Season 7 - The story goes on...

[franklin]

It appears that they are pulling up chapels old works as the shield was his so probably the other stuff is as well.

The very fact that they drilled through the middle of the wood beam and found nothing lower shows that there is little chance of anything significant being lower I would of thought.

There is no real evidence that gold traces were seen on the earlier chapel drill bit that was meant to have find evidence of 'a vault' (1890s Chapel never told anyone that he saw that gold at the time or later - There is no record of this story before the 1930s). The first report of this (the gold traces on the drill head) was told by his son in the 1930s when he was raising funds for his own search that claimed his dad told him that story.

There is also little evidence that Sam Ball was that wealthy. He was by no means rich. Nothing supports that he had found large amounts of treasure.

I would bet a fair bit of money nothing of value has been left in his cellar...

The trailers for the next episode don't bode well it seemed they found a coin...

I would also think that earlier treasure hunters would have searched out those old home places? If there is a tunnel? It is most likely an escape tunnel to his out buildings or barn. Pirates, Indians or even a bear. Sometimes people would try to burn you in your own home. Then you could use the tunnel to escape death where no one would look for you. Not large enough to have gone through to bury a treasure? But I have been wrong before.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[MikeN]

If there is a tunnel? It is most likely an escape tunnel to his out buildings or barn. Pirates, Indians or even a bear. Sometimes people would try to burn you in your own home. Then you could use the tunnel to escape death where no one would look for you. Not large enough to have gone through to bury a treasure? But I have been wrong before.

I think the escape tunnel could be an explanation, except that I agree with the other poster who notes that the tunnel dimensions are too small for a person to crawl through.

I'd like to see an elevation scan of the area: if the Samuel Ball house is in a depression, the cellar would likely have flooded back in those days. This tunnel could have been dug as an automatic cellar drain out to some lower area. Even if he had a sauerkraut factory in his cellar for his cabbages, I can't imagine this type of drain being needed. (I'm too lazy to look up the LIDAR / SRTM scans of the island.)

 

[gazzahk]

I also do not understand why they believe the swamp was man-made simply because it is relatively modern. Surely it may have been a natural occurrence that stopped the water from being able to flow to the ocean ie a storm or silt build up etc. This the could of resulted in the swamp occurring.

If they are correct about the swamp area being harvested for clay then this seems consistent with J.Steeles naval stores theory. The operation could of needed clay to make their Tar kilns or other buildings etc. Maybe harvesting the clay punctured that spring they have found and this is what caused the swamp. It may also be the case the swamp was an attempt at a man made dam to supply fresh water to the naval stores operation.

I cannot come up with a single plausible reason why treasure hiders would build the swamp....

 

[n2mini]

It would be the perfect cover for a treasure. Who would ever have thought to look in there. Got to drain it to start with and with the size of it figure out where to dig after that.. I'm not saying there is treasure in there but could see how it would be a good hiding spot..

 

[DaveVanP]

It appears from all the theories, that whoever "buried the treasure" took great pains to ensure it could never be recovered...so why not just dump it at sea...say...the Laurentian Abyss? No muss, no fuss, no slaving away for what appears to be a least a year's worth of excavating...just sayin

 

[gazzahk]

Season 8....

 

[InAustralia.Jones]

That Cartoon drawing is the best

 

[n2mini]

It appears from all the theories, that whoever "buried the treasure" took great pains to ensure it could never be recovered...so why not just dump it at sea...say...the Laurentian Abyss? No muss, no fuss, no slaving away for what appears to be a least a year's worth of excavating...just sayin

That makes sense unless it was actually easier to recover then most think and it has already been retrieved...

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

That theory would be difficult to disprove because the island has been trashed dozens of times over.

At least it's a theory supported by the physical evidence.

 

[MikeN]

I can't tell if questions are to be asked and answered on Facebook, but there's this:
-------------------
Beginning tomorrow and through the season finale, Rick & Marty Lagina answer your most pressing questions about the Oak Island mystery.

https://www.facebook.com/CurseofOakIsland/posts/27
38870982994173

 

[gazzahk]

and it has already been retrieved...

This is the questions that will never be answered I suppose.

1. Did the original finders really get three treasure chests of loot?
2. Did Sam Ball actually find some treasure?
3. Did any of the earlier searchers find treasure and keep it hidden so not halving to share with investors/partners?

I cannot see any way that these questions can be answered. Therefore I guess the legend of a buried treasure on oak island will remain.

I do believe that the Laginas have answered the question as to whether any treasure is still buried on oak island in the 'money pit'? I cannot believe anyone can still think there is treasure still buried there and they just have not dug the correct hole yet.

My personal view is that I find the story told by the descendants plausible and convincing in that to me it explains how the legend has lasted so long. I personally do not think so much early effort to find treasure would of taken place if there had not been some treasure found.

However I do accept that this is just 'my view' and there is no strong evidence or 'proof' to support it. The decedent's could of been told a made up story by their grandfather for example and this would also explain why they believe their story to be true.

I suppose the romantic in me really wants the story to be true. Buried treasure is what ever little boy dreams of finding. The stories of people that actually find it reinforce the belief that looking for it is worthwhile....

 

[MikeN]

This is the questions that will never be answered I suppose.

1. Did the original finders really get three treasure chests of loot?
2. Did Sam Ball actually find some treasure?
3. Did any of the earlier searchers find treasure and keep it hidden so not halving to share with investors/partners?

If any of these searchers did find treasure, how did they convert it to something of value without someone noticing? Even if they melted down the Ark of the Covenant and converted the gold to cash a bit at a time, someone would remember that person coming in with bits precious metal or jewels since that would be unusual. And there would be no way to convert a shelf of Shakespeare books into any cash without it becoming public knowledge.

 

[1637]

all i can say is someone dug a really deep hole for something along time ago.
good luck to them
brad

 

[n2mini]

If any of these searchers did find treasure, how did they convert it to something of value without someone noticing? Even if they melted down the Ark of the Covenant and converted the gold to cash a bit at a time, someone would remember that person coming in with bits precious metal or jewels since that would be unusual. And there would be no way to convert a shelf of Shakespeare books into any cash without it becoming public knowledge.

Seems like there are some stories/tells of Samuel Ball having and buying goods in town with gold coins...

 

[DaveVanP]

I think the most likely scenario is that there very well could have been a treasure - and IF there was, from perhaps late 16th-early 17th Century, maybe pirate...2-3 chests of gold buried 6-8 feet down. Found, but no claim or announcement made...in fact, imbellish "facts" to ensure any "treasure" will be unfindable - and unprovable; subsequent searchers will obliterate any evidence of your recovery (before modern, archaeological efforts) but still enough tantalizing "facts" or "evidence" (even if it has to be "salted") to ensure people will still believe "it's still out there"...so they won't figure out you have it. The coverup of finding any treasure may be more elaborate than the initial concealment. The ONLY real evidence that has been found and authenticated is that people have been doing a LOT of searching for "something" but no PROOF of WHAT - on assumptions, stories and myth: "Someone's gone to a lot of trouble digging pits and tunnels...MUST BE TREASURE!"

If I found anything of great value - Lost Dutchman Mine, Subblett's Gold, the Lue...I would tell no one I found it, tell them I couldn't find it,,,maybe even tell them I gave up looking...but tell them, "It's still out there" - even share my research (along with a few Red Herrings)

(and be VERY discreet in how I "liquidate my assets".)

 

[gazzahk]

To call it quits......

One episode left and reading it will mostly be about Samuel Balls house.

Surely there will be no season 8 what is possibly left to dig.....

Although... Maybe if they had just dug 10 foot deeper

 

[dmg2016]

I think the most likely scenario is that there very well could have been a treasure - and IF there was, from perhaps late 16th-early 17th Century, maybe pirate...2-3 chests of gold buried 6-8 feet down. Found, but no claim or announcement made...in fact, imbellish "facts" to ensure any "treasure" will be unfindable - and unprovable; subsequent searchers will obliterate any evidence of your recovery (before modern, archaeological efforts) but still enough tantalizing "facts" or "evidence" (even if it has to be "salted") to ensure people will still believe "it's still out there"...so they won't figure out you have it. The coverup of finding any treasure may be more elaborate than the initial concealment. The ONLY real evidence that has been found and authenticated is that people have been doing a LOT of searching for "something" but no PROOF of WHAT - on assumptions, stories and myth: "Someone's gone to a lot of trouble digging pits and tunnels...MUST BE TREASURE!"

Remove the line about a letter from Long Island, NY and you get the Oak Island origin story.

• Buried money found by 3 young men in June 1791
• Buried stone found with etchings
• Off the south shore

The three men (McGinnis, Vaughan, & Ball) use the money found as poof to launch the subsequent search company on Oak Island. As further attempts to excavate the island fail, the story of Oak Island evolves to draw in new investors. Mystery solved.

 

[MikeN]

One episode left and reading it will mostly be about Samuel Balls house.

Surely there will be no season 8 what is possibly left to dig.....

I'm leaning toward a simple cellar drain on the Ball Foundation. But it could generate most of the hourly footage.

The Chapell vault could result in hours of entertainment - chipping off the concrete surface, trying to get a grappling hook on it, only to discover that it is a concrete blob previously injected into the money pit area by Robert Restall in an attempt to seal off the flood tunnel.

 

[MikeN]

So the finale was a bust - not much activity to report. They did find evidence of previous searcher activity! Themselves (backfill from H8 falling into the current dig). So they're chasing their own tails at this point. The bottom of the can DID push the Chapell vault aside (again) and dropped into an open cavern. Since the hole was unstable, the dig was cut off at that point for safety reasons.

The rest of the show was a pow wow in the war room. There was some allusion to the possibility of a really big dig; it would have to be big enough to be sure that the Chapell Vault is not pushed aside again. If they do a big dig (something on the order of 100 feet wide X 250 feet deep), it would be something like 10's of millions of dollars and 3 years. When asked, how far will you go? The answer was "to the point it becomes irrational to continue".

So everyone will be glad that there's no season 8: just season 8, season 9, and season 10.

 

[DaveVanP]

I wondered about their plans for "the big dig" - lining the walls of a large excavation with concrete to prevent the intrusion of water?..but the water percolates up from the bottom of the hole - as seen in the several cans they have sunk. Putting in a "floor" would keep out the water - and prevent digging.