The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 5, Episode 6 - Oak Island and the Founding Fathers - full transcript

For over 200 years,

people have been
digging and diving

and tunneling right here

on Oak Island...

in search of a vast,
unknown treasure.

So far, six men have even given
their lives in this pursuit.

But what if the treasure
not only exists

but that a portion of it
was taken

and used to finance

something of even greater value?

America's freedom.



The Curse of Oak Island - Drilling Down
Season 5 - EP 6 - Oak Island and the Founding Fathers

Subtitles Diego Moraes / Ewerton Henrique
www.oakisland.tk

Imagine you're one
of America's founding fathers.

You and your associates
are trying to free yourselves

from the tyranny
of a colonial oppressor.

To do so, you must wage war
against the richest

and most powerful nation
on Earth.

And you need money badly.

What do you do?

Where do you find
the vast amounts of money

you need to fight a revolution?

Well... what if you learned

of an island that had a maze

of secret underground vaults



filled with gold
and priceless objects?

And what if your name was...

Benjamin Franklin?

Everybody knows

that Benjamin Franklin
was very smart.

He's what we today would call

an entrepreneur

in many different lines
of business.

An intellectual
who is interested

in the Enlightenment,

the Age of Reason.

He had an intellectually
greedy mind.

He wanted to know everything.

He wanted to know everybody,

which is why he wa
made such an excellent

scientist and diplomat, as well.

Benjamin Franklin

was dispatched to France

to acquire support
for the Revolution.

Uh, and, of course, France
and the 13 colonies'

mutual enemy was England.

Benjamin Franklin's overtures

for support were welcomed
with open arms...

both figuratively

and literally.

There was already French
political support for the rebels

because it favored French
foreign policy that England

would wrap up its finances
in a, in a highly expensive

and, eventually, almost ruinous
war with the colonists.

They already saw
the drums of war

of the Revolution beginning
and invested

a great deal of money
in America.

French people did assist in the
creation of the United States

against the British
in a big way, even including

funding, supplying of troops,

goods and food and everything.

In addition to being a charming

and clever negotiator, Benjamin
Franklin also possessed

another important asset.

Benjamin Franklin was
a very important figure,

not only in United States
history

but in Masonic history as well.

He was a grand master
of the State of Pennsylvania.

Franklin
established very important ties

through Masonry to help
fund the war effort

and establish this, uh,
this new country of ours

was when he was
our ambassador, uh, to France.

Franklin became the head

of the most important
Masonic lodge in France.

That lodge included some

of the most famous
French people.

And I'm talking about
people from the nobility,

directly related to the king.

Franklin pulled out all
the stops with every kind

of contact that he
could possibly find.

And so there's no question
that he would have used

his contacts from
the Masonic lodge in Paris.

Ben Franklin was trying to get
money out of them

to finance the Revolution.

Franklin was able

to secure funding,
loans from France.

And even more importantly,
reach out to military officers

not only in France
but from around Europe,

who were Freemasons, who would
then come to the United States.

Almost every single European

military officer who came and
served under George Washington

during the War of Independence
was a Freemason.

And Franklin played the most
important role in recruiting.

By skillfully garnering support

for the Revolution
from wealthy French Masons,

Franklin was able to secure
badly needed financing.

But there are those
who believe that money

from Franklin's
Masonic brethren

was not the only
source of funding

he was offered while in Franc.

According to some
Oak Island theorists,

it was while in France
that both Benjamin Franklin

and Thomas Jefferson
were introduced

to a wealthy French family

by the name of Rochefoucauld,

who had an impressive
aristocratic lineage

that stretched all the way bak

to the days
of the Knights Templar.

The Rochefoucauld family is one

of the most notable wealthy,

aristocratic families
in France.

There is a connection among
their members of the family

and their circles around them

when the Knights Templar
came to be.

So the idea was to try to unify
Europe through commerce,

trade and finance,
and they played a big role.

There is a distinct link

between the Rochefoucaulds
and Benjamin Franklin.

He was a polymath, a statesma.

He was invested into
the Rochefoucauld family.

He was friends with one
of the, uh, individuals...

Louis Alexandre.

There are letters
that exist between the two men.

Three decades earlier,

in 1746

almost 30 years
before the start

of the American Revolution

Louis Rochefoucauld's father

French Admiral Jean‐Baptiste
de la Rochefoucauld,

also known
as the duc d'Anville,

was dispatched to Nova Scotia

with a fleet of 64 ships.

His goal was to retake
the capital city

of Annapolis Royal,

after it fell
to the British in 1710.

The duc d'Anville, from the very
powerful, wealthy family

the Rochefoucaulds in France,
was commissioned to lead

a fleet of 64 ships with
a total of 11,000 men to go

and retake Nova Scotia
from the British.

Before they even got

across the Atlantic,
many of the ships were

destroyed in storms.

One of the ships blew up

because of lightning.

And so they lost

a lot of their men.

Thousands of men perished
in the expedition,

including
the duc d'Anville, but...

according to a recently
discovered firsthand account,

the duc's men didn't
retreat from Nova Scotia

without first completing

a very important mission.

In 2017, Oak Island historian

Doug Crowell
found eight translated pages

of a log supposedly from

one of the duc's ships
in the Nova Scotia archives.

It makes mention

of a crew waiting
for the Rochefoucauld ships

to arrive in Chedabucto Bay,
just 37 miles from Oak Island.

But perhaps more importantly,

it also mentions the burying
of a large treasure.

"September 6.

"Enter a deep bay,

"southwesterly
of Chedabucto Bay.

"Still no word of d'Anville.

"We reached a deep bay

"with several hundred
small islands,

"wooded to the shore.

"We anchored for the night.

"The great quantity of treasure

"on this vessel makes it
unwise to jeopardize it

"in any engagement
with the enemy.

"September 8. It has been
agreed that a deep pit be dug

"and treasure securely buried.

"The pit to have
a secret entrance

by a tunnel from the shore."

And that's where it ends.

But it is amazing, I mean,

"a great quantity of treasure"

and, and that they appear

to be in this bay.

In my mind,
there's no doubt that they're

pointing right to Oak Island.

I mean, it fits in every aspect.

Exactly.

The ship's log, in and
of itself, was interesting,

but then you find out that

the Rochefoucauld f‐family name
is‐is mentioned.

You know,
it's an interesting tie.

The burial of

"a great quantity of treasure"

and on "a wooded island
near the shore"?

Is it possible that
one of the objectives

of the duc d'Anville's
ill‐fated expedition

was to bury a vast treasure

off the coast of Nova Scotia?

And if such
an incredible story is true,

was the treasure buried

in an attempt to keep it safe
from British hands?

Or was it put there

as many Oak Island
theorists believe

because they knew of an already
secured treasure vault,

hidden there centuries
earlier by members

of the Knights Templar?

If there is a connection
to the founding of America,

the founding fathers, I mean,
it would be incredible.

I've always said that
the story of what happened here

is will far and away
supersede the value

of any temporal treasure.

And if it is about
the founding fathers,

it, it would be amazing.

Did America's founding fathers

really form
a strategic alliance,

not only with Freemasons

but also with a French noblemn

named Louis de
la Rochefoucauld,

who told them
of a vast treasure

buried on Oak Island?

There are many
who believe that question

can be answered
after a careful investigation,

not only of Freemasonry,

but of their
spiritual ancestors...

the Knights Templar.

The Knights Templar were

a medieval order

of warrior monks, formed

in France in the 12th century,

with the express purpose
of guarding Christian pilgrims

to the Holy Land.

In the 200 years
of their existence,

they became the elite
fighting force of Europe,

and were highly influential

in many other areas of life,
such as banking.

The Knights Templar

were ruthless
international bankers.

They collected money
from the Pope.

They collected money from

travelers
going to the Holy Land.

They created the‐the first
banking system,

where you give them your gold

and you can redeem that
with a piece of paper

at one of their other station.

They loaned money
to the monarchies.

Um, at one point,
the Knights Templar

owned half of the city of Paris.

They were very, very wealthy.

The Templar order

grew exponentially,

and they expanded
around the world.

That made them the target

of great jealousy
throughout Europe.

Many people have theorized that
during their time in Jerusalem,

the Knights Templar
were tasked with

looking for things such
as the Ark of the Covenant

and the Menorah
and all the lost treasures

of the Old Testament,
essentially.

According to the legends,

the Templars did
find the treasure

that they were looking for.

In 1307,

King Philip IV of France

found himself deeply in debt
to the Templars.

He had always resented
their wealth and power,

but was now determined
to be rid of them,

once and for all.

Philip came to the conclusion

that getting rid of the Templars

would get rid
of his financial problems.

Philip found a willing ally

in Pope Clement V,
who decided that the best

course of action was
to excommunicate the Templars,

arrest them,
and then seize their money.

On Friday the 13th

of October 1307,

seneschals from all over Frane

received secret
instructions directly

from the king
that they were to arrest

and detain all the Templars.

The Knights Templar were

effectively shut down.

And some would argue
that Friday the 13th

was deemed
an unlucky day ever since.

Now, there were
at this time in France

estimated between
4,000 and 5,000 Templars.

It's estimated about 600

knights were actually arreste,

thrown into prison,
and interrogated.

While most of its members
were captured,

it's estimated that
at least 3,000 Templars

were able to escape.

The Knights Templar moved their
gold and silver reserves

and any other artifacts that

they found
in the Temple of Solomon

to the south of France,
overland.

It stayed, perhaps,
for several decades,

before being moved
overland once more

to the northwest of France,
to Le Havre,

a harbor where ships

were dispatched to Scotland.

Why Scotland?
Because Scotland was governed

at the time
by Robert the Bruce, who

had been ex‐communicated
by the church,

and would not execute the ordr

given by the Pope to arrest
the Knights Templar.

England and Scotland
was essentially

a Protestant country,
uh, so this was

a safe haven for the Templars.

So, they change
their names around,

become different orders,

and they seem to emerge
as Freemasons from Scotland.

One of the Scottish noblemen

who offered
the Templars safe haven

was Sir Henry Sinclair,
who, just four years earlier,

had united the Scottish clans
during the First War

for Scottish Independence
from England.

And there are many who believe
that it was Henry Sinclair

who helped the refugee Templars
to transition their order,

complete with many
of their rites and rituals,

into what is now commonly
known as Freemasonry.

The Sinclairs went on

to become
the first grand masters

of the first Freemasonry
Grand Lodge in Scotland.

Although most
mainstream historians

balk at the notion of
a Sinclair‐Templar connection,

there are many who insist that

not only does
a connection exist

but that the Sinclairs
were directly responsible

for helping many
of the Templars escape

to the New World,
and more than a century

before Christopher Columbus
supposedly discovered it.

So they go to Nova Scotia,

which means "New Scotland."

It was remote.

It was desolate,
somewhere that's safe

from the church and state
in Europe.

As "New Scotland," it was
also symbolically perfect

for the Knights Templar.

"New Scotland,"
or "Nova Scotia,"

was also thought to be
the perfect place to hide

not only the Templars
but also

their vast treasure,
which included

the plunder they had rescued

from King Solomon's Temple
in the Holy Land.

Priceless artifacts
like the Golden Menorah...

the Holy Grail...

and the Ark of the Covenant.

I think the search for
the New World was‐was basically

a‐a search for New Jerusalem,
or a place

to put this treasure that
they knew it would be safe,

that they knew
there wasn't gonna be

a conquering army
coming and taking it.

If the Templars really did

come to North America
as early as the 1300s

and brought with them not only
millions in gold and treasure

but priceless
religious artifacts,

wouldn't there be evidence?

Some tangible proof that such
an expedition took place?

According to some theorists,

not only does
the evidence exist

but it is actually
carved in stone.

And not only on Oak Island
but also

on the walls
of a remote Scottish chapel.

While on Oak Island,
I was eager to meet

the Laginas and ask them
and their team

what they thought
of the incredible theory

that America's founding fathers
retrieved part

of the priceless treasure
buried beneath Oak Island

and then used it to fund
the American Revolution.

Here's the thing
I like about that one,

is it checks
all the boxes and it has

almost zero proof,
but I like it.

We've connected a few dots

from tying the Rochefoucaulds
to Benjamin Franklin.

Um, realizing that

conducting a war
is enormously expensive,

especially a war of independence
where not all of the colonies

are contributing the same
monies to the war effort.

There's certainly a tremendous
need for financing.

A group of people,

let's say they're French,

know that there's
a‐a giant treasure.

Maybe they put it here.

Maybe the duc d'Anville
put it here.

Maybe, maybe they knew the
Knights Templar put it here.

I don't care
somebody put it here.

But somebody
knew about it, right?

Somebody always knows
about these things.

Wow.

In 2014,
Oak Island treasure hunters

Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with other members
of their team,

traveled to Scotland.

They were eager
to investigate firsthand

the various connections

between America's
founding fathers

and their alleged ties

to both the Knights Templar
and Freemasonry.

‐Hey!
‐Kathleen!

‐Welcome to Scotland!
‐Welcome to the west coast of Scotland...

During
the course of their trip,

author and Templar historian
Kathleen McGowan

arranged for the group
to get a private tour

of a very important location..

Rosslyn Chapel.

Built by Henry Sinclair's
grandson, William,

in the mid‐1400s, it serves

as a magnet
for Templar historians

and researchers, many who
believe that the chapel's

statues and carvings
provide a myriad

of clues and puzzles concerning
the Templars and their fate.

Boy, did they create some

magnificent things
in stone at Rosslyn Chapel.

It's clearly ornate.

It's beautiful.

It's inspiring.

‐Let's have a look around
it's amazing. ‐Wow.

Oh, my God.

Amazing.

The Sinclairs,
they created Rosslyn Chapel,

a living museum, virtually,
to the Knights Templar.

There's Templars,
who are buried there.

But perhaps even
more interesting

is that they had rituals.

They had practices that we fid

in very, very early

Scottish Freemasonry.

In the Rosslyn
Chapel, virtually

every single square inch
of that quite small building

is covered
in some kind of carving.

There's a carving
in Rosslyn Chapel that shows

the plant maize,
which, obviously,

isn't native to Britain

but to the Americas,
and to many people

that proves that the Templars
went to America,

got some maize,
and came back with news of it.

But if Rosslyn Chapel does,

in fact, contain clues

to suggest that Henry Sinclair
and members of his family

actually made voyages
to North America

and specifically Nova Scotia
decades, if not centuries,

before Christopher Columbus's

famous journey in 1492,

could physical evidence
be found somewhere

in the Western Hemisphere
that validates

such a notion?

Got one here, Rick!

It's good depth
it's saying ten inches.

In October 2017,

treasure hunter Rick Lagina

and metal detection expert

Gary Drayton make a remarkable

discovery at Smith's Cove.

What?

I don't see anything.

I see something.

Holy...

Holy schmoly, all right!

It's a cross.

That's a cross.

There's a square hole.

Yep, right there.

It's heavy, too.

Oh, my gosh, I mean,

that is an old, old cross.

It appears to be

a Christian cross, made of led

but with a very rustic design.

This is the type of thing
I'd expect to find in Europe.

Well, after I saw it,
I felt that looks like medieval.

A medieval cross.

I mean, you know,
I mean, this is old.

‐This is really old.
I‐I‐I don't, Gary.

I hear it in your voice,
but I don't.

How old?

I would say that is

somewhere in between
1200 and 1600.

But what is
even more astounding

is that a virtually
identical cross

was spotted by Rick Lagina
only a few weeks earlier,

and not on Oak Island...

but carved on the walls

of a 14th‐century Templar
prison in Domme, France.

I'm struck
full‐face, if you will

that I've seen this

on the prison walls in Domme.

The Templar prison.

I‐I can see it as clear
as a bell in my mind's eye.

And there's a direct
connection there.

But even if surviving members

of the Knights Templar did make
their way to North America

and brought with them not only
the traditions and rituals

that later became embedded
in Freemasonry,

America's
Declaration of Independence

and the
United States Constitution,

could evidence also exist

that the Templars' vast
treasure made it to Oak Island

and was then used
to help finance

the American Revolution?

Enter author and Templar
historian Zena Halpern.

Hello.

Hi, Zena. It's Doug.

Hi.

So, I'm with the folks
on Oak Island.

During a phone call in 2016,

Zena revealed to the Laginas
and their partners

three pieces of paper
that she claimed were found

embedded in the leaves
of an ancient book.

The paper showed maps
of Nova Scotia

and specifically Oak Island.

Written in an archaic form
of French,

the papers also showed
coded messages

and an inscription
that included

the name Rochefoucauld.

Following up on the information

in Zena Halpern's maps,
Rick Lagina later traveled

to Rochefoucauld Castle
in Southern France.

‐Do come in. Welcome to my home.
‐Madame Matossian. Rick.

There, he met with one of

Duc d'Anville's descendants,
Sonia Matossian,

who shared with him
some important information

regarding her ancestors
and their connections

to a possible Templar treasure
buried on Oak Island.

Initially, you will see
the reference

to your family's name
at the top of the page.

We think there might be
some sort of...

Francois de la Ro...
Francois de la Rochefoucauld.

"A little drink"?

Means "towards."

‐It doesn't mean a drink.

‐What, now? What's that?
Of course.

Towards.
Towards.

What... So, what does it say?

It's nothing to do with drink.

‐Towards the we...
‐The west.

Towards the west.

This family is a dynasty.

It‐it's extremely powerful,
extremely influential,

and there's no way

that the family did not have

some sort of connection
with the Templars.

The Rochefoucauld family roots

go back to the Middle Ages,

specifically the beginning
of the 11th century,

and the Knights Templar
came to be

because these wealthy families
at the time

did support
the Knights Templar.

If, according to
Zena Halpern's maps,

the Rochefoucauld family knew

of a vast Templar treasure
buried on Oak Island,

what was the duc d'Anville's
actual mission?

Did he come to Nova Scotia
to bury treasure,

as was suggested
in one of the ship's logs,

or was he there to retrieve it

and keep it out of the hands
of the British?

There are many who believe that
both scenarios are possible

and that the story also serves
to further the connections

between
the Rochefoucauld family

and America's founding father.

Like the Masons,
many of the founding fathers

who founded this country
knew what they didn't want.

They didn't want to have
a monarch

or a Vatican‐style
organization.

They wanted to have
religious freedoms.

They wanted a more egalitarian,
democratic government.

When Thomas Jefferson

is writing the
Declaration of Independence,

which speaks about
inalienable human rights,

where does that idea
and concept come from?

The founding fathers
of this country,

embracing
the Masonic teachings

which itself embraced the
earlier prophetic teachings

wanted to create a society

wherein which these things
could become real.

But even if
the American Revolution

and later
the United States of America

were founded on principles
embedded in both Freemasonry

and the Knights Templar,

how does that connect
to Oak Island

or the notion that there is
a vast treasure buried there?

Well, it doesn't.

Unless you stop to consider
two amazing facts:

Benjamin Franklin had purchased
land in Nova Scotia

shortly before the Revolution,

and Nova Scotia
was intended to be

one of the original
13 American colonies

that sought independence
from Britain.

Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson

did have a connection
to Nova Scotia.

In fact, they were part
of what was called

the Philadelphia Company,
which at one time

had over 200,000 acres
in Nova Scotia

in the upper part
of the province.

Prior to the Revolution,
they were essentially

just another English colony

like Maine or the rest
of the colonies,

so the sentiment of

many Nova Scotians wanting to
be part of the United States,

they kind of felt like
the left‐out colony.

But why should both

Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson

have such a keen interest
in the fate of Nova Scotia?

Was it because of
the province's long tradition

of ties to France,
a colonial ally?

Or was it, as many
Oak Island theorists believe,

because of
their strong friendship with

Louis Alexandre
de la Rochefoucauld d'Anville,

the son of the same
duc d'Anville

whose doomed mission to return
Nova Scotia to the French

is also connected to the buril

of a vast treasure
on an island near Mahone Bay.

It's known that Jefferson
and Benjamin Franklin

attended literary salons

at the home of
Louis Alexandre Rochefoucauld,

at his
Château de La Roche‐Guyon

near Gisors, France.

They could have been made awae

of where relics were hidden,
places like Oak Island.

Louis Alexandre
de la Rochefoucauld,

a direct descendant of a family
whose origins stretch back

to the days
of the Knights Templar.

Is it possible
that he told his friends

Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson

about a vast, secret treasure
buried on Oak Island?

And could this explain
just why the founding fathers

were so interested
in Nova Scotia

and making sure that
the province would join them

in their revolution
against the British?

But if true,
wouldn't there be proof?

There are those who believe
that not only does proof exist

but it can be found by studying
what the Freemasons call

"sacred geometry."

Sacred geometry
as a concept, uh,

really began with the Greeks.

They looked at the world

and they saw
geometric representations

and recurring numbers
in things.

And the concept
of sacred geometry

really came out of that
and in the Christian world

that got carried on
into the building project,

particularly in the Middle Ages
and on into the Renaissance.

The‐the Holy Trinity

is representative
of the number three,

and so you'll constantly find

recurring symbols of three
over and over again.

The Washington Monument
in the federal district

is modeled after
an ancient Egyptian obelisk.

And in ancient Egypt,
an obelisk was sacred

to the sun god Ra and Osiris.

So, by modeling an obelisk

and naming it
after George Washington,

the first
president of the United States,

arguably the Masonic godfather
of the United States,

you're investing Washington

as this Masonic messiah,
as it were.

If you take
the Washington Monument

and you draw a line around the
globe to the obelisk in Rome,

the line passes
through Oak Island.

So this could be some sort
of symbolic gesture

to indicate that there is
a Masonic treasure

in a subterranean
treasure vault.

Could it be true?

A direct connection between

the Washington Monument
in Washington, D. C.,

and Oak Island?

But if so, what does it mean?

There are those who believe
the answer can be found

by closely examining
recent evidence

that was discovered
not in Washington, D. C.

but on Oak Island.

October, 1862.

A Nova Scotia newspaper called
The Liverpool Transcript

publishes the first article
about Oak Island

and its mysterious
so‐called Money Pit.

But what draws the attention of
local Freemasons is the extent

to which the description
of the Money Pit

bears striking similarities
to a secret Masonic ritual,

the Royal Arch Degree.

A Masonic degree
is a little play.

The member takes part in that
play. He plays a character.

He's usually blindfolded

until a moment
where it's revealed to him.

And it becomes a symbolic
revelation of the secrets

that had been
hidden to him before.

In the ritual,

a concealed subterranean
treasure vault

is discovered by three
Jewish temple builders.

However, I should point out

that the Jewish temple builders
are Knights Templar.

On Oak Island, the original
discovery is made by three men.

So, right off the bat,
we have a parallel.

The nine levels of the Money
Pit is clearly coming out

of the Royal Arch ceremonial,

where the vault of Enoch
is beneath nine arches.

And they find a stone
in the ground,

they pull it up
and it's a trap door,

and it leads to this
subterranean treasure vault.

In the Oak Island descriptions,
it sounds remarkably similar

to going down through
the various levels

and suddenly discovering

an engraved stone
at the bottom of it.

Three men find
a treasure vault,

and at the ninth level
underground,

they find an engraved stone.

An eerie coincidence?

Or could it be that the three
young men who discovered

the Money Pit in 1795

found themselves in a Masonic
ritual come to life?

For those who look at it from
an outsider's point of view,

they would not
recognize these things.

But from an insider's
point of view,

we recognize
what that symbol would mean.

We're going to look
for a buried treasure,

and we come across
a specific symbol.

We recognize right away

that that is
a significant statement,

and not something arbitrary.

Was the Oak Island treasure
deliberately buried

in such a way that it would
serve as a signal to Freemasons

that the treasure
had Templar origins?

And could this be the reason
that so many

of the treasure hunters
who have come here

were Freemasons themselves,

including a young
Franklin D. Roosevelt?

Greetings.

‐Hello, gentleman.
‐How's everybody doing?

In October, 2018,
brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with members of the tea,

welcomed treasure hunter
Justin Cannady

and researcher Bruce Lindahl

to Oak Island's
now famous war room.

Hi, Cort.
‐ Hello, Cort.

Hey, Cort.
‐Hey.

Also joining them
via conference

from his home was
Bruce's brother Cort Lindahl.

We know Freemasons

who were Knights Templar.

That they had a hand in the
creation of the United States.

And that also, in turn, links
us back to George Washington,

who was a Freemason.

I've been amazed by seeing
all the connections

between the first families
of Virginia, New England

and these French patriot
families that all assisted us.

They could've had treasure

from Oak Island
as a way to finance the war

and help, you know,
establish the new country.

‐Holy smokes.
‐Wow.

After presenting their theory

on how America's founding
fathers may have been involved

with the Oak Island mystery,

Bruce and Cort make
an astounding observation.

Do you think there was a time

when Washington
actually may have come

to Nova Scotia and Oak Island?

I‐I'm not so sure
that George Washington

ever came there,
but we do know that, as, uh,

Doug was telling me about that,
uh, Appeal to Heaven design

that might be on Oak Island.

I see. Is that what
you're referring to right there?

‐What?
‐Oh, the pine tree design?

‐Yeah, what's...?
‐Yes.

W‐Where does this appear
and where does this come from?

Appeal to Heaven.
It's the belief in the right

to revolt.

Although presented
in various forms,

the tree flag,
or the Appeal to Heaven flag,

was commissioned
by General George Washington

when he became commander in
chief of the Continental Army.

It came to symbolize colonial
resistance toward Great Britain

during the American Revolutio.

Well, there is
something like that.

It's in that, uh, stone
that says Evan on it.

‐Yes. ‐That's on the north
side of the island.

I think it's towards the
Boulderless Beach, but Charles

‐could tell you exactly.
Yeah, it's down,

it's done on the shore, yeah.

Located on the northeastern
shore of Oak Island,

the so‐called Evan's Stone
is a large boulder

upon which several words
have been carved,

along with what appears
to be a branch or tree.

But is it possible
this crude symbol

has a more profound meaning?

‐ Beautiful out here.
‐The stone's down there.

Watch your step.
This stuff is slippery.

There you go.

Wow.

That's it.

I don't know.

This is really strange.

It does look like
a tree, though, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does look like a tree.

‐Yeah.
‐Wow.

Could this carving,

found on the face
of a large stone

on the island's northern shor,

actually depict
the Appeal to Heaven flag,

and, if so,
serve as physical evidence

linking Oak Island

to George Washington
and the founding fathers?

The founding fathers,

the history and the mystery
is there.

Yeah.
So, along comes the fledgling

American Revolution, and there
are very clear ties to France.

You know, Jefferson
was a Francophile,

‐he even had land up here.
‐Mm‐hmm. Mm‐hmm.

Benjamin Franklin was, you know,

he w he was the dandy
of Paris, wasn't he?

All the young ladies
liked Ben Franklin.

Obviously, they were mucking
around for money, right?

Wars cost money, lots of money.

How was the American Revolution
financed?

Let's just say that there's
this great treasure here,

and let's just say that
some of the founding fathers

knew people who knew about it
and they tell them,

"Look, it's up on Nova Scotia."

And the timing,
everything, actually,

I can tie it all together.

Everything sort of fits.

Because, uh, timing‐wise,

this area was starting
to get settled

my archaeologist friend
will agree with me

around 1760 or so.

‐People are starting to show up.
‐Oh, really?

‐Yes.
‐Oh, how interesting.

‐Absolutely.
‐And the French hated the British.

Absolutely hated the British.

So, they do this and it would be
a politically acceptable way

to do it, too, because nobody
knows about this money anyway.

And the Americans come,
they do what they need to do.

They dig down,
they get the treasure

and they leave with the money.

Something large

happened here on the island
m‐many, many hundred years ago.

And possibly even longer.

We're unsure about that.

But some of the dates
that we get back

shows evidence
of human activity.

Someone was here
doing something.

And with the U‐shaped structue
in Smith's Cove, it dated 176,

which is before the discovery
of the Money Pit.

Ah.

I am of the complete
and absolute belief

that this is not
temporal wealth.

There may be temporal wealth,
but it is not the

it is not the why of this,
and whenever humans do anything,

you can figure out who,

what, when, where, how,

if you figure out why.

What motivates people?

What about faith?
Uh, I don't mean, in God

or something like that,
but faith in your knowledge?

Faith‐faith in your perceptions,
per the group of people,

highly intelligent
and motivated?

If this is real, and I'll
be the first one to say,

I believe, M and Marty's
absolutely right,

belief or faith runs

almost counter
to hard science and fact.

Rick believes that it's super

that these people did
some of this stuff on faith.

And I'll turn to him and say,
"Well, yeah, but...

what if it was stupid,
you know?"

I mean, faith isn't necessarily
the end‐all, get‐all.

So we I mean,
he's a wonderful human being...

Course, of course, of course.

‐Nowhere is reason.
‐Yeah, no, keep going.

But I do believe
that belief married

to fact or hard science
or whatever,

that's where success is found.

And these people,
if this is correct,

they were successful
in doing what they did.

We merely have
to figure out why.

Well, when you discover what it
is, you'll know why, presumably.

What makes sense to me
at this juncture is that

the 1770 expedition
or structure

was a recovery attempt,
a withdrawal.

And maybe

it had something to do with
the American Revolution fits.

So, we're gonna chase it
or I want to chase it.

Look, history is a fascinating
topic, you know,

and where it takes you
and what you learn.

Um, but what it affirmed
to me is that

the information hunt, I call it,
is, it's always important,

always incredibly interesting,

and you don't know
where it will lead you.

So, the history is there,
the mystery is there,

the solution lies in the future.

Oh, yeah.

And we're working together
to solve this thing.

Beautiful.

After hundreds of years
of digging for the truth,

it appears we're left with
more questions than answers.

Did the founding fathers
really know

about the Oak Island treasure?

And did they retrieve it,
or a portion of it,

before Nova Scotia sided
with the British Empire?

Perhaps both the truth
and the treasure

will soon be revealed

on the next episode
of The Curse of Oak Island.

Subtitled by Diego Moraes /Ewerton Henrique
www.oakisland.tk