another tale.. I Never Heard the Rowed to the Island Bit. as I Said I heard the Father Story.
The Earliest Owners of Oak Island
Most reports credit discovery of the island’s “
Money Pit,” the focal point of the treasure hunt, as having occurred in 1795, when teenager Daniel McGinnis and two friends rowed to the island for a little exploration and came across a large depression in the ground. McGinnis thought this unusual-looking area signaled a pirate treasure hiding place. Mahone Bay, after all, had been a notorious pirate haven during the 17th and early 18th centuries.
According to O’Connor, the teens uncovered a shaft, and as they continued to dig, came across oak logs, flagstones and wooden platforms placed at 10-foot intervals. "They had launched what would become the world's longest and most expensive treasure hunt," O’Connor writes.
https://www.history.com/shows/the-curse-of-oak-island/articles/what-is-the-history-of-oak-island