22 - lets go

time's a-wasting

now that the drilling rig has the room

it needs to set up the operation can

finally begin

that's that right there right that

statute here your honor

but will the team really find evidence

of a man-made chamber or treasure tunnel

lying deep underground

what we've heard about this spot is that

it's in Slate and I don't know of any

way a cavity can develop and slate

naturally so if we do hit such a thing

the odds of being man-made are very high

in my opinion and that would be very

exciting perfect

couldn't get any closer one of the many

interesting geological characteristics

of Oak Island is the fact that each of

its two halves are composed of two very

different kinds of bedrock the eastern

side where the money pit and 10x are

located is composed of anhydride

limestone a hard calcium based substance

that is usually formed over a long

period of time by the evaporation of

salt water the western side however is

made up of finely layered but highly

compacted slate a low grade metamorphic

rock that is created over time when clay

or volcanic ash is subjected to enormous

pressure

unlike an hide right which can crumble

and separate if exposed to groundwater

slate is more highly layered and

compacted if the team drills through

slate and into a void it could mean they

have located a man-made tunnel or

chamber

don't quote me on the verbage but this

is a very important site fred's instead

I've been sitting on this far too long I

want to get this done

oh you don't look just about ready to

put it in the ground thread right on

your spot

the bedrock should be right caliber 12

it'll be interesting

Rick Marty and the Oak Island team have

just begun their first joint drilling

operation

with Fred Nolan the man who'd like his

rival dan Blankenship has spent the past

five decades and much of his fortune

trying to solve the Oak Island mystery

according to Fred's detailed records the

drill bit should hit a mysterious void

after reaching a depth of approximately

10 feet there's a cavity in this slate

that would be the most important

discovery

Anoka to date

oh six more

you can't imagine how many hours I've

spent hoping that a drill strain will

drop rapidly watching the top drive come

down the derrick you know hoping it'll

start going like that and that would be

as it enters a cavity

metal could the drillbit have found

something related to the underground

chamber Fred Nolan believes he found on

this site years ago in 1897 after

finding what he believed to be a 7-foot

tall wooden vault buried at a depth of

153 feet inside the money pit drill

operator William Chappell hid an

impenetrable iron obstruction at 171

feet both Chappell and his employer

Frederick Blair believed that the iron

plate could likely have been placed

there to protect the original treasure

vault although several efforts were made

to excavate the area and reach both the

wooden vault and the mysterious iron

object repeated flooding posed an

insurmountable problem and after two

more years of trying the entire

operation was abandoned in 1899

but 10 feet or so they he thinks he

might have hidden metal so we're gonna

run the camera down see if you can see

what's blocking the way in an attempt to

determine what the drill bit is struck

Jordan Rogers is putting a small

high-definition camera down the hole

which the team can monitor from the

surface come on share share and share

alike

I can't tell Peter down

that's definitely met

the first hole we drilled the Fred

Jordan got his rig down and at about

eleven feet he was drilling on metal

okay so that became promising how deep

are you

do you think you can pound pipe past it

Jordan will now attempt to avoid the

metal obstruction by drilling further

into the slate bedrock

we had Jordan run some casing and we

think we got by this metal and then we

drilled down to 30 feet and we did not

hit any cavity so that was disappointing

after drilling to a depth far beyond

where Fred Nolan believes he found a

cavity line underneath a slate layer

Rick Marty and the team decide to change

their entire method

yeah I mean I think I could do it

yesterday they're worth digging well we

might as well put this to bed for sure

put it for sure I I agree quick and

we're only looking at 12 feet yeah I can

dig that pretty quick

I'd say this is where I want to be just

a ball right

we'll go ahead and start here

my older swing achillea

you were a surgeon

I was sure that excavator would have no

trouble getting down to 11 12 13 feet

and initially it didn't I mean it's a

very powerful machine

we'll find that deal boys so far Marty

has been unable to find either a slate

covered cavern or the mysterious metal

object that stops their drill that frog

baby frustrated he now begins to dig on

the other side of Jordans drill casing

of the pipe went off that way

shouldn't I be looking over here

gray pants late on that side now too

so we didn't find the metal now Oh deep

is it okay follow that 10 12 feet I

should be there

so first hole we went in and to see if

we could find this offending piece of

metal and what didn't find it so I we

don't know what that's all about

that looks like you

that look like - you wanna walk on down

yeah

while excavating the site on Fred

Nolan's property near the middle of Oak

Island the team has just found what

could very well be an important clue was

obviously not a piece of shale it's not

a piece of bedrock not a stone can you

bring it out yeah I don't know that

means anything

pointing thank you

yeah definitely pointed look good bond

Craig take a look at this very strange

would Rick

I mean look how nice and shaped it is

most definitely man-made a sharpened

piece of wood buried approximately 10

feet underground

it's very apparent that it was unusual

item and then I saw where it had been

carved into a point and it was apparent

that you know at that depth it shouldn't

be there

it looks pretty well-preserved what if

it marks something originally was cut

off it's all we got

okay but let's call it a night I agree

although the team's first operation with

Fred Nolan may not event it with a major

breakthrough finding the piece of carved

wood is a promising sign that their new

cooperative agreement with him could

soon lead to more and even greater

discoveries

all right Rick let's get our prize

today's prize okay you got it

worker they did hey now you're doing

did you see yeah Craig you have a

present for you interesting phone that

about six feet down in the hole we just

drilled I'll be done what we did over at

Nolan's was we drilled first we hit some

metal you found this and the metal in

the same hole yes yes well when we dug

with the excavator we could never find

the metal again seesaw marks in it you

think that means it's a real reason not

necessarily they use songs for a long

time Paris I mean all the wooden ship

that they built they had the Behaim song

near what's the chances of having

something like that they're obviously

shaped to be in the ground and buried

four or five or six feet under a wooden

post caught in such a way as to be

driven like a stake into the ground

could it have been some sort of marker

put there centuries ago by the same

people who placed nine layers of

similarly cut wooden posts in the

original money pit

we don't want to find something without

telling you I appreciate all right let

you get back to we locket okay

Oak Island did its usual tease you a

little bit make you come back kind of

like getting a really nice golf shot you

know when you're a hacker it makes you

come back and oak island is good at that

here's your exercise for the day thank

you I really appreciate that

after a week of new investigations and

possible breakthroughs Rick lagina is

bringing a special guest to Oak Island

someone who has not been there in more

than 50 years I have so many questions

they're gonna come not in chronological

order I'll have to take it as it is

David McDonald is the author of the

January 1965 Reader's Digest article oak

islands mysterious money pit

the same article that not only fueled

the childhood imaginations of Rick and

Marty lagina but also inspired a 42 year

old contractor from Florida named dan

blankenship the way your article

presented the story it was like a puzzle

it wasn't so much a treasure hunt as a

puzzle I would hope that that one moved

you or would have been the general

content of it yes what does it add up to

exactly it still adds up to a mystery

because of the things you don't know yes

you mentioned that your father had

gotten you interested in the story long

ago well by the time I was five or six

years old everybody in all that age

hears about Oak Island have always known

that there was a place where they kept

digging for money somebody's gonna find

it yes

born and raised in nearby Halifax David

MacDonald was a freelance writer when in

1964 he was hired to do a piece on the

search for treasure on Oak Island after

spending several days talking with

treasure hunter Robert Restall and his

family he came away convinced that many

of the various stories concerning the

fabled treasure hunt

were true and that the rest dolls were

within weeks of actually solving the

mystery here we are everyone is actually

gathered in what we call the War Room

you've had quite an impact on this place

oh my that article captivated the modern

community local enthusiasts they all

rallied from that story that article

changed Oak Island history here we go

gentlemen here we go gentlemen

I have a special guest indeed this is

David MacDonald caused all this trouble

see right there thank you

after 50 years author David McDonough's

the man who wrote the influential

article about Oak Island in The Reader's

Digest has returned to share his

memories with Rick Marty and the team oh

my stop all right well welcome to Oak

Island thank you very much well

there it is Wow a bomb that's the one I

remember like yesterday reading this and

I was fascinated as young boys growing

up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula Rick

and Marty lagina loved to read stories

of mystery and adventure even though

David MacDonald's article ran for only

five pages the combination of the story

coupled with vivid graphics showing a

mysterious money pit became indelibly

etched in rick lagina's imagination

what's a bigger mystery than Oak Island

220 years of search incredible

possibilities in terms of the solution

mystery wonderment questioning I mean

that's what grabbed me when I read that

article and here was the guy who

actually wrote The Reader's Digest

article the one that so enamored him

when he was a young man and dragged his

younger brother along meaning me I'm

saying I had to force-feed you that yes

that's what I'm saying it's your fault

suppose that article had never been

written do you think you wouldn't be

here

besides Saturday morning I read the

article and I handed it back to my wife

and I said read this in so many words

you said so why you know I said number

one I said there's treasure on Oak

Island number two I said I'm gonna be

instrumental in getting it beginning

your story but not the end

no the ends not written yet yeah so what

led you to write that story

I've always wondered that had you been

writing for The Reader's Digest I had

done a couple of pieces for them and

they wanted me to do a piece on Oak

Island

so I researched Oak Island I do know

that you met the restaurant and they're

the first ones I met oh yes I'm at the

Rex halls

what were your impressions of the rest

all's well I think he was he was very

careful about what he said I think and I

understand that you're digging for a

treasure and somebody's asking you

questions you probably want to be

careful

when David McDonald visited Oak Island

in 1964 Robert Russell and his family

had been trying to solve the mystery for

nearly five years living in harsh

conditions the rest dolls worked

tirelessly mostly focusing their work on

Smith's Cove where they found additional

evidence of the five box trains that

were first discovered in 18-49 Robert

and his son Bobby jr. believed they were

very close to discovering something not

only of great monetary value but also of

extraordinary historical significance

but on August 17th 1965 just eight

months following the publication of

David MacDonald's article Robert rest

all his son and two members of their

team died after being exposed to deadly

h2s gas in one of oak islands many mine

shafts

we've played a small role in this but

the people who have committed their

lives passions energies monies the

restaurants who paid the ultimate price

I think they've not gotten their due

well David you didn't change the history

of the world probably but you certainly

changed the history of Oak Island yeah

there's no question about that things

would be a lot different had this not

been written I guess yes well you're

directly responsible for these two

characters being here for sure at the

minimum yeah and I want to say thank you

very much

I never shake his hand

we're thinking over here Marty on the

inside

right about here

we're here because this is a historic

place it's a storied place and we're

here to not only respect the past but to

respect the future in to that extent

we're gonna put a time capsule in the

ground at the Bicentennial memorial to

mark the 50th anniversary of the

Reader's Digest article that changed

their lives as well as the two hundred

and twentieth year of the oak island

treasure hunt Rick and Marty lagina

along with their partners have decided

to gather near the causeway at the

islands entrance I think first of all we

all my opinion a collective thank you to

David for writing that article because

he's the reason why we are all here I

think then let's thank Daniel for paving

the way yes I agree it's appealing

leaving a signature if you will for

someone else to read fifty years from

now it's appealing using a piece of

drill casing that dave blankenship has

fabricated into a time capsule each

member of the Oak Island team makes a

contribution they hope a future

generation might find

well I'm always always waiting for crown

time so I'm giving somebody some crowns

okay here's mine this says from Martin G

lagina to the future I have made several

predictions about what the world will

look like and I'm asking whoever finds

it to send this to my kids and I've

enclosed $10 Canadian for postage and

handling I will insert it well this is a

copy of the digest with the article in

this my goodness

and it's the American cop but it still

got a few true words yeah I guess now

it's my turn but I'm gonna kind of I've

thought about it for a long time and I'm

gonna kind of break tradition because I

kind of wrote a little letter it's it's

to the people that will open this and

it's it's to all of us it says dear Oak

Island searchers we have met so many

gracious and wonderful people it is

impossible to acknowledge and thank

everyone though I would try especially

wish to say to

my brother and friend that I and I do

not use the term lightly I treasure this

time we have spent together to Darrin

blowing could ship by fuel

if y'all have known in my whole life and

thank you for allowing me into your

special world to david blankenship i can

say many things not all good however it

is most important to me that i call you

my friend and I hope you considered me

yours I conclude by wishing you and

yours meaning the people who open this

the best of luck and good wishes as the

Ojai story continues to evolve take care

of one another as that is the real

treasure in life

ciao if we don't succeed and somebody

looks at those items fifty years from

now I I would hope they realize that

there is an emotional component to this

this isn't just a treasure hunt it's not

just about recovering wealth there's an

emotional component to this and I would

hope that by looking at those items they

would connect in that way

now that everyone has placed an item

into the time capsule dave blankenship

welds it closed

keeping it airtight for what could be

its next several decades underground

okay Rick don't know see young guys do

it all right I like that

I thought it was a very appropriate

putting it by the Bicentennial Memorial

I mean what more appropriate place could

there be

you know people come when they come on

these tours they go to that Manya and

they realize just how much time I mean

the world's longest-running treasure

hunt you know why not put it there

okay I think our work here is done

gentlemen at Lisa well done let's have a

round of applause for us shall we Rick -

fifty years from now

done done I think ultimately the old

kind of mystery will be solved every

time you put shovel the earth every time

the drill bites soil you think okay this

could be it it's taken a lot longer than

I thought and it's harder than I thought

this nut is hard to crack but so what

and I say we are gonna get this that's

my buddy all right fine I'll go with

that it's that simple there we're not

giving up

for Rick Marty and their partners today

marks the end of a very productive week

not only have they forged an alliance

with Dan Blankenship's longtime rival

Fred Nolan they've also made a

potentially important discovery with

them but now that virtually every acre

of the island is available for them to

explore what will they find more

evidence of booby-trapped flood tunnels

a man-made cavern in which lies a

mysterious metal chest one thing is

certain the baton of Oak Island history

has been passed and Rick and Marty

lagina have now inherited 220 years of

history and myth triumph and tragedy but

whether the search will end with

discovery or will remain a mystery is

something only time and the island can

tell

next time on the curse of Oak Island

there's a structure in the swamp fred

said it's somewhere between here and on

there let's find it what do you make of

that right there

oh yeah we did find something

boom convinced it's a wreck look at all

the targets in your head and a line

there's a triangle on top of the

triangle what was the point it's

actually pointing to the stone triangle

on the island

Subtitled by Diego Moraes