Original subtitles

Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island.

Look over there, Marty. Got a wall?

Yep. Yeah, there it is right there. I think it's a shaft.

I see it. Yeah, that's 1700s all over it, mate.

The Knights Baronet are connected to the Knights Templar and might be responsible

for a treasure buried on Oak Island.

Here we go.

What do you got? I don't know yet, but it looks shiny.

there is an island in the north atlantic where people have been looking for an

incredible treasure for more than two hundred years so far they have found a

stone slab with strange symbols carved into it mysterious fragments of human

bone and a lead cross whose origin may stretch back to the days of the knights

templar to date Six men have died trying to solve the mystery and

according to legend One more will have to die before the treasure can

be found

It looks like it's going to be a windy day. Yes, yes.

It's not going to be a good time for anybody.

We'll see.

Well, let's go tell them the news, Krager.

Yep.

It is a tense and critical moment on Oak Island.

Hey, guys.

Gentlemen. As brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, along with their partner Craig

Tester, It's cold out there.

have called an important meeting in the war room to discuss a troubling new

development.

Well, the operators union is going on strike.

There's nobody out at, up at Money Pit. Wait, what do you mean?

It means we're going silent up there. That's what it means, Jack. Nobody to

run the crane.

We got the word this morning that they were on strike.

Earlier today, Marty, Rick, and Craig were informed that the unionized Nova

Scotia crane operators announced a strike.

in an effort to secure higher wages for its members.

So is it just the crane operators or everybody?

It's always solidarity.

So everybody's gone.

What does that mean for us, though?

We can't dig.

Zero dark 30th.

You know, we're up against it here. Yeah.

So it's a blow.

It's a big blow.

Because time and weather's closing in.

With only a few weeks left before the onset of winter, Rick, Marty, and the

team must decide how to make the best use of the time they have left,

especially if the strike lasts what could be as long as three full weeks.

With this window of time, we should put it to good use. It's missed coal. I

mean, it's important.

Yes, yes, of course. I've been managing my time at the wash table to make sure

that we could fit in room for a fifth can and it spoils.

But if we aren't going to do the fifth can, I would like to go through some of

the Smith's Cove stuff.

Jack, that's music to my ears.

So we're lucky we can jump over to Smith's Cove and do some more

excavating. Yeah, we can see what we come up with. As far as our work, it

shouldn't interfere at all.

Yes. There's a bunch of opportunity there, but it's certainly intriguing,

especially in light of this minor setback.

All right, so there is a lot of work to be done while we wait for a decision on

the strike.

There's Smith's Cove to continue excavation. Absolutely.

There's a bunch of cuttings to wash jack, get suited up.

Treasurer in life in general. One door closes, another good one opens.

They said that to Churchill when he didn't get elected. They said, this

could be a blessing in disguise, Mr. Churchill. And he said, well, it is very

truly well disguised.

I think at this point we have a lot of data.

It's like mom putting a puzzle together. You can't see the picture until the

puzzle's together. And I think the puzzle is not done yet.

Situation has given us lemons and we're going to try and make lemonade out of

it. I think there's some answers here and very much look forward to doing that

work. I was prepared for sea water. I was prepared for hurricane.

I was prepared for collapse. I was prepared for equipment breakdown. I was

prepared for all manners in which the curse could get us, but I was not

thinking about a strike.

So it's interesting how the island just throws you something. But you know what?

We are going to...

simply avanti we're going to move forward we're going to just deal with

the facts and we're going to see what we can do so let's get back after it i hope

we find the one thing following their meeting in the war room rick and marty

along with charles barkhouse and metal detection expert gary drayton head to

smith's cove here heavy equipment operator billy gerhardt continues to

expose a mysterious wood structure which was discovered while searching for the

so-called convergence point, the place where the five-stone flood box drains

meet and which, if found, could lead directly to the Money Pit treasure

vault.

Look over there, Marty.

Look at all this peeling that away. See that?

Just sticking out. You just see the end of it right there.

Like a two-by-four.

And then there's a round thing. See that round thing over there, Rick?

That's like a log. Whoa!

Yeah, there's timbers all over there.

Yeah, I would dig back behind there. If they were trying to stop something, it's

that way.

When this structure was first unearthed two days ago, the team was uncertain

whether it was constructed within the past 200 years by one of the many search

teams or one of the original depositors sometime before 1795.

The water is coming right here for sure.

See a port right there? Yeah.

Equally intriguing.

is the question of its intended purpose, as the steady flow of water running

directly through it seems to suggest that it may have some connection to the

flood tunnel system.

When's the last time this saw the light of day? Yeah.

It's amazing how many structures are still down there. Yeah.

Is this a known one?

No.

Another of many structures in Smith's Cove that we didn't know were there.

There are probably upwards or getting close to a dozen at this point, some of

which were known and many of which were unknown, at least to us.

People didn't keep very good records.

Could be a shaft.

Could be.

Well, couldn't it be Restall? He did some shafts down here.

One of them. Oh, yeah.

We know he did dig a number of pits along the shore trying to find the

converging point. It would be nice if Restall had fallen in the flood tunnel

and tried to block it right there. Exactly.

In 1959, motorcycle daredevil turned treasure hunter Robert Restall, along

with his wife Mildred, moved to Oak Island with their two young sons, Bobby

Jr. and Ricky.

For six years, the family endured primitive living conditions and harsh

North Atlantic weather, all while conducting major search operations in

the swamp, at the Money Pit, and at Smith's Cove.

I feel...

that the treasure is here and that we can get it and we're going to stay here

until we do.

In 1965,

Robert Restall claimed he was close to finding the key to shutting off the

water that thwarted searcher efforts to locate the original money pit and, for

this reason, was within weeks of solving the Oak Island mystery.

Unfortunately, later that summer, Robert Restall, his son Bobby Jr., and two co

-workers died in a tragic accident in one of the many exploratory shafts they

had dug near Smith's Cove.

Could the shaft that Billy Gerhardt has uncovered be the one that Robert Restall

believed might be instrumental in solving the Oak Island mystery?

I find the Restall work to be exceedingly interesting. They didn't

just arbitrarily pick locations.

They chose them for a reason. I'm hoping that...

that it really is a structure to stop the water that they thought was flooding

the money pit.

Ends right there.

It goes back that way.

I think it's a shaft.

But, I mean, we'll see when we get down deeper.

Yeah, there it is right there.

You got a wall, Rick? Yep, right there.

You are right, Marty, it's a shaft.

Wow.

Coming up.

I see it. This is military.

Yeah, that's 1,700s all over it, mate.

It could literally be half a billion dollars in treasure buried on Ocala.

That's really pouring out now, look.

At Smith's Cove, brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, along with Charles Barkhouse,

metal detection expert Gary Drayton, and heavy equipment operator Billy Gerhart,

are continuing to expose an old wooden shaft at the edge of the beach.

It is a shaft the team believes may have been dug by legendary searcher Robert

Restall more than 50 years ago, and which could lead them directly to the

original Money Pit treasure shaft.

Right there.

Is there another wall going back there, Rick?

Yep. The wall goes back like that.

It's right here, but it's way, way back there.

It's not very square.

No.

Nope, not at all.

Definitely ends right there.

They feel they were close to something.

Perhaps they put the shaft through the flood tunnel.

And that's why we're getting all the water in.

I think it's a part of the Restall's work to come to an understanding of, you

know, what had been done in Smith's Cove. I mean, there's still a lot of

questions to be answered by a simple process of excavating. Yeah, but it's

the most interesting of the new structures. Of the unknown structures,

to me, it's the most interesting.

It's a rather small shaft.

It is. Unless it was small because they thought they were dead on something.

Well, the interesting thing is we're still seeing water coming out, and

that's where water was coming out at the end of the...

Crane path. It did test a little bit of dye here, right?

Five weeks ago.

Hit the button. Start it up.

The Oak Island team conducted a test at the Money Pit site, which involved

pumping thousands of gallons of ocean water mixed with non-toxic red dye into

borehole C1.

The dye has been cast.

They were hoping to locate the fabled flood tunnel believed to be connected to

the treasure shaft.

If we're looking for red guys, I'd say that's red.

Within hours of beginning the dye test, Gary Drayton alerted Rick, Marty, and

the team to what appeared to be red-colored water flowing out of Smith's

Cove, near where they are currently digging.

Water, which then tested positive for traces of the red dye.

11.98.

That's a good positive indication.

Well, here's the thing. Steve Guptill is going to be here tomorrow, so...

He has that red dye position GPS. We can GPS this, overlay it, or at least

compare and see how close we are to that. And then given the fact that the

rest stalls were certainly interested in this area, the red dye association, and

now hopefully we cut a trench and we can finally, once and for all, find a box

drain or a remnant of it, that'd be spectacular.

I'd say.

See you later, Billy.

See you, guys.

Okie doke.

Later that same day, Jack Begley and metal detection expert

Gary Drayton head to the island's western shore to an area known as Lot 1.

Now, where do you want to go around here, Gary? Well, if there's a big

boulder and there's coins over there, there's got to be coins next to these

big boulders. Check it out.

You got the shovel?

Before the harsh winter comes, Jack and Gary... are hoping to find more

artifacts similar to the gold brooch and decorative lead object found earlier

this year on the western side of the island to me coming from a shipwreck

treasure hunting background these large rocks are great anchor points boats

would come up and then moor up to these rocks they would lose stuff coming

ashore it should be on the beach here and then it gets caught in the rocks yep

the rocks help trap stuff

That sounds good.

That's a small iron target. I think we'll pass on that one, mate.

Hang on a minute.

Is that pottery?

Yeah.

That's old pottery as well.

That's the same type of blue that we're finding in the money pit.

Exactly. And we're finding it here.

We're back in the 1700s, mate, with this blue glazed pottery.

Pottery from the 1700s?

and similar to the pieces that the team has also found deep underground in the

money pit?

Really good idea. You know what we should do?

What? I think we should move some of this stuff out of here. Do you want to

pull it forward and winch this up and get this out of here, mate? Sure, I'll

try to get it as close as I can.

We're finding pottery, and this piece was made a long time ago.

This pottery could actually be treasure.

because pottery this nice was of high value back in the day it proves to me

we're on the right path here we go gary all right i'm standing clear

all

right that'll do it nice one jack yep getting a signal

on my way gary

It's non-ferrous, two-way repeatable.

Just here, mate.

That is sweet.

All right, you get in here.

Oh, it's out already.

All right, let's see what this metal is.

I see it.

Is that a coin?

Is it?

Oh, it's a button.

What type of button do you think it is? That is a typical 1700s cuff button.

That would have been on a shirt cuff, yeah.

Do you think a modern civilian would wear that, or is it more military?

Yeah, this is more military.

Do you see that color, mate?

It looks like there could be writing there. Yeah, I was seeing gold gilding

on there.

Yeah, that 1700's all over it, mate.

This is gold gilding, by the look of it.

Oh, yeah, that looks just like the button we found in the money pit. Yeah.

If it says plated, it's a button.

Two years ago, while searching through the spoils excavated from the borehole

known as Gal 1... It's got some marks on the side of it.

Rick, Marty, Charles, and Gary were astonished to discover... a gold-plated

18th century British military button.

Could these two artifacts, found on opposite ends of the island, be

connected? If so, might they have been left behind by someone searching for

something of great value, or by someone depositing something for safekeeping?

I don't want to rub it too much in case I mess up this. And probably this side

was all gilded back in the day as well, so this would have been like a fancy

officer's bun.

Because only they would have had the nice gold buttons.

That's nice.

It means that we're going to have to search a lot more on the western side.

Yep. I'm thinking we come back when we've got more tide to play with because

the tide's coming in. Look.

Sounds good.

All right, mate. Let's go.

As a new day begins on Oak Island.

Welcome to Oak Island. Thank you.

Rick Lagina and members of the team welcome an important visitor to the war

room. I just want to introduce James McQuiston to you. It's a very unique

take on perhaps the Oak Island mystery. Right here, sir. Right here. All right.

As an author and researcher, James McQuiston specializes in stories that

connect descendants of the legendary Knights Templar to their possible

history in North America.

Although he does not have a particular theory, as to where the Oak Island

treasure might be buried, his research has convinced him that not only did

members of the Knights Templar come to Oak Island as far back as the 14th

century, but that they and their descendants continued to come and

deposit treasure here during the course of the next 400 years.

James McQuiston is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

well versed in scottish lore the history of the scottish clans his theory

revolves around that central core issue to that extent james i'm going to turn

it over to you i'll be honest up front what i've learned of it i find it

incredibly interesting and intriguing and i think we all very much look

forward to what you have to tell us well thanks for having me and i'm going to

tell you a story today but you won't find it written anywhere else because i

found it piece by piece, just like you folks are finding things piece by piece

on this island.

So I want to start out with the story of the Knights Baronet of Nova Scotia. And

how they came about was actually because King James I of England, who also

happened to be King James VI of Scotland, they wanted to oust the French

Catholics living at Port Royal. So he went to his good friend, Sir William

Alexander, who was on the Privy Council, and he held various positions in

government.

And he said, can you get some of our fellow Scotsmen to go over there? And he

said, well, you've got a New England, you've got a New France, and you've got

a New Spain. If you give me a New Scotland, I'll do it.

So a new knighthood was developed that's called the Knight's Baronet.

The idea was they would sell these knighthoods to particularly clan

chieftains, and they wrote the charter in Latin, so New Scotland came out as

Nova Scotia.

Formed in 1625, the Knight's Baronet of Nova Scotia was a hereditary title that

was conferred upon a nobleman and his descendants in exchange for a fee. The

objective was twofold.

The first was to persuade Scottish clan chiefs to leave their homes, make the

treacherous voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, and then colonize this

portion of the New World.

The second was to raise money for the crown.

as each knighthood was sold for 3 000 mercs equivalent to 50 000 american

dollars today sir william alexander wanted to sell about a hundred

of these to create a hundred towns around nova scotia that was the ultimate

plan and if you look at the overall list of the knights baronet 25 of them

had some kind of connection back to knights templar

But if you look at just the first few dozen, they were all connected to the

Knights Templar.

It was either they received land grants of Knight Templar land, they had a

Knights Templar within their clan, or they fought alongside Knights Templar in

battles. They may have had Templar wealth in their families, because when

they were dissolved, where's all that stuff going to go?

It's a continuous legacy from the Templars to the baronets, and there's no

doubt about it.

So from 1625, when the baronets were founded, to 1628, they worked to get

enough men to sign up to get the manpower and the supplies and the money

that they needed to come to Nova Scotia. Once they got here, one of the places I

think they went was New Ross.

Two years ago, Rick Lagina, Doug Kroll, and Charles Barkhouse traveled to the

town of New Ross.

located some 20 miles north of Oak Island.

They had been invited to investigate a property that many believe contains

evidence of an ancient Templar castle that was built sometime in the 14th

century. On the face of the stone, you can see a very faint outline of a cross.

It's no ordinary cross, but the cross of the Knights Templar.

So the Knights Baronet are connected to the Knights Templar.

And that connection goes right through Nova Scotia.

And it might be responsible for a treasure buried on Oak Island.

And there's no known location for where this treasure ended up.

And I asked the Society of Antiquaries, of which I'm a member, and they had no

answer. So they sent me to the National Museums of Scotland, and they had no

answer of what happened to it. Well, I found the treasure listed in five

ancient books.

And I have an account of it here.

It could literally be a half a billion dollars.

Now we're talking.

The Knights Baronet might be responsible for a treasure buried on Oak Island.

In the war room, author and Oak Island theorist James McQuiston has just

presented Rick Lagina and members of the team.

with an incredible theory according to his research in the early part of the

17th century scottish descendants of the knights templar along with their

associates obtained titles of nobility from the british government which issued

them as an incentive to come to nova scotia and extend the reach of the

british empire over the next several decades they built cities and

established themselves in everything from local governments

to banking and overseas trade but what the plan also did was further establish

a templar stronghold in north america one that began as far back as the

fourteenth century and which used oak island as a repository for millions in

gold jewels and precious artifacts brought over from europe so

the bottom line is that it's more than apparent that the scottish clan leaders

who became the Knights Baronet of Nova Scotia, had a lot of links back to the

Knights Templar.

And they stayed on Oak Island?

If, in fact, they came into Mahone Bay and parked at Oak Island, certainly

enough time to build the money pit.

Time enough to put away things that they did not want to take back to Scotland.

Exactly.

although the notion that surviving members of the knights templar made

their way to north america as early as the fourteenth century has been long

debated by mainstream historians many oak island theorists and researchers

have become convinced that numerous stone carvings and recently discovered

artifacts like the lead cross found at smith's cove have added further evidence

to support this theory

And again, just to revisit it for a minute, this book that I found this in,

well, this is the actual book right here, the cover of the book, and that's

the title sheet of it. History of the Lodge of Edinburgh, Mary's Chapel, they

call it, number one.

This is the account of the treasure.

You have items on here like 36 dozen gold buttons.

a rich jewel set of diamonds, and other gold bracelets at 600 pounds the pair.

We found stuff off that list. What you've just read off, the gold-plated

button. We found jewelry.

And previously, there's been gold chain links found on the island.

The other item of great interest on this is that the very last item listed, it

says, the title deeds of the lands and baronies being there until, or therein.

Back then... Title deeds were kept in canvas wax bags to protect the India

ink. So as you know, in 1897, a little piece of parchment was pulled up from

the money pit at about 150 feet down. Here it is.

Guess what? No smearing of the India ink.

So what that would tell me is that this was kept in something that was

waterproof until that drill bit hit it and brought it up to the surface.

While drilling in the money pit area in 1897,

Treasure hunters William Chapel and Frederick Blair reported hitting an

object they believed to be a seven-foot-tall wooden vault at a depth

of 153 feet.

When examining the drill bit shortly thereafter, they were astonished to

discover traces of gold, along with a tiny piece of parchment bearing the

letters VI.

Just one year ago, after a 50-inch-wide steel caisson made contact, with what

the Oak Island team believes could be the chapel vault in the borehole known

as H-8.

Jack Bigley and Dan Henske made a similar discovery while searching the

spoils excavated from the shaft.

It kind of looks like it could be some old parchment.

Could this parchment, along with fragments of leather bookbinding and

antique paper also recovered from H-8, be proof that James McQuiston's theory

is true?

that important books and manuscripts were also a part of the oak island

treasure and that the treasure wasn't brought here all at once but gradually

and over the course of several centuries so i'm going out on a limb here but

i believe that at least some of this massive treasure was brought to the new

world uh possibly by the alexander family and uh was buried here on oak

island and so i kind of feel myself that this presents one of the best uh answers

to what happened on oak island and at new ross you know theorists have come

and gone here what separates the real theories as it applies to real search

generally those theories have to connect the dots james has come he connects one

fact with another fact now some of them are an interpretation of known facts

But the dots are pretty close together, and I am thoroughly impressed.

I know one thing that you reinforced to me, surely, is that the richness of Oak

Island really centers around the story.

The who, what, when, where, why, and how, and you have answered several of

those. You have a very strong theory with a treasure that seems to match.

some of the discoveries here. And backing it up with facts and research.

It's amazing.

I find it incredibly interesting and intriguing, and I congratulate you on

the extent of your research.

Well, I hope to someday come back with even some more stuff.

We will not allow you to stay away. I guarantee you that.

Again, thank you very much. I think we all expressed that.

Well, thank you, guys.

The next day.

Marty Lagina and metal detection expert Gary Drayton arrive at Lot 16, located

near the Money Pit dig site.

Yeah, what we're doing, we're going to where that well is. Yeah, the well.

After their meeting with theorist James McQuiston, they are eager to follow up

on possible new connections linking the Knights of Baronet to Oak Island by

investigating a recently discovered stone well located near the Money Pit.

After close examination, it was found to bear several design and construction

similarities to one the team investigated two years ago near the

ruins of an alleged Templar castle located in the nearby town of New Ross.

That looked like stone floor.

There, inside the well, they observed a triangle or pyramid carved into one of

the stones.

It's got some little pattern in the middle. It is the same shape which has

frequently appeared on Oak Island.

not only in various carvings, such as those found on the legendary 90-foot

stone, but also the shape of the mysterious swamp, which many believe to

be man-made.

I think this well is really, really old. This looks like a modern cap, but when

you look inside there, see all the formation?

Oh, I see, yeah. Yeah, I'd never noticed that the top looks different than the

underneath. That's very true.

Nobody seems to know anything about it.

I agree. The curiosity about that thing is who built it and when.

So it would be good to take that cap off that well.

You know what, Gary? I like your idea so much about removing the cap of that

well. I am going to call Mr.

Laird Niven and see whether we're allowed to.

In accordance with their treasure trove license, Marty and Gary must first seek

permission from archaeologist Laird Niven before they can excavate any site

that could be deemed historically or culturally significant.

Laird. Hey, Marty, how are you?

Hey, Gary and I are out here just off the edge of the money pit, and there's a

well here which has a modern top on it, you know? Yeah. Is it okay to pull the

top off, or do you need that? That's fine with me.

Okay. I have no problem with that. All right, Laird, see you. Bye-bye. Bye.

We can.

Yeah, that's good news.

I mean, it would have been, if it is old with a modern cap, it could have been

here when the money pit was here. Yeah.

Yeah, this is a big undertaking, the money pit.

You would need fresh water. You'd need to have a fresh water well close to the

money pit. This might be original.

All right, well, let's go do that.

With a little bit of luck, this may lead us to perhaps figure out what happened

here, at least in one point in history.

I'll guide him down.

A little bit this way.

That's better.

You got it.

Now that the cap on the well has been removed, Gary will now scan the inside

of it using a metal detector in search of any important clues or possible

artifacts.

Hmm.

Metal.

That was a job well done, Mark. Thank you. It really was. Thank you. And I've

had a little explore around. I didn't get any metal until I put the search

coil inside the well.

Oh, and then you got some. Yeah.

Oh, my goodness.

That's a good sound, too. Yeah, it is.

That's a good solid hit.

How are we going to dig it out of there, though?

Yeah, that's the thing. We can't drain the water. Does this look old to you?

Yeah, it does.

I'm sure we can put a pump in there and get rid of that.

Although Marty and Gary are encouraged by the promising hits Gary has obtained

with this metal detector, they will need to allow for a pump to drain the well

over the course of the next 24 hours before they can further their

investigation of whatever might be buried there.

Well, this is cool. I mean, I love unearthing a new possibility. I mean,

what if this was done by the original depositors? Later on, somebody came and

put a cap on it, and you find something in there.

Oh, mate, this is great.

We've got some signals to come back to. Okay, let's go, Gary.

As a new day dawns on Oak Island... Now it's pumping.

Marty Lagina and metal detection expert Gary Drayton... That's better.

...are continuing their investigation of an old stone well on Lot 16, located

near the Money Pit area.

a structure they hope might provide new clues to help them solve the 223-year

-old mystery.

Here you go, bud.

You know, sort of. Thanks.

Well, I think I'm ready to get back in there.

All right.

Having successfully drained the water from the bottom of the well, Marty and

Gary are eager to dig for the metal targets that Gary detected one day ago,

in the hopes one or more of them... might be important clues or hopefully

pieces of treasure.

Oh, what a sweet little place this is.

It would be nice to find another stone with an inscription on it. Wouldn't it?

I wonder if that's got markings on it.

Unusual shape.

All right, we'll put this one off to the side.

I'm trying to feel for things.

You want to try your metal detector on it?

Yeah.

Thanks.

I'll put it in well mode. Yeah.

All right, let's see.

It's iron. Whatever it is, it's iron.

That's too bad.

But I'm getting multiple signals now on this.

Ferrous and non-ferrous. So there could be different metals in here.

A non-ferrous signal?

Indicating the presence of a precious metal? Such as silver or even gold?

I'm going to try and pinpoint it. It's easier.

Please don't be a nail.

No, it is a piece.

It's a piece of decorated lead by the look of it.

Really?

Put it in your hands. There's two pieces coming up.

Got them? Yep.

Oh, it is a... What have you got? I don't know yet, but it looks shiny.

Oh.

It's a...

I got a coin!

Do you?

Yeah, it's a coin.

Don't tell me you're going to do your gold dance down in the well.

It's a $1 Canadian dollar. I can't believe it. You bugger. Oh, my God.

Bugger all.

I thought that was a gold coin. I'm thinking to myself, how am I going to

dance in here? You'd do it. I would do it, yeah. I'm going to see if there's

any more of that. But that looks like it's a piece of decorated lead. You

could see there was some kind of design on it.

A piece of decorated lead?

Could it be related to the other lead artifacts the team has found on Lot 21,

on the western end of Oak Island, and at Smith's Cove, both of which may be

connected to the Knights Templar?

Well, we'll get that cleaned up in a little bit. I am getting soaked.

Hey, Rick.

Morning, bud.

Gary just found this piece of lead.

Interesting.

Detecting anything, Gary?

Definitely. There's more metal down here.

But I just can't work because the water pouring on me and it's... I wonder how

we're going to stop that, though. It's filling up fast.

Oh, mate, I'm coming out.

Although the well was previously pumped dry, due to the fact that it is fed by a

natural spring, it has already begun to refill with groundwater.

Because of this, Rick, Marty and Gary have decided to stop their investigation

for now in order to devise a new strategy.

that will allow them to conduct a more thorough search.

I mean, this is a unique opportunity, a well next to the money pit, and being

the first person to get whatever's down in that well out.

That's pretty cool.

Pretty cool.

But save it for another day, right? Yeah, for sure. But I'm confident

there's got to be something down there.

All right, Gary.

Good job. Well done.

Following the investigation of the old stone well on Lot 16, Rick and Marty

Lagina meet with archaeologist Laird Niven at Smith's Cove.

They are eager to apply a scientific dating method known as dendrochronology

to find out the age of the various wooden structures recently unearthed at

the site.

What do you want to do, Rick?

You have to cut it here, and this is damaged. You're going to lose growth

rings here. He's right. Yeah.

Dendrochronology, or tree ring dating, analyzes the size and pattern of a

tree's growth rings, which develop over the course of a tree's lifetime.

By using this extraordinary method, not only will the Oak Island team be able to

find out the age of the tree that was used to produce the wood, it can also

determine the approximate year the wood was cut for construction purposes.

The hope is that we can come to an understanding of how these structures

might interrelate, the two walls, the L-shaped structure, the U-shaped

structure, the slipway.

Dendrochronology may be a way to come to a better understanding of the when of

their construct.

I'm wondering if Billy could track down and lift this.

He could reach right out here, pick it up. Okay.

I will get him.

this year during their extensive excavation at smith's cove the oak

island team has unearthed an astonishing number of archaeological finds in

addition to the mysterious u and l shaped structures discovered earlier by

dan blackenship in the nineteen seventies they have also revealed wooden

and concrete walls as well as the remains of a slipway or boat ramp

possibly constructed to offload cargo from a ship onto oak island centuries

ago.

Bring it up slow, Billy.

If the Laginas and their partners can determine that the structures found at

Smith's Cove were constructed before the discovery of the Money Pit in 1795, they

may be on the verge of identifying, once and for all, not only when the Money Pit

was built, but also who built it and why.

That is amazingly preserved.

Yeah. Well, hopefully this dental chronology will yield some results.

All right, well, let's keep going.

There's still plenty of work to be done in Smith's Cove, clearly.

We're hopeful to put closure on this effort, but we are still quite confused

by the amount of structures.

What was the reason for their emplacement?

Let's see if this one's flat underneath, too. You think it is, right? There's a

lot of questions to be answered yet.

A week that began with a frustrating setback at the Money Pit site has become

one of new directions and renewed excitement.

For as the Laginas and their partners have long understood, on Oak Island, a

breakdown can lead to a breakthrough.

Disappointment can lead to discovery.

And even a tragedy can lead to a possible triumph.

One that could result in the solving of a 223-year-old mystery.

Next time on The Curse of Oak Island.

That star lays right on the southeast corner of that swamp.

Back door. This leads to the money pit.

Okay, here it comes. Steady up. I think the swamp has answers and I want them.

It's a coin. Maybe there are answers in the swamp.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

It looks like a pile of boulders. See the water? Substantial amount of water

flowing out of maybe the flood tunnel.

The wood of the slipway matches with a 550-year-old tree. It is original.

Predates the money pit.

It's conclusive proof.