The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 4, Episode 4 - The Pirates of Oak Island - full transcript
A look at the myths, legends and compelling evidence that pirates were behind the world's longest treasure hunt.
For more of two centuries now
Oak Island has been
hat the center
of an amazing hunt
for lost treasure.
-Come on, baby.
Push!
-Oh!
I’ll be damned.
MATTY:
Numerous teams of searchers,
led today by brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina...
-Go!
...have found
incredible evidence...
GARY:
Ooh!
Wow.
Look at that.
MATTY: ...including
17th-century coins...
MARTY:
1694.
Look at David.
He’s pretty excited.
-It means something!
That is fantastic.
(loud beep)
-Look!
It’s another bobby-dazzler!
MATTY:
...semi-precious jewels...
-RICK: Wow!
-GARY: Woo-woo-woo!
MATTY: ...and even
a 700-year-old cross...
Holy schmoly, all right.
RICK: That’s a cross.
GARY: That’s a cross.
MATTY:
...with possible connections
to the Knights Templar.
But whoever buried something
of great value also constructed
an elaborately fortified
treasure shaft,
and then protected it
with an ingeniously designed
booby-trap flood system.
Some believe it was the work
of the Knights Templar.
Others say
it was the Rosicrucians,
led by Sir Francis Bacon.
And yet local lore,
not to mention the history
of the North Atlantic,
points to another group
for the origin
of the Oak Island mystery
pirates.
MAN:
Fire!
(panting)
Ever since the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795,
Oak Island and its history
have been closely linked
to colorful tales of pirates,
lawless buccaneers whose ships
sailed these very waters.
But did they come here more
than 200 years ago
and bury
an incredible treasure?
For the next hour,
I’ll be drilling down
on whether or not
pirates were really responsible
for what has become
the world’s biggest
and longest-running
treasure hunt.
♪ ♪
MATTY:
When you think of pirates,
you probably have the image
of a rum-soaked scallywag,
a swashbuckling rogue
sailing the high seas
in search of gold and jewels.
Well, get ready, because what
you’re about to find out is
that the truth is
a little less Hollywood,
but a lot more interesting,
right?
Piracy stretches all the way
back to 1,100 BC,
when a group of ocean raiders
hcalled the "Sea Peoples"
attacked the ships
of the Aegean
and Mediterranean
civilizations.
But our modern concept
of pirates
comes from what is known
as "The Golden Age of Piracy,"
when colorful characters
with eye patches and peg legs
sailed the seas,
flying the Jolly Roger flag,
attacking any ship
unlucky enough
to be caught in its sights.
(cannon fire booms)
The Golden Age of Piracy.
Generally speaking,
historians, when they use that,
they’re referring to the 1600s
and into the early 1700s.
As a geographical zone,
mostly considered
to be the Gulf of Mexico,
Caribbean Sea,
and the Atlantic Ocean
up to the colony
of Newfoundland.
Pirate stories
really get underway
after about 1715,
and become enshrined
in one book,
which is
Captain Charles Johnson’s
General History of the Pyrates,
published in 1724.
Blackbeard,
Bartholomew Roberts,
Mary Read and Anne Bonny,
the two famous female pirates--
they’re all found
in Johnson’s General History.
Robert Louis Stevenson
his given a copy
of a 19th-century version
of it,
and he starts incorporating
hsome of these stories
into Treasure Island.
MATTY: Now while most
traditional pirate stories
are set in the Caribbean,
there was-- believe it or not--
a lot of pirate activity
throughout the North Atlantic
in the 17th and 18th centuries.
And in this part of the world,
it was not uncommon for sailors
to be pushed into piracy
by their own governments,
only they weren’t called
pirates, but "privateers."
During the 18th
and 19th century,
it was common for countries
to give letters of marque,
which basically made them
legalized pirates.
It was supposed to protect them
because they had
a government document.
What happens, uh,
though, is that
that letter of marque
could be revoked at any time.
So, if, for instance,
a peace treaty is negotiated
with a country, then that
letter of marque is invalid.
And overnight, literally,
a privateer
could become a pirate.
MATTY:
We know that the North Atlantic
has a long history of piracy,
and that some pirates
did indeed bury
their treasure here.
The infamous Captain Kidd,
for example, is believed
to have buried a fortune
somewhere off the coast
of New York
while on the run
from British authorities
in the late 1600s.
And there are some who believe
that Captain Kidd actually
hburied his treasure
on Oak Island.
(detector beeping)
JACK: You must be getting hits.
Marty: You on to something?
-Oh, (bleep).
RICK: What is it?
CHARLES:
Is it a coin?
MARTY:
I believe this is a coin.
-No!
Are You serious?
-What?!
MATTY:
Six years ago,
Rick and Marty Lagina
hmade their first
significant discovery
in the Oak Island swamp--
a Spanish coin,
often referred to
as a "pirate coin," from 1652.
(laughing)
How’s that?
How’s that, brother?
You know, there’s a history
of piracy in the area,
not only indigenous, but...
when the heat got too much
in the Caribbean,
it’s known historically--
fact--
that pirates would gravitate
up here and seek refuge.
Pirate treasure-- everybody gets
excited about pirate treasure.
I mean, it’s just,
it’s romantic.
It’s sexy.
You know, and I guess I...
I’m susceptible to that, too.
I think one of the reasons
it’s so easy
to associate pirate lore
with Oak Island
is that Mahone Bay was
unpopulated at that time.
So, I mean,
this was a very secluded bay,
a perfect haven for pirates
that wanted to be out
of the way of prying eyes.
ED BUTTS:
Henry Morgan was a privateer
who organized raids
against the Spanish.
One of his most notable
accomplishments
was the capture of the city of,
uh, of Panama.
And it was reputed that Morgan
had secretly taken
a lot of the plunder
for himself
and put it on board a ship
and sent it off somewhere
to be hidden
until he could come and get it.
And the story was that Morgan’s
treasure wound up on Oak Island.
D’ARCY O’CONNOR: Edward Teach,
known as Blackbeard, had said
that he had, uh, buried
his treasure somewhere where
"none but myself
and the devil can find it."
Because he claimed
to have hidden the treasure
somewhere in the New World,
people made the connection
between Teach and Oak Island.
MATTY:
Captain Morgan, Blackbeard,
even Captain Kidd
could one or more
of these legendary pirates
really be behind
the Oak Island mystery?
There are many who think so.
But there is one pirate
whose connection
to Oak Island is certain:
an 18th-century privateer
by the name
of Captain James Anderson.
There’s been a rogue’s gallery
of interesting characters
that have owned land
on this island,
and-and this, uh,
James Anderson fellow
seems to be quite interesting,
and quite a colorful history.
Captain James Anderson
originally was from Baltimore.
During the American Revolution,
he joined the Patriot cause.
MATTY: After he was given
command of a ship
known as The Betsy,
Anderson took off
with the ship’s valuable cargo
and defected to the British.
Thomas Jefferson,
who was, at the time,
the governor of Virginia,
charged Anderson with treason,
a crime punishable by death.
The rogue captain escaped
capture by fleeing to Canada,
where he purchased Lot 26
on Oak Island
and lived there until 1788.
-DOUG: Oh, look at this.
Wow.
-STEVE ATKINSON: Aye-aye, guys.
-MATTY: Just last year,
Steve Atkinson, one of
Captain Anderson’s descendants,
showed members
of the Oak Island team
one of the privateer’s
original sea chests, which also
contained a set of four keys.
Now all those keys he has
in his hand...
Can I see ’em for a sec?
Sure.
That one opens
that treasure chest.
Maybe some other ones
could be...
ALEX: I couldn’t help noticing
there are four keys.
STEVE: Could there have been
more treasure chests
on the island,
that’s what I wonder.
While he might not be
a household name,
Captain James Anderson is
the only pirate that we know of
who actually lived here
on Oak Island.
In fact, he owned property right
on this very spot-- Lot 26.
And I’m being joined
by my old pal Gary Drayton
who’s gonna tell me more
about Captain Anderson,
as well as some
of the intriguing finds
that Gary’s made right here
on Lot 26.
What’s up, mate?
How you doing, mate?
Good to see you again.
How You doing?
Good.
Got the detector.
I love it.
and in my favorite lots.
is It really?
25 and 26.
These are my favorites.
’Cause... yeah.
These Are your favorites?
There’s so much history
associated with these two lots.
You’ve got characters here.
You’ve got Captain Anderson,
a privateer.
Who don’t like a pirate?
Let’s talk about Captain
Anderson for a second,
what we know about him.
I mean, kind of a...
an interesting character,
a turncoat,
and he certainly had
a lot of wealth.
He bought up lots around here.
What do you think, uh, he could
have left on this island?
Well, not what he left.
It’s why this lot?
Why come here?
And this wall behind us--
this is one of the most
impressive walls on the island.
It’s so wide, it...
I don’t
really think this is a wall.
It’s more like a ramp,
and it goes way down there
towards the water.
And it’s-it’s really impressive.
We had Laird out,
Laird Niven the archeologist.
yeah.
Now this is
a little bit different.
So, what’s the deal
with the wall here?
It looks different
from the other ones.
CHARLES: Well,
it’s flatter on the surface.
Yeah, it’s almost like you could
roll a ball down it, right?
-Exactly, yeah.
Yeah.
yeah.
Look, we know
Anderson was a privateer.
Could he have been using this as
kind of a staging area, I mean,
a walkway or a ramp that led
right down to the ocean?
Mm-hmm.
I believe
Captain Anderson picked this lot
because it’s away
from the mainland,
and he unloaded or loaded stuff,
using this wall,
which I believe is a ramp.
These lots have been packed
with great finds.
I mean, I’ve found coins
and jewelry, as well,
different nationality coins,
and tokens, as well.
There’s 300 islands
in this area,
and he chooses this one
and this one lot.
Mm.
That’s no coincidence.
Thank you so much, Gary.
Fascinating look
at a fascinating,
infamous character,
Captain James Anderson.
I love talking pirates, mate.
(laughing):
I know you do, brother.
-See you later, mate.
Cheers.
Thank you.
Captain William Kidd, the most
famous pirate of his time,
MATTY:
and next
to Captain Jack Sparrow,
probably the most famous pirate
today.
For many, he remains
the prime suspect in the mystery
that is the Oak Island treasure,
but believe it or not,
there’s no actual evidence
he even visited the island,
let alone buried treasure there.
So, why does the legend
of Captain William Kidd
on Oak Island persist?
We’re about to find out.
Here in the nearby town
of Mahone Bay,
I’m hoping to meet some folks
hwho might have grown up
with the mystery
and can share with us
some inside information.
Excuse me.
Hi.
WOMAN: Hi.
-Um, you local?
Yes.
Well, I live in Dartmouth,
but we like to come out here
and-and check out Mahone Bay
and the scenery and...
-Okay, and-and growing up
somewhat around here...
Mm-hmm.
...did you hear about the legend
of Oak Island growing up?
-Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
and What did You hear?
Um, I heard that there was money
there, like treasure.
Mm.
and That It was buried there
by pirates.
What do you know about pirates
and Oak Island?
I’ve heard of, like,
with the rum runners and stuff,
and I do believe all of that.
I want to know what you know
about Oak Island.
As far as I know, there’s some
sort of buried treasure there
having to do with Captain Kidd.
Oh, right away, Captain Kidd.
Captain Kidd’s treasure is
apparently buried at Oak Island.
What do you know about pirates
and Oak Island?
What was the guy’s name?
Was it, uh, Captain...?
Come on.
I know this one.
Come on.
Come on.
Not Long John Silver.
(both laugh)
Great restaurant.
Kidd.
Captain Kidd.
Bingo!You got it.
Captain Kidd.
MATTY:
People have suggested
that Captain William Kidd
was the one responsible
for the Money Pit
practically since the day
it was discovered
way back in 1795.
Popular Science magazine
featured a story
connecting him to the treasure
in 1939,
and it seems that even today,
there are many locals
who still believe this
to be true.
NOEL CHEVALIER: William Kidd is
han interesting character.
He doesn’t necessarily fit
the typical profile
of-of the average pirate.
He was, uh, educated,
he was a gentleman.
And he started out
as a privateer,
given a license
by Lord Bellomont,
who was the governor
of New York at the time.
He was to go
and capture French ships.
Then he was also commissioned
with sailing to Madagascar
to actually engage
in pirate capture.
And something happened
to him at Madagascar.
RANDY SULLIVAN:
So, he gets out there,
and he can’t find anything,
and he’s got a crew that is
growling and threatening mutiny,
and finally,
they come upon this Dutch ship.
And he knows he’s not supposed
to take a Dutch ship,
because the king at the time,
William, was Dutch-born.
But the Dutch ship has
what’s called a French mark.
It was licensed by the French,
and France was the enemy.
And he knew that if he didn’t
take the ship,
the crew was gonna mutiny.
MAN:
Fire!
NOEL: He started plundering
hships himself, and...
he eventually became
rather successful at it.
He made his way back
to New York
with plunder
that he had taken, and...
he buried some of it, uh, at a
place called Gardiner’s Island.
That particular cache of loot,
however, was recovered
by Lord Bellomont.
So, if there’s
one treasure chest,
there-there might be others.
RANDY: But then he’s tricked
into surrendering by this
Governor Bellomont,
who imprisons him.
And at the last minute, he tries
to save his life by saying,
MATTY:
Skeptics of the theory that
it is Captain Kidd’s treasure
buried on Oak Island
would say there is nothing
in the historical record
that shows
he ever sailed that far north,
and they would be right.
But those who believe
he did reach these shores
point out that much of his time
in the North Atlantic
is undocumented, as he was
running for his life.
They also cite a famous legend
of a deathbed confession.
It was widely assumed
right from the beginning
that this was
Captain Kidd’s treasure,
and there’s a lot of reasons
why that is.
There was a story
of a dying sailor
who was supposedly one
of Kidd’s crewmen,
saying that they had buried
a treasure
on an island covered with oaks
somewhere in-in Nova Scotia.
When he was taken back
to England,
he had a treasure on him
that was worth,
like, 6,000 and some pounds
at the time,
which is like $15 million
in today’s values.
But they knew he had taken
much more than that.
So, where was the rest
of the money?
DOUG: In the early accounts
of the Oak Island mystery,
it was often told
that a dying man
in the New England states said
he was a member
of Captain Kidd’s crew,
and that he had a treasure map
to where Kidd’s treasure
was buried.
MATTY: A map?
Did Captain Kidd
leave behind not just clues,
but a physical record
hof exactly where
he left the spoils
of his many years of piracy?
According to an English
journalist and author named
Harold Wilkins, he did.
It was allegedly found in a sea
chest that belonged to Kidd,
and Wilkins featured it
in a book he published in 1935
called Captain Kidd
and his Skeleton Island.
NOEL: Captain Kidd
and the Skeleton Island
bases its premise on a map
that had supposedly been drawn
by either Kidd himself,
or Kidd’s wife Sarah...
that had a tracing
of an island.
Um, now, the original map
his very clearly set
in the Pacific.
When Wilkins reproduced
and redrew the map for his book,
he relocated
the-the island itself, um,
either somewhere in the
Caribbean, or in North America.
And some people looked
at Wilkins’ map and said,
"That actually looks a lot like
the outline of Oak Island."
Is it possible that he was
working from other documents?
He was obscuring things
a little bit,
but he’s really kind of
disclosing
the-the Oak Island,
uh, Money Pit.
D’ARCY:
When Gilbert Hedden, in 1936,
who was looking for treasure
on Oak Island at the time,
looked at the map, he was struck
by the similarity
in the shape of the island.
He figured this map
might have something
to do with Oak Island.
So, Gilbert Hedden had his crew
looking around
for any sort of markers
that might be on the island.
And he found the triangle
of stones on the south shore.
They also found
a couple of rocks
with drilled holes in them.
And some of the measurements
between the drilled rocks
and the triangle fit in
hwith the distances
that were on the Mar Del map.
MATTY: Could the key to solving
the Oak Island mystery
actually be
in a fictionalized book
about Captain Kidd written
hin the 20th century?
And if it is, could it lead
to a vast treasure,
deposited here
by the man many consider
the most notorious pirate
who ever lived?
MATTY:
I’m here on Mahone Bay
Up next, Tony Sampson will
take me out into the ocean
just off the coast
of Oak Island.
You know,
in the Golden Age of Piracy,
this area of the North Atlantic
was a hotbed of pirate activity.
And here to tell me more
about it is deep sea diver
and today, my captain,
Tony Sampson.
Great to see you again, Matty.
Ah, it’s fun
being out here with you.
You know, I never get
a patch-eye view,
if you will, of the island.
If pirates did come here, Tony,
why might they have picked
Oak Island?
Well, as you can see coming in
from the North Atlantic, Matty,
Oak Island actually looks
like part of the mainland.
MATTY: It does.
It blends
right in with the mainland.
TONY: Yeah, and that could have
been one of the reasons
that pirates might’ve
chosen the island.
Another thing that occurs to me
from this angle, Tony,
is that the island is kind of
protected
and hidden away a little bit.
That’s true.
We have 365 islands here
in Mahone Bay, Matty.
And navigating your way
into Oak Island
would have been a chore
in those days, as well,
because of all these sneaky
little reefs we have out here.
So, you know, Tony, we’ve been
talking about pirates,
and there are so many suspects
as to who could have created
this mystery.
Do you have
a particular favorite?
Well, I like Sir Francis Drake.
In fact, he was one
of the most famous privateers
in the Elizabethan times,
and he’s from the same part
of England where my family is
from, in Cornwall there.
Oh.
There’s a part of the island on
the southern side of the swamp
where, if he had come ashore
from the North Atlantic,
that might’ve been a place
that he landed.
Would you like to go around
and have a look?
Let’s check It out.
fantastic.
All right.
Full steam ahead.
TONY:
Full steam ahead.
MATTY: Born in 1540, Sir Francis
Drake was an English explorer,
naval officer,
and eventually,
a privateer under
Queen Elizabeth I.
From 1577 to 1580,
he circumnavigated the globe,
recovering millions of dollars
in gold and jewels
from the Spanish ships
that he and his crew attacked.
But is it possible
that Sir Francis Drake
deposited some of his plunder
on Oak Island?
Sir Francis Drake was
the greatest British explorer
and arguably
the greatest pirate.
I mean, Drake was a privateer,
an explorer, really,
who was allowed
to take ships.
But he took huge treasures.
He took
a single Spanish galleon
that had, like,
more than $200 million worth
of gold, silver
and gemstones on it.
You know, one of
the theories that, um,
comes up about Oak Island
is Sir Francis Drake.
You have Elizabeth I
on the throne, all right?
A lot of nobles
didn’t like the fact
that you had a woman
hon the throne.
So rebellion could have
broken out at any time.
Plus, she was fighting
a clandestine war, basically,
with the Spanish.
-MAN: Fire!
The theory is that Drake
may have deposited,
uh, a cache of treasure
on Oak Island
and would’ve used that
to raise a mercenary army
or mercenary fleet
to either quell a rebellion
at home
or to hire vessels
to repel the Spanish.
TONY:
The pirates and the privateers
would come all the way up
the coast here.
And if you were to hide
something on an island,
then Oak Island
might have been a good choice.
And the funny thing
about Oak Island
is there’s only two places
on the island
where you have any depth.
And that’s the northern side
of the swamp
on the other side,
by Fred Nolan’s house.
yeah.
and the southern side
of the swamp here,
where you can see,
-as we’re, uh, heading in now.
MATTY: yeah.
TONY: You can see the road
that goes past
the southern side
of the swamp.
MATTY: Right.
And that’s the only place
that we have depth,
is those two places.
and that’s...
That’s interesting.
So the only places
that have depth waterwise
Are either side of the swamp.
yeah.
-Huh, interesting.
-You see, and that’s
where you get into
that whole idea
that maybe the swamp
is actually man-made
and that a ship
was allowed to drift back
in the channel there.
Absolutely.
It’s interesting
that Tony should mention
longtime Oak Island
treasure hunter Fred Nolan,
because that’s
exactly what Fred believed.
After finding scuppers
and part of what appeared to be
a ship’s mast
in the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp,
Fred Nolan developed the theory
that a treasure galleon
may have been sailed
into an area
between the two islands.
Then giant earthen cofferdams
hwere built on both sides
before the ship
was deliberately submerged
beneath thousands of gallons
of water,
creating a swamp
that would hide
both the galleon
and its precious cargo.
What is that?
-JACK:
Looks like a piece of wood.
It’s a large board.
MATTY: Two years ago,
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Tony
and Jack Begley,
made another
compelling discovery,
one that reinforced
the hidden galleon theory.
MARTY: It’s longish
for dimensional lumber.
It’s probably 18 feet long,
which is an odd dimension.
TONY: yeah.
RICK:
I’m thinking plank.
Either deck planking
or side of the ship planking
because it was obvious
it was very long.
(detector beeping)
-Oh, yeah.
-Oh, look at that.
That’s nice.
MATTY: Later that same year,
after the team
drained the swamp
hoping to find more clues,
Jack, Alex Lagina
and Gary Drayton
did just that.
GARY:
For sure, I found
exactly the same objects as this
on... off Spanish galleons
from the late 1600s,
early 1700s.
Tony, this is incredible.
In all the years
I’ve been studying
and coming to Oak Island,
I’ve never seen it
from this view.
And from this view,
it literally does look
like it was
two separate islands.
Oh, I agree 100%, Matty.
I mean, if you look at it,
You Can see
the way it folds down.
yeah.
And it looks like
if we were a pirate vessel,
we’d be sailing now
right into the channel
between the two islands.
It does.
It looks...
It looks like we could
drive right through it.
yeah.
So, there’s all kind of rumors
about Drake in particular,
and one of them actually being
that not just treasure
he put here,
but himself.
In season five, Rick Lagina
and members
of the Oak Island team
met with area historian
Paul Speed,
who’s convinced
that Sir Francis Drake
not only hid gold
on Oak Island,
but may also be buried there
himself.
To me, though, the most
interesting, compelling thing
is that Drake,
on his last Caribbean raid,
got dysentery and died
in Colón, Panama.
Here is a guy
who is a national hero.
They put him in a lead coffin,
and they filled it with mercury.
They’ve never found the coffin.
They’ve looked for the coffin.
They’re still looking for it.
PAUL: And they’re still looking
for the coffin.
And if Drake
truly did build Oak Island,
then maybe Drake
wanted himself interned, buried.
You think he’s buried
on Oak Island.
MATTY:
Sound far-fetched?
CHARLES:
What do you make of that?
MATTY:
Well, it was just last year
that Rick, Marty and the team
found bones
deep in the Money Pit
from two 17th-century
individuals,
one that after being
scientifically tested
was determined to have come
from Europe.
Tony, thank you so much.
This has been
an incredible experience,
really, letting me, uh,
see what it looked like
at pirate’s alley here.
Fantastic.
Well, I’m so glad
you could come out, Matty.
It was a pleasure
having you on the boat
and a great opportunity to see
Oak Island from the ocean.
(laughs):
Oh, I love it.
Now, this is Oak Island.
If you don’t like
the weather here,
just wait about ten minutes.
It’ll change like that.
But I want to talk now
about Peter Easton,
also known
as the Pirate Admiral.
In his day, he was one
of the most successful pirates.
He plundered millions
in gold and treasure,
and he lived long enough
to enjoy it all.
And I’m here at my favorite spot
on the island,
the smelly, stinky swamp,
with my good buddy,
Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse.
-How are you, Charles?
-A little wet for wear,
but glad to see you, Matty.
Oh, I love it.
You ain’t worked on Oak Island
till You get
a moment like this.
Absolutely.
This is fantastic.
Um...
We’re here at the swamp.
I see you’ve drained it.
I see guys working.
What are we working on here?
Well, actually, we have
Eagle Canada here doing seismic.
You know they did seismic
in the Money Pit?
Absolutely.
What we want to do is start off
with the-the test line.
We know there’s a tunnel here
and a cross here.
CRAIG: the Halifax tunnel.
Let’s go find some treasure.
for luck.
Guys.
-Yes, thanks.
MATTY: This season,
Rick, Marty and their partners
used a process
called seismic scanning
to survey the Money Pit.
Seismic scanning works
by setting off
a series of small explosions
into the ground,
which in turn send sound waves
deep below the Earth’s surface.
These waves are then measured
by geophone receivers
up to a depth of 300 feet.
The measurements
are then processed
in such a way as to create
a virtual three-dimensional map
of the area underground.
Well, wait a second.
Seismic...
Uh, I can see how it worked up
at the Money Pit,
but you think seismic
will work here in this mess?
We’ve got a lot of muck
and, of course,
you know, water to deal with.
So they’re quite confident
that they can overcome
these obstacles
and-and give us some good data.
Okay.
Data like possibly an anomaly--
and I’m gonna use my imagination
here ’cause it’s what I do--
an anomaly like a treasure ship,
maybe even one commandeered
by Peter Easton.
MARTY:
My favorite pirate
of all time is, uh,
is Peter Easton,
who was based up here
in Newfoundland
because he had a fleet
of something like 14
or 17 ships.
Basically, they called him
the Pirate Admiral.
Well, you’re
a pretty good leader
and a pretty good organizer
to run 14 pirate ships
in a coordinated fashion.
RANDY: Peter Easton
was the greatest pirate,
and he’s not more well-known
because he came so early.
He was appointed a privateer
by Queen Elizabeth in 1602,
but just about a year later
Elizabeth died,
and the new king, James,
decided he wanted to make peace
with the Spanish.
So, basically, there was no more
legal attacking Spanish ships.
Well, Easton by then
had found out, you know,
this is a good business.
So he decided
to launch out on his own
and really became
the first famous pirate.
MATTY: Peter Easton was not
just a pirate with great fame,
but a pirate who spent much
of his time commandeering ships
and treasure
in North Atlantic waters.
He often stuck close
to Newfoundland
and preyed on the trade routes
from there.
Once a year,
Spanish galleons would come
from South America
back to Spain.
He would prey on them.
He amassed quite a fortune.
RANDY:
That’s why Easton
is a viable candidate,
because his main center
of operations
was Placentia Bay.
Who’s to say he didn’t
venture down to Nova Scotia?
Actually, Marty Lagina
was the first one
who suggested it to me,
which was, look,
this was a really smart guy.
He had all that money.
Do you
think he would’ve risked it all
in one ship
to sail back to Europe?
I think he would’ve
stashed some somewhere.
It’s not
an unreasonable theory,
so, you know, why wouldn’t that
have been Oak Island?
The fact that he was
one of the most successful
pirates of all time.
Uh, you know, he retired
with two million pounds.
Wait a second.
Hold on.
Two million pounds?
Where have I heard that before?
Are you serious?
Uh, yeah.
The 90 Foot Stone.
MATTY: Of course.
And the
90 Foot Stone may have read,
"40 feet below,
two million pounds are buried."
That’s incredible.
And he retired
with two million pounds
specifically.
Wow.
I mean, it could be
just a coincidence,
but, as I said,
he was a very successful pirate.
Add him to the list, Charles,
of mysterious figures
who come to Oak Island
and get very rich very quick.
Yeah, it’s-it’s
certainly possible, yes.
And, Charles, as we know,
there are things found
right here in this swamp
that could possibly connect
to pirates.
I mean,
you know that six years ago
we found that Spanish maravedi.
You know, the-the fact
that this Spanish maravedi
is dated 1652, I mean,
we’re right in the era
of pirates.
MATTY: hmm.
So, you know, it’s possible.
I mean, you know, who knows?
Well, we’re gonna try
and find out.
-Thanks, Charles.
-Okay, thank you.
Let’s go get dry.
Sounds like a good idea.
You haven’t lived on Oak Island
until you’re wet like this.
-Right, buddy?
That’s Right.
We’ve explored the idea
of pirates,
MATTY: Coming up,
I’ll get Rick and Marty’s
both infamous
and relatively unknown,
being responsible
for the Oak Island treasure.
But what about
some other candidates?
People that history
may have overlooked?
Three years ago,
Rick, Marty and the team
were shown a mysterious
carved cross on a large boulder
by researcher Terry Deveau
in the west coast town
of Overton, Nova Scotia.
DEVEAU:
Interestingly,
this particular shape of cross
is not all that common,
where you have
the flaring outwards
of the arms.
You mainly see it
in Portuguese crosses.
And isn’t that a Templar cross?
MATTY: The Knights Templar
was an order of warrior monks
formed in the 12th century
to protect Christian pilgrims
in the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
Many historians believe
that they also conducted
hsecret excavations
below the historic remains
of King Solomon’s Temple
in Jerusalem
and found many sacred,
priceless religious artifacts,
including the skull
of St. John the Baptist.
The Templars were famously
betrayed by Pope Clement V
and charged with heresy
by King Philip IV of France
on Friday the 13th, 1307.
Many in the order
were rounded up,
imprisoned and later executed.
However, in 1313
a number of surviving
Templar Knights set sail
with 17 ships
from La Rochelle, France,
along with
their priceless treasures.
And according to some,
they adopted a new symbol
based on their devotion
to John the Baptist
to begin a new way of life
as pirates.
DAVID WHITEHEAD:
The main symbol of pirates
is the skull and bones,
and that is also one
of the chief symbols
of the Knights Templar.
MATTY:
Could the Knights Templar
really have turned to piracy
on the high seas?
And is the iconic pirate flag
known as the Jolly Roger
actually a Templar symbol?
Just this year,
Rick, Marty and the team
had a video conference meeting
with author Gretchen Cornwall
and modern-day Templar
John Temple,
who believe both are true
and that the Templars found
the perfect hiding spot
for their priceless booty
on Oak Island.
GRETCHEN:
It is our thought
that the Money Pit is Templar
in origin.
RICK: Why do you draw
an inference that,
uh, there’s a Templar connection
to the Money Pit?
GRETCHEN:
Oak Island would be a safe
and secure hidden place
to put sacred relics.
The Templars
were great engineers.
They would have left
a physical stone key and marker.
And that’s how the Templars
passed down information:
graffiti marks, uh, stone,
buildings, architecture.
So, fast-forward
to the Nolan Cross.
MATTY:
In 1981,
Fred Nolan made
his most famous discovery
in five massive, cone-shaped
boulders on his property
that formed a perfectly
symmetrical megalithic cross.
At the center, Fred was stunned
to uncover a sixth boulder
carved into the shape
of a human skull.
GRETCHEN:
That’s how the Jolly Roger
became a pirate symbol.
It’s actually
originally a Templar symbol,
and it represents
John the Baptist.
MATTY: Although the history
hof the Knights Templar
is shrouded in mystery,
one aspect of their activities
is well-documented.
While guarding and caretaking
the valuables of Christians
during the Crusades,
they established one
hof the world’s
earliest banking systems.
JONATHAN YOUNG: This was
something like a precursor
to a multinational corporation,
a very powerful enterprise.
The Knights Templar
worked out a system
that they could deposit
their money in their home city,
go to Jerusalem
with a letter of credit,
which was an invention
of the Knights Templar,
and present this
and receive their money
so that the highwaymen
were not able to get it.
But there was a nice subtext,
which was
that if you died en route,
and an awful lot of people did,
then the Templars
could take all your money.
And they did.
MATTY: Is it possible
that the Knights Templar
established a pirate bank,
or at least
a pirate bank vault,
on Oak Island?
Last season’s discovery
hof the lead cross
may provide proof of just that.
Holy...
Holy schmoly, all right.
RICK: It’s a cross.
That’s a cross.
MATTY: Just this year, Rick,
Marty and members of the team
were given a stunning report
by geochemist
Dr. Tobias Skowronek
about the lead cross found
at Smith’s Cove.
I think it’s pre-15th century,
yes.
Wow.
Where the heck
did it come from?
TOBIAS:
The data of the cross
is very consistent with the area
of Southern France.
Wow.
This could be Templar-connected.
RICK:
That cross is associated
with the Templar-influenced
region in France.
It’s certainly the time
of the Templars--
1300s, 1400s, um,
or even earlier.
All of that is astounding news.
MATTY:
We’ve heard from the experts
and some folks on the street,
but I’m really eager to find out
what Rick and Marty think
about all the different pirate
theories surrounding Oak Island
and if they believe
there’s one pirate in particular
that might have helped create
what has become
the world’s longest running
and, perhaps,
most expensive treasure hunt.
Hey.
Look who’s here.
Gentlemen.
(chuckles)
-How you doing, Marty?
MATTY Blake.
-How you doing, Rick?
-Hey, buddy.
-Good to see you, brother.
How in the heck Are you?
I’m fantastic.
I’m energized.
yeah.
on Oak Island.
Because I’m on Oak Island.
And you know
I like to drill down,
but it’s probably more fair
to say
this time
I’ve been digging around
about pirates.
Marty: Mm-hmm.
no kidding?
Oh.
And I’d love to get
your thoughts.
You know,
I’ve gone into town and talked
to people about Captain Kidd.
I’ve talked about Easton.
I’ve talked about Drake.
I’ve talked about Anderson.
All the big names that usually
are associated with Oak Island
and even
the Knights Templar theory.
Well, there’s talk,
there’s theory
that-that the pirates evolved
from the Templars.
hmm.
RICK: So...
MARTY: The skull
and crossbones certainly did.
The Templar used the Jolly Roger
as a symbol,
and that became
their calling card.
yeah.
Fascinating.
It is, it’s incredible.
The possibility that the pirate
evolved from the Templars,
it really speaks to nothing more
than the depth of their betrayal
by the monarchy
and by the Vatican.
You know,
you want retribution, right?
yeah.
You want...
You want payback.
And so I-I don’t find it
inconsistent
that they may have evolved
from the Templars.
A rogue pirate sensibility
born of betrayal.
Mm-hmm.
Marty: Sure.
Absolutely.
Let me ask you guys this:
when it comes to pirates,
where do you both stand?
In my opinion,
only one of those names
could possibly have done this.
Wow.
MATTY: So, my question is
when it comes
to the pirate theory
and Oak Island,
where do you guys stand now?
As far as conventional pirates,
the only one that could
possibly have done this
would have been Peter Easton.
MATTY: You’re an Easton guy.
Why?
MARTY:
Peter Easton was a breed apart.
He was an outlier.
I mean, this guy had a navy.
He had...
he had something like 30
or 60 ships at one time.
Kidd couldn’t possibly
have been it in my opinion.
He was a minor pirate.
Rick, who’s your guy
if you had to pick?
If I had to pick one,
I’d say Sir Francis Drake.
I think he was a brilliant man.
He had connections
within the-the upper echelons
of the monarchy
and, uh, you know,
certainly a brilliant sailor,
brilliant navigator.
I mean, he-he would be the one.
But there’s no record of it
none whatsoever that
he even sailed these waters.
MARTY: Whereas Peter Easton was
headquartered in Newfoundland.
If anybody could have done it,
he had the manpower,
he had the smarts,
he had the motive
and he lived right around here.
But I’m not a big pirate guy
that did this.
But the only one I can see
that would
possibly have been able to
would be him.
RICK: There’s only one scenario
by which pirates
would have done the work
out here,
and that is that if they
were organized and
somewhat organized
and-and constructed
what could be called
a communal bank
where each pirate contributes
a certain amount of labor,
a certain amount of wealth,
a certain amount of engineering,
and-and they construct this bank
and then each are allowed access
to it at some point.
MARTY: So, of course, I’ve been
dissing the pirate theory
ever since You brought It up
the other day, right?
(laughs)
But you have to remark
that the first thing we found
of any real consequence
was supposedly what they called
a pirate coin.
So-called because
it was not very valuable,
and it would have been used
to pay a pirate
to serve on a ship.
Might have been his share
and potentially her share,
uh, of the loot.
So, I mean, okay.
We-we don’t think it’s pirates,
or I don’t think it’s pirates,
and yet the first thing we find,
people call a pirate coin.
-I mean, it’s ironic.
yeah.
MARTY: It’s a Spanish maravedi,
and it was 1652,
so well before the Money Pit.
Well, I learned a lot,
more than I-I thought I would
and-and was drawn
down this pirate path,
and I got to say
it’s a fascinating one
and one that I want
to learn more about.
You know, it indicates
that no matter how deep
or shallow
the Oak Island mystery is,
I want to keep digging.
Thank you, guys.
-Good deal, Matty.
Appreciate it.
You’re always opening doors
for us.
You come up with answers,
you let us know.
I most certainly will,
you know that.
Let’s go be pirates
at a local establishment.
Marty: Yeah...
MATTY: Maybe with some rum.
Okay.
So, who do you think
was responsible
for creating
the Oak Island mystery?
Was it Drake, Easton, Kidd,
or renegade members
of the Knights Templar?
And if they really did
leave an incredible treasure
here,
did they intend to come back
and get it
or mean it to remain hidden,
perhaps forever?
One thing is certain:
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with the team,
are working hard every day
to make the breakthrough
discovery of a lifetime.
Yes!
One that will reveal the truth
behind the Oak Island mystery
once and for all.
Subtitled by
Diego Moraes / Ewerton Henrique
Oak Island has been
hat the center
of an amazing hunt
for lost treasure.
-Come on, baby.
Push!
-Oh!
I’ll be damned.
MATTY:
Numerous teams of searchers,
led today by brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina...
-Go!
...have found
incredible evidence...
GARY:
Ooh!
Wow.
Look at that.
MATTY: ...including
17th-century coins...
MARTY:
1694.
Look at David.
He’s pretty excited.
-It means something!
That is fantastic.
(loud beep)
-Look!
It’s another bobby-dazzler!
MATTY:
...semi-precious jewels...
-RICK: Wow!
-GARY: Woo-woo-woo!
MATTY: ...and even
a 700-year-old cross...
Holy schmoly, all right.
RICK: That’s a cross.
GARY: That’s a cross.
MATTY:
...with possible connections
to the Knights Templar.
But whoever buried something
of great value also constructed
an elaborately fortified
treasure shaft,
and then protected it
with an ingeniously designed
booby-trap flood system.
Some believe it was the work
of the Knights Templar.
Others say
it was the Rosicrucians,
led by Sir Francis Bacon.
And yet local lore,
not to mention the history
of the North Atlantic,
points to another group
for the origin
of the Oak Island mystery
pirates.
MAN:
Fire!
(panting)
Ever since the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795,
Oak Island and its history
have been closely linked
to colorful tales of pirates,
lawless buccaneers whose ships
sailed these very waters.
But did they come here more
than 200 years ago
and bury
an incredible treasure?
For the next hour,
I’ll be drilling down
on whether or not
pirates were really responsible
for what has become
the world’s biggest
and longest-running
treasure hunt.
♪ ♪
MATTY:
When you think of pirates,
you probably have the image
of a rum-soaked scallywag,
a swashbuckling rogue
sailing the high seas
in search of gold and jewels.
Well, get ready, because what
you’re about to find out is
that the truth is
a little less Hollywood,
but a lot more interesting,
right?
Piracy stretches all the way
back to 1,100 BC,
when a group of ocean raiders
hcalled the "Sea Peoples"
attacked the ships
of the Aegean
and Mediterranean
civilizations.
But our modern concept
of pirates
comes from what is known
as "The Golden Age of Piracy,"
when colorful characters
with eye patches and peg legs
sailed the seas,
flying the Jolly Roger flag,
attacking any ship
unlucky enough
to be caught in its sights.
(cannon fire booms)
The Golden Age of Piracy.
Generally speaking,
historians, when they use that,
they’re referring to the 1600s
and into the early 1700s.
As a geographical zone,
mostly considered
to be the Gulf of Mexico,
Caribbean Sea,
and the Atlantic Ocean
up to the colony
of Newfoundland.
Pirate stories
really get underway
after about 1715,
and become enshrined
in one book,
which is
Captain Charles Johnson’s
General History of the Pyrates,
published in 1724.
Blackbeard,
Bartholomew Roberts,
Mary Read and Anne Bonny,
the two famous female pirates--
they’re all found
in Johnson’s General History.
Robert Louis Stevenson
his given a copy
of a 19th-century version
of it,
and he starts incorporating
hsome of these stories
into Treasure Island.
MATTY: Now while most
traditional pirate stories
are set in the Caribbean,
there was-- believe it or not--
a lot of pirate activity
throughout the North Atlantic
in the 17th and 18th centuries.
And in this part of the world,
it was not uncommon for sailors
to be pushed into piracy
by their own governments,
only they weren’t called
pirates, but "privateers."
During the 18th
and 19th century,
it was common for countries
to give letters of marque,
which basically made them
legalized pirates.
It was supposed to protect them
because they had
a government document.
What happens, uh,
though, is that
that letter of marque
could be revoked at any time.
So, if, for instance,
a peace treaty is negotiated
with a country, then that
letter of marque is invalid.
And overnight, literally,
a privateer
could become a pirate.
MATTY:
We know that the North Atlantic
has a long history of piracy,
and that some pirates
did indeed bury
their treasure here.
The infamous Captain Kidd,
for example, is believed
to have buried a fortune
somewhere off the coast
of New York
while on the run
from British authorities
in the late 1600s.
And there are some who believe
that Captain Kidd actually
hburied his treasure
on Oak Island.
(detector beeping)
JACK: You must be getting hits.
Marty: You on to something?
-Oh, (bleep).
RICK: What is it?
CHARLES:
Is it a coin?
MARTY:
I believe this is a coin.
-No!
Are You serious?
-What?!
MATTY:
Six years ago,
Rick and Marty Lagina
hmade their first
significant discovery
in the Oak Island swamp--
a Spanish coin,
often referred to
as a "pirate coin," from 1652.
(laughing)
How’s that?
How’s that, brother?
You know, there’s a history
of piracy in the area,
not only indigenous, but...
when the heat got too much
in the Caribbean,
it’s known historically--
fact--
that pirates would gravitate
up here and seek refuge.
Pirate treasure-- everybody gets
excited about pirate treasure.
I mean, it’s just,
it’s romantic.
It’s sexy.
You know, and I guess I...
I’m susceptible to that, too.
I think one of the reasons
it’s so easy
to associate pirate lore
with Oak Island
is that Mahone Bay was
unpopulated at that time.
So, I mean,
this was a very secluded bay,
a perfect haven for pirates
that wanted to be out
of the way of prying eyes.
ED BUTTS:
Henry Morgan was a privateer
who organized raids
against the Spanish.
One of his most notable
accomplishments
was the capture of the city of,
uh, of Panama.
And it was reputed that Morgan
had secretly taken
a lot of the plunder
for himself
and put it on board a ship
and sent it off somewhere
to be hidden
until he could come and get it.
And the story was that Morgan’s
treasure wound up on Oak Island.
D’ARCY O’CONNOR: Edward Teach,
known as Blackbeard, had said
that he had, uh, buried
his treasure somewhere where
"none but myself
and the devil can find it."
Because he claimed
to have hidden the treasure
somewhere in the New World,
people made the connection
between Teach and Oak Island.
MATTY:
Captain Morgan, Blackbeard,
even Captain Kidd
could one or more
of these legendary pirates
really be behind
the Oak Island mystery?
There are many who think so.
But there is one pirate
whose connection
to Oak Island is certain:
an 18th-century privateer
by the name
of Captain James Anderson.
There’s been a rogue’s gallery
of interesting characters
that have owned land
on this island,
and-and this, uh,
James Anderson fellow
seems to be quite interesting,
and quite a colorful history.
Captain James Anderson
originally was from Baltimore.
During the American Revolution,
he joined the Patriot cause.
MATTY: After he was given
command of a ship
known as The Betsy,
Anderson took off
with the ship’s valuable cargo
and defected to the British.
Thomas Jefferson,
who was, at the time,
the governor of Virginia,
charged Anderson with treason,
a crime punishable by death.
The rogue captain escaped
capture by fleeing to Canada,
where he purchased Lot 26
on Oak Island
and lived there until 1788.
-DOUG: Oh, look at this.
Wow.
-STEVE ATKINSON: Aye-aye, guys.
-MATTY: Just last year,
Steve Atkinson, one of
Captain Anderson’s descendants,
showed members
of the Oak Island team
one of the privateer’s
original sea chests, which also
contained a set of four keys.
Now all those keys he has
in his hand...
Can I see ’em for a sec?
Sure.
That one opens
that treasure chest.
Maybe some other ones
could be...
ALEX: I couldn’t help noticing
there are four keys.
STEVE: Could there have been
more treasure chests
on the island,
that’s what I wonder.
While he might not be
a household name,
Captain James Anderson is
the only pirate that we know of
who actually lived here
on Oak Island.
In fact, he owned property right
on this very spot-- Lot 26.
And I’m being joined
by my old pal Gary Drayton
who’s gonna tell me more
about Captain Anderson,
as well as some
of the intriguing finds
that Gary’s made right here
on Lot 26.
What’s up, mate?
How you doing, mate?
Good to see you again.
How You doing?
Good.
Got the detector.
I love it.
and in my favorite lots.
is It really?
25 and 26.
These are my favorites.
’Cause... yeah.
These Are your favorites?
There’s so much history
associated with these two lots.
You’ve got characters here.
You’ve got Captain Anderson,
a privateer.
Who don’t like a pirate?
Let’s talk about Captain
Anderson for a second,
what we know about him.
I mean, kind of a...
an interesting character,
a turncoat,
and he certainly had
a lot of wealth.
He bought up lots around here.
What do you think, uh, he could
have left on this island?
Well, not what he left.
It’s why this lot?
Why come here?
And this wall behind us--
this is one of the most
impressive walls on the island.
It’s so wide, it...
I don’t
really think this is a wall.
It’s more like a ramp,
and it goes way down there
towards the water.
And it’s-it’s really impressive.
We had Laird out,
Laird Niven the archeologist.
yeah.
Now this is
a little bit different.
So, what’s the deal
with the wall here?
It looks different
from the other ones.
CHARLES: Well,
it’s flatter on the surface.
Yeah, it’s almost like you could
roll a ball down it, right?
-Exactly, yeah.
Yeah.
yeah.
Look, we know
Anderson was a privateer.
Could he have been using this as
kind of a staging area, I mean,
a walkway or a ramp that led
right down to the ocean?
Mm-hmm.
I believe
Captain Anderson picked this lot
because it’s away
from the mainland,
and he unloaded or loaded stuff,
using this wall,
which I believe is a ramp.
These lots have been packed
with great finds.
I mean, I’ve found coins
and jewelry, as well,
different nationality coins,
and tokens, as well.
There’s 300 islands
in this area,
and he chooses this one
and this one lot.
Mm.
That’s no coincidence.
Thank you so much, Gary.
Fascinating look
at a fascinating,
infamous character,
Captain James Anderson.
I love talking pirates, mate.
(laughing):
I know you do, brother.
-See you later, mate.
Cheers.
Thank you.
Captain William Kidd, the most
famous pirate of his time,
MATTY:
and next
to Captain Jack Sparrow,
probably the most famous pirate
today.
For many, he remains
the prime suspect in the mystery
that is the Oak Island treasure,
but believe it or not,
there’s no actual evidence
he even visited the island,
let alone buried treasure there.
So, why does the legend
of Captain William Kidd
on Oak Island persist?
We’re about to find out.
Here in the nearby town
of Mahone Bay,
I’m hoping to meet some folks
hwho might have grown up
with the mystery
and can share with us
some inside information.
Excuse me.
Hi.
WOMAN: Hi.
-Um, you local?
Yes.
Well, I live in Dartmouth,
but we like to come out here
and-and check out Mahone Bay
and the scenery and...
-Okay, and-and growing up
somewhat around here...
Mm-hmm.
...did you hear about the legend
of Oak Island growing up?
-Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
and What did You hear?
Um, I heard that there was money
there, like treasure.
Mm.
and That It was buried there
by pirates.
What do you know about pirates
and Oak Island?
I’ve heard of, like,
with the rum runners and stuff,
and I do believe all of that.
I want to know what you know
about Oak Island.
As far as I know, there’s some
sort of buried treasure there
having to do with Captain Kidd.
Oh, right away, Captain Kidd.
Captain Kidd’s treasure is
apparently buried at Oak Island.
What do you know about pirates
and Oak Island?
What was the guy’s name?
Was it, uh, Captain...?
Come on.
I know this one.
Come on.
Come on.
Not Long John Silver.
(both laugh)
Great restaurant.
Kidd.
Captain Kidd.
Bingo!You got it.
Captain Kidd.
MATTY:
People have suggested
that Captain William Kidd
was the one responsible
for the Money Pit
practically since the day
it was discovered
way back in 1795.
Popular Science magazine
featured a story
connecting him to the treasure
in 1939,
and it seems that even today,
there are many locals
who still believe this
to be true.
NOEL CHEVALIER: William Kidd is
han interesting character.
He doesn’t necessarily fit
the typical profile
of-of the average pirate.
He was, uh, educated,
he was a gentleman.
And he started out
as a privateer,
given a license
by Lord Bellomont,
who was the governor
of New York at the time.
He was to go
and capture French ships.
Then he was also commissioned
with sailing to Madagascar
to actually engage
in pirate capture.
And something happened
to him at Madagascar.
RANDY SULLIVAN:
So, he gets out there,
and he can’t find anything,
and he’s got a crew that is
growling and threatening mutiny,
and finally,
they come upon this Dutch ship.
And he knows he’s not supposed
to take a Dutch ship,
because the king at the time,
William, was Dutch-born.
But the Dutch ship has
what’s called a French mark.
It was licensed by the French,
and France was the enemy.
And he knew that if he didn’t
take the ship,
the crew was gonna mutiny.
MAN:
Fire!
NOEL: He started plundering
hships himself, and...
he eventually became
rather successful at it.
He made his way back
to New York
with plunder
that he had taken, and...
he buried some of it, uh, at a
place called Gardiner’s Island.
That particular cache of loot,
however, was recovered
by Lord Bellomont.
So, if there’s
one treasure chest,
there-there might be others.
RANDY: But then he’s tricked
into surrendering by this
Governor Bellomont,
who imprisons him.
And at the last minute, he tries
to save his life by saying,
MATTY:
Skeptics of the theory that
it is Captain Kidd’s treasure
buried on Oak Island
would say there is nothing
in the historical record
that shows
he ever sailed that far north,
and they would be right.
But those who believe
he did reach these shores
point out that much of his time
in the North Atlantic
is undocumented, as he was
running for his life.
They also cite a famous legend
of a deathbed confession.
It was widely assumed
right from the beginning
that this was
Captain Kidd’s treasure,
and there’s a lot of reasons
why that is.
There was a story
of a dying sailor
who was supposedly one
of Kidd’s crewmen,
saying that they had buried
a treasure
on an island covered with oaks
somewhere in-in Nova Scotia.
When he was taken back
to England,
he had a treasure on him
that was worth,
like, 6,000 and some pounds
at the time,
which is like $15 million
in today’s values.
But they knew he had taken
much more than that.
So, where was the rest
of the money?
DOUG: In the early accounts
of the Oak Island mystery,
it was often told
that a dying man
in the New England states said
he was a member
of Captain Kidd’s crew,
and that he had a treasure map
to where Kidd’s treasure
was buried.
MATTY: A map?
Did Captain Kidd
leave behind not just clues,
but a physical record
hof exactly where
he left the spoils
of his many years of piracy?
According to an English
journalist and author named
Harold Wilkins, he did.
It was allegedly found in a sea
chest that belonged to Kidd,
and Wilkins featured it
in a book he published in 1935
called Captain Kidd
and his Skeleton Island.
NOEL: Captain Kidd
and the Skeleton Island
bases its premise on a map
that had supposedly been drawn
by either Kidd himself,
or Kidd’s wife Sarah...
that had a tracing
of an island.
Um, now, the original map
his very clearly set
in the Pacific.
When Wilkins reproduced
and redrew the map for his book,
he relocated
the-the island itself, um,
either somewhere in the
Caribbean, or in North America.
And some people looked
at Wilkins’ map and said,
"That actually looks a lot like
the outline of Oak Island."
Is it possible that he was
working from other documents?
He was obscuring things
a little bit,
but he’s really kind of
disclosing
the-the Oak Island,
uh, Money Pit.
D’ARCY:
When Gilbert Hedden, in 1936,
who was looking for treasure
on Oak Island at the time,
looked at the map, he was struck
by the similarity
in the shape of the island.
He figured this map
might have something
to do with Oak Island.
So, Gilbert Hedden had his crew
looking around
for any sort of markers
that might be on the island.
And he found the triangle
of stones on the south shore.
They also found
a couple of rocks
with drilled holes in them.
And some of the measurements
between the drilled rocks
and the triangle fit in
hwith the distances
that were on the Mar Del map.
MATTY: Could the key to solving
the Oak Island mystery
actually be
in a fictionalized book
about Captain Kidd written
hin the 20th century?
And if it is, could it lead
to a vast treasure,
deposited here
by the man many consider
the most notorious pirate
who ever lived?
MATTY:
I’m here on Mahone Bay
Up next, Tony Sampson will
take me out into the ocean
just off the coast
of Oak Island.
You know,
in the Golden Age of Piracy,
this area of the North Atlantic
was a hotbed of pirate activity.
And here to tell me more
about it is deep sea diver
and today, my captain,
Tony Sampson.
Great to see you again, Matty.
Ah, it’s fun
being out here with you.
You know, I never get
a patch-eye view,
if you will, of the island.
If pirates did come here, Tony,
why might they have picked
Oak Island?
Well, as you can see coming in
from the North Atlantic, Matty,
Oak Island actually looks
like part of the mainland.
MATTY: It does.
It blends
right in with the mainland.
TONY: Yeah, and that could have
been one of the reasons
that pirates might’ve
chosen the island.
Another thing that occurs to me
from this angle, Tony,
is that the island is kind of
protected
and hidden away a little bit.
That’s true.
We have 365 islands here
in Mahone Bay, Matty.
And navigating your way
into Oak Island
would have been a chore
in those days, as well,
because of all these sneaky
little reefs we have out here.
So, you know, Tony, we’ve been
talking about pirates,
and there are so many suspects
as to who could have created
this mystery.
Do you have
a particular favorite?
Well, I like Sir Francis Drake.
In fact, he was one
of the most famous privateers
in the Elizabethan times,
and he’s from the same part
of England where my family is
from, in Cornwall there.
Oh.
There’s a part of the island on
the southern side of the swamp
where, if he had come ashore
from the North Atlantic,
that might’ve been a place
that he landed.
Would you like to go around
and have a look?
Let’s check It out.
fantastic.
All right.
Full steam ahead.
TONY:
Full steam ahead.
MATTY: Born in 1540, Sir Francis
Drake was an English explorer,
naval officer,
and eventually,
a privateer under
Queen Elizabeth I.
From 1577 to 1580,
he circumnavigated the globe,
recovering millions of dollars
in gold and jewels
from the Spanish ships
that he and his crew attacked.
But is it possible
that Sir Francis Drake
deposited some of his plunder
on Oak Island?
Sir Francis Drake was
the greatest British explorer
and arguably
the greatest pirate.
I mean, Drake was a privateer,
an explorer, really,
who was allowed
to take ships.
But he took huge treasures.
He took
a single Spanish galleon
that had, like,
more than $200 million worth
of gold, silver
and gemstones on it.
You know, one of
the theories that, um,
comes up about Oak Island
is Sir Francis Drake.
You have Elizabeth I
on the throne, all right?
A lot of nobles
didn’t like the fact
that you had a woman
hon the throne.
So rebellion could have
broken out at any time.
Plus, she was fighting
a clandestine war, basically,
with the Spanish.
-MAN: Fire!
The theory is that Drake
may have deposited,
uh, a cache of treasure
on Oak Island
and would’ve used that
to raise a mercenary army
or mercenary fleet
to either quell a rebellion
at home
or to hire vessels
to repel the Spanish.
TONY:
The pirates and the privateers
would come all the way up
the coast here.
And if you were to hide
something on an island,
then Oak Island
might have been a good choice.
And the funny thing
about Oak Island
is there’s only two places
on the island
where you have any depth.
And that’s the northern side
of the swamp
on the other side,
by Fred Nolan’s house.
yeah.
and the southern side
of the swamp here,
where you can see,
-as we’re, uh, heading in now.
MATTY: yeah.
TONY: You can see the road
that goes past
the southern side
of the swamp.
MATTY: Right.
And that’s the only place
that we have depth,
is those two places.
and that’s...
That’s interesting.
So the only places
that have depth waterwise
Are either side of the swamp.
yeah.
-Huh, interesting.
-You see, and that’s
where you get into
that whole idea
that maybe the swamp
is actually man-made
and that a ship
was allowed to drift back
in the channel there.
Absolutely.
It’s interesting
that Tony should mention
longtime Oak Island
treasure hunter Fred Nolan,
because that’s
exactly what Fred believed.
After finding scuppers
and part of what appeared to be
a ship’s mast
in the mysterious
triangle-shaped swamp,
Fred Nolan developed the theory
that a treasure galleon
may have been sailed
into an area
between the two islands.
Then giant earthen cofferdams
hwere built on both sides
before the ship
was deliberately submerged
beneath thousands of gallons
of water,
creating a swamp
that would hide
both the galleon
and its precious cargo.
What is that?
-JACK:
Looks like a piece of wood.
It’s a large board.
MATTY: Two years ago,
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Tony
and Jack Begley,
made another
compelling discovery,
one that reinforced
the hidden galleon theory.
MARTY: It’s longish
for dimensional lumber.
It’s probably 18 feet long,
which is an odd dimension.
TONY: yeah.
RICK:
I’m thinking plank.
Either deck planking
or side of the ship planking
because it was obvious
it was very long.
(detector beeping)
-Oh, yeah.
-Oh, look at that.
That’s nice.
MATTY: Later that same year,
after the team
drained the swamp
hoping to find more clues,
Jack, Alex Lagina
and Gary Drayton
did just that.
GARY:
For sure, I found
exactly the same objects as this
on... off Spanish galleons
from the late 1600s,
early 1700s.
Tony, this is incredible.
In all the years
I’ve been studying
and coming to Oak Island,
I’ve never seen it
from this view.
And from this view,
it literally does look
like it was
two separate islands.
Oh, I agree 100%, Matty.
I mean, if you look at it,
You Can see
the way it folds down.
yeah.
And it looks like
if we were a pirate vessel,
we’d be sailing now
right into the channel
between the two islands.
It does.
It looks...
It looks like we could
drive right through it.
yeah.
So, there’s all kind of rumors
about Drake in particular,
and one of them actually being
that not just treasure
he put here,
but himself.
In season five, Rick Lagina
and members
of the Oak Island team
met with area historian
Paul Speed,
who’s convinced
that Sir Francis Drake
not only hid gold
on Oak Island,
but may also be buried there
himself.
To me, though, the most
interesting, compelling thing
is that Drake,
on his last Caribbean raid,
got dysentery and died
in Colón, Panama.
Here is a guy
who is a national hero.
They put him in a lead coffin,
and they filled it with mercury.
They’ve never found the coffin.
They’ve looked for the coffin.
They’re still looking for it.
PAUL: And they’re still looking
for the coffin.
And if Drake
truly did build Oak Island,
then maybe Drake
wanted himself interned, buried.
You think he’s buried
on Oak Island.
MATTY:
Sound far-fetched?
CHARLES:
What do you make of that?
MATTY:
Well, it was just last year
that Rick, Marty and the team
found bones
deep in the Money Pit
from two 17th-century
individuals,
one that after being
scientifically tested
was determined to have come
from Europe.
Tony, thank you so much.
This has been
an incredible experience,
really, letting me, uh,
see what it looked like
at pirate’s alley here.
Fantastic.
Well, I’m so glad
you could come out, Matty.
It was a pleasure
having you on the boat
and a great opportunity to see
Oak Island from the ocean.
(laughs):
Oh, I love it.
Now, this is Oak Island.
If you don’t like
the weather here,
just wait about ten minutes.
It’ll change like that.
But I want to talk now
about Peter Easton,
also known
as the Pirate Admiral.
In his day, he was one
of the most successful pirates.
He plundered millions
in gold and treasure,
and he lived long enough
to enjoy it all.
And I’m here at my favorite spot
on the island,
the smelly, stinky swamp,
with my good buddy,
Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse.
-How are you, Charles?
-A little wet for wear,
but glad to see you, Matty.
Oh, I love it.
You ain’t worked on Oak Island
till You get
a moment like this.
Absolutely.
This is fantastic.
Um...
We’re here at the swamp.
I see you’ve drained it.
I see guys working.
What are we working on here?
Well, actually, we have
Eagle Canada here doing seismic.
You know they did seismic
in the Money Pit?
Absolutely.
What we want to do is start off
with the-the test line.
We know there’s a tunnel here
and a cross here.
CRAIG: the Halifax tunnel.
Let’s go find some treasure.
for luck.
Guys.
-Yes, thanks.
MATTY: This season,
Rick, Marty and their partners
used a process
called seismic scanning
to survey the Money Pit.
Seismic scanning works
by setting off
a series of small explosions
into the ground,
which in turn send sound waves
deep below the Earth’s surface.
These waves are then measured
by geophone receivers
up to a depth of 300 feet.
The measurements
are then processed
in such a way as to create
a virtual three-dimensional map
of the area underground.
Well, wait a second.
Seismic...
Uh, I can see how it worked up
at the Money Pit,
but you think seismic
will work here in this mess?
We’ve got a lot of muck
and, of course,
you know, water to deal with.
So they’re quite confident
that they can overcome
these obstacles
and-and give us some good data.
Okay.
Data like possibly an anomaly--
and I’m gonna use my imagination
here ’cause it’s what I do--
an anomaly like a treasure ship,
maybe even one commandeered
by Peter Easton.
MARTY:
My favorite pirate
of all time is, uh,
is Peter Easton,
who was based up here
in Newfoundland
because he had a fleet
of something like 14
or 17 ships.
Basically, they called him
the Pirate Admiral.
Well, you’re
a pretty good leader
and a pretty good organizer
to run 14 pirate ships
in a coordinated fashion.
RANDY: Peter Easton
was the greatest pirate,
and he’s not more well-known
because he came so early.
He was appointed a privateer
by Queen Elizabeth in 1602,
but just about a year later
Elizabeth died,
and the new king, James,
decided he wanted to make peace
with the Spanish.
So, basically, there was no more
legal attacking Spanish ships.
Well, Easton by then
had found out, you know,
this is a good business.
So he decided
to launch out on his own
and really became
the first famous pirate.
MATTY: Peter Easton was not
just a pirate with great fame,
but a pirate who spent much
of his time commandeering ships
and treasure
in North Atlantic waters.
He often stuck close
to Newfoundland
and preyed on the trade routes
from there.
Once a year,
Spanish galleons would come
from South America
back to Spain.
He would prey on them.
He amassed quite a fortune.
RANDY:
That’s why Easton
is a viable candidate,
because his main center
of operations
was Placentia Bay.
Who’s to say he didn’t
venture down to Nova Scotia?
Actually, Marty Lagina
was the first one
who suggested it to me,
which was, look,
this was a really smart guy.
He had all that money.
Do you
think he would’ve risked it all
in one ship
to sail back to Europe?
I think he would’ve
stashed some somewhere.
It’s not
an unreasonable theory,
so, you know, why wouldn’t that
have been Oak Island?
The fact that he was
one of the most successful
pirates of all time.
Uh, you know, he retired
with two million pounds.
Wait a second.
Hold on.
Two million pounds?
Where have I heard that before?
Are you serious?
Uh, yeah.
The 90 Foot Stone.
MATTY: Of course.
And the
90 Foot Stone may have read,
"40 feet below,
two million pounds are buried."
That’s incredible.
And he retired
with two million pounds
specifically.
Wow.
I mean, it could be
just a coincidence,
but, as I said,
he was a very successful pirate.
Add him to the list, Charles,
of mysterious figures
who come to Oak Island
and get very rich very quick.
Yeah, it’s-it’s
certainly possible, yes.
And, Charles, as we know,
there are things found
right here in this swamp
that could possibly connect
to pirates.
I mean,
you know that six years ago
we found that Spanish maravedi.
You know, the-the fact
that this Spanish maravedi
is dated 1652, I mean,
we’re right in the era
of pirates.
MATTY: hmm.
So, you know, it’s possible.
I mean, you know, who knows?
Well, we’re gonna try
and find out.
-Thanks, Charles.
-Okay, thank you.
Let’s go get dry.
Sounds like a good idea.
You haven’t lived on Oak Island
until you’re wet like this.
-Right, buddy?
That’s Right.
We’ve explored the idea
of pirates,
MATTY: Coming up,
I’ll get Rick and Marty’s
both infamous
and relatively unknown,
being responsible
for the Oak Island treasure.
But what about
some other candidates?
People that history
may have overlooked?
Three years ago,
Rick, Marty and the team
were shown a mysterious
carved cross on a large boulder
by researcher Terry Deveau
in the west coast town
of Overton, Nova Scotia.
DEVEAU:
Interestingly,
this particular shape of cross
is not all that common,
where you have
the flaring outwards
of the arms.
You mainly see it
in Portuguese crosses.
And isn’t that a Templar cross?
MATTY: The Knights Templar
was an order of warrior monks
formed in the 12th century
to protect Christian pilgrims
in the Holy Land
during the Crusades.
Many historians believe
that they also conducted
hsecret excavations
below the historic remains
of King Solomon’s Temple
in Jerusalem
and found many sacred,
priceless religious artifacts,
including the skull
of St. John the Baptist.
The Templars were famously
betrayed by Pope Clement V
and charged with heresy
by King Philip IV of France
on Friday the 13th, 1307.
Many in the order
were rounded up,
imprisoned and later executed.
However, in 1313
a number of surviving
Templar Knights set sail
with 17 ships
from La Rochelle, France,
along with
their priceless treasures.
And according to some,
they adopted a new symbol
based on their devotion
to John the Baptist
to begin a new way of life
as pirates.
DAVID WHITEHEAD:
The main symbol of pirates
is the skull and bones,
and that is also one
of the chief symbols
of the Knights Templar.
MATTY:
Could the Knights Templar
really have turned to piracy
on the high seas?
And is the iconic pirate flag
known as the Jolly Roger
actually a Templar symbol?
Just this year,
Rick, Marty and the team
had a video conference meeting
with author Gretchen Cornwall
and modern-day Templar
John Temple,
who believe both are true
and that the Templars found
the perfect hiding spot
for their priceless booty
on Oak Island.
GRETCHEN:
It is our thought
that the Money Pit is Templar
in origin.
RICK: Why do you draw
an inference that,
uh, there’s a Templar connection
to the Money Pit?
GRETCHEN:
Oak Island would be a safe
and secure hidden place
to put sacred relics.
The Templars
were great engineers.
They would have left
a physical stone key and marker.
And that’s how the Templars
passed down information:
graffiti marks, uh, stone,
buildings, architecture.
So, fast-forward
to the Nolan Cross.
MATTY:
In 1981,
Fred Nolan made
his most famous discovery
in five massive, cone-shaped
boulders on his property
that formed a perfectly
symmetrical megalithic cross.
At the center, Fred was stunned
to uncover a sixth boulder
carved into the shape
of a human skull.
GRETCHEN:
That’s how the Jolly Roger
became a pirate symbol.
It’s actually
originally a Templar symbol,
and it represents
John the Baptist.
MATTY: Although the history
hof the Knights Templar
is shrouded in mystery,
one aspect of their activities
is well-documented.
While guarding and caretaking
the valuables of Christians
during the Crusades,
they established one
hof the world’s
earliest banking systems.
JONATHAN YOUNG: This was
something like a precursor
to a multinational corporation,
a very powerful enterprise.
The Knights Templar
worked out a system
that they could deposit
their money in their home city,
go to Jerusalem
with a letter of credit,
which was an invention
of the Knights Templar,
and present this
and receive their money
so that the highwaymen
were not able to get it.
But there was a nice subtext,
which was
that if you died en route,
and an awful lot of people did,
then the Templars
could take all your money.
And they did.
MATTY: Is it possible
that the Knights Templar
established a pirate bank,
or at least
a pirate bank vault,
on Oak Island?
Last season’s discovery
hof the lead cross
may provide proof of just that.
Holy...
Holy schmoly, all right.
RICK: It’s a cross.
That’s a cross.
MATTY: Just this year, Rick,
Marty and members of the team
were given a stunning report
by geochemist
Dr. Tobias Skowronek
about the lead cross found
at Smith’s Cove.
I think it’s pre-15th century,
yes.
Wow.
Where the heck
did it come from?
TOBIAS:
The data of the cross
is very consistent with the area
of Southern France.
Wow.
This could be Templar-connected.
RICK:
That cross is associated
with the Templar-influenced
region in France.
It’s certainly the time
of the Templars--
1300s, 1400s, um,
or even earlier.
All of that is astounding news.
MATTY:
We’ve heard from the experts
and some folks on the street,
but I’m really eager to find out
what Rick and Marty think
about all the different pirate
theories surrounding Oak Island
and if they believe
there’s one pirate in particular
that might have helped create
what has become
the world’s longest running
and, perhaps,
most expensive treasure hunt.
Hey.
Look who’s here.
Gentlemen.
(chuckles)
-How you doing, Marty?
MATTY Blake.
-How you doing, Rick?
-Hey, buddy.
-Good to see you, brother.
How in the heck Are you?
I’m fantastic.
I’m energized.
yeah.
on Oak Island.
Because I’m on Oak Island.
And you know
I like to drill down,
but it’s probably more fair
to say
this time
I’ve been digging around
about pirates.
Marty: Mm-hmm.
no kidding?
Oh.
And I’d love to get
your thoughts.
You know,
I’ve gone into town and talked
to people about Captain Kidd.
I’ve talked about Easton.
I’ve talked about Drake.
I’ve talked about Anderson.
All the big names that usually
are associated with Oak Island
and even
the Knights Templar theory.
Well, there’s talk,
there’s theory
that-that the pirates evolved
from the Templars.
hmm.
RICK: So...
MARTY: The skull
and crossbones certainly did.
The Templar used the Jolly Roger
as a symbol,
and that became
their calling card.
yeah.
Fascinating.
It is, it’s incredible.
The possibility that the pirate
evolved from the Templars,
it really speaks to nothing more
than the depth of their betrayal
by the monarchy
and by the Vatican.
You know,
you want retribution, right?
yeah.
You want...
You want payback.
And so I-I don’t find it
inconsistent
that they may have evolved
from the Templars.
A rogue pirate sensibility
born of betrayal.
Mm-hmm.
Marty: Sure.
Absolutely.
Let me ask you guys this:
when it comes to pirates,
where do you both stand?
In my opinion,
only one of those names
could possibly have done this.
Wow.
MATTY: So, my question is
when it comes
to the pirate theory
and Oak Island,
where do you guys stand now?
As far as conventional pirates,
the only one that could
possibly have done this
would have been Peter Easton.
MATTY: You’re an Easton guy.
Why?
MARTY:
Peter Easton was a breed apart.
He was an outlier.
I mean, this guy had a navy.
He had...
he had something like 30
or 60 ships at one time.
Kidd couldn’t possibly
have been it in my opinion.
He was a minor pirate.
Rick, who’s your guy
if you had to pick?
If I had to pick one,
I’d say Sir Francis Drake.
I think he was a brilliant man.
He had connections
within the-the upper echelons
of the monarchy
and, uh, you know,
certainly a brilliant sailor,
brilliant navigator.
I mean, he-he would be the one.
But there’s no record of it
none whatsoever that
he even sailed these waters.
MARTY: Whereas Peter Easton was
headquartered in Newfoundland.
If anybody could have done it,
he had the manpower,
he had the smarts,
he had the motive
and he lived right around here.
But I’m not a big pirate guy
that did this.
But the only one I can see
that would
possibly have been able to
would be him.
RICK: There’s only one scenario
by which pirates
would have done the work
out here,
and that is that if they
were organized and
somewhat organized
and-and constructed
what could be called
a communal bank
where each pirate contributes
a certain amount of labor,
a certain amount of wealth,
a certain amount of engineering,
and-and they construct this bank
and then each are allowed access
to it at some point.
MARTY: So, of course, I’ve been
dissing the pirate theory
ever since You brought It up
the other day, right?
(laughs)
But you have to remark
that the first thing we found
of any real consequence
was supposedly what they called
a pirate coin.
So-called because
it was not very valuable,
and it would have been used
to pay a pirate
to serve on a ship.
Might have been his share
and potentially her share,
uh, of the loot.
So, I mean, okay.
We-we don’t think it’s pirates,
or I don’t think it’s pirates,
and yet the first thing we find,
people call a pirate coin.
-I mean, it’s ironic.
yeah.
MARTY: It’s a Spanish maravedi,
and it was 1652,
so well before the Money Pit.
Well, I learned a lot,
more than I-I thought I would
and-and was drawn
down this pirate path,
and I got to say
it’s a fascinating one
and one that I want
to learn more about.
You know, it indicates
that no matter how deep
or shallow
the Oak Island mystery is,
I want to keep digging.
Thank you, guys.
-Good deal, Matty.
Appreciate it.
You’re always opening doors
for us.
You come up with answers,
you let us know.
I most certainly will,
you know that.
Let’s go be pirates
at a local establishment.
Marty: Yeah...
MATTY: Maybe with some rum.
Okay.
So, who do you think
was responsible
for creating
the Oak Island mystery?
Was it Drake, Easton, Kidd,
or renegade members
of the Knights Templar?
And if they really did
leave an incredible treasure
here,
did they intend to come back
and get it
or mean it to remain hidden,
perhaps forever?
One thing is certain:
Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with the team,
are working hard every day
to make the breakthrough
discovery of a lifetime.
Yes!
One that will reveal the truth
behind the Oak Island mystery
once and for all.
Subtitled by
Diego Moraes / Ewerton Henrique