# Real pirate's treasure on that island... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144 "2003-04-03T05:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/1 "2003-04-03T05:27:58Z")
I forgot the name of the island but it’s near Novia Scotia, I think. Numerous people were killed in trying to excavate a shaft that kept on filling with water due to underground tunnels built just for that purpose. Then they sent down a drill and found different layers of rock, wood, a human skeletal hand and then gold. There were rumors of something else that was found that was never made public. I emailed one companies that owned the island and that was in charge or the dig offering help to volunteer last year with no reply. I did a search and the website is now gone. Anybody have any new info if they actually got down in there yet and the name of the place? -M ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/2 "2003-04-03T05:30:40Z")
I remember now…Oak Island. Yeah. -M ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tom\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_P)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/3 "2003-04-03T06:24:24Z")
Here you go. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_441.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_441.html) ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/4 "2003-04-03T06:33:33Z")
Thanks for the info. But I am interested in something more recent such as after 1996. That’s pretty much the time where it all stops. -M ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tom\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_P)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/5 "2003-04-03T06:45:54Z")
Oh, and the Triton Alliance, which is the company you’re talking about, is more or less a none-company these days. They briefly surfaced in 1995 trying to get some money from the Canadian government (which they didn’t get). Skeptical Inquirer magazine wrote an article about Oak Island in 2000, available [here](http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-03/i-files.html) However, while searching i found [some info from oakislandtreasure.com](http://www.oakislandtreasure.com/new7page.htm), and they claim > [@](#): > > 1. The reasons the search has not gone forward are twofold. Firstly, the two major investors in the search…Mr David Tobias of Montreal and Mr Dan Blankenship of Oak Island have been involved in lawsuits against each other and disagreement over how the search should be conducted. Secondly, there is a lack of funds. But as of early 2003, the two have reconciled and the prospects are now much brighter! **On preview** : Hope this is more helpful, especially the last quote. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/6 "2003-04-03T12:19:24Z")
There’s a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (who together wrote **The Relic** and its sequel) entitled **Riptide** that is rather obviously based on the Oak Island business. P&C specialize in these fantastic, ludicrously improbable thrillers. If you like that sort of thing (I do), then read Riptide – it gives you the whole shebang, with a buried pirate treasure in an elaborately contrived and heavily booby-trapped money pit with side tunnels and the like, and an unexpected twist ending. P&C had the whole thing designed by abn architect, to explain the complexity. But a construction that elaborate would’ve used up the lives of scores of pirates just to dig the damned thing. They’d have been better off just charging admission to see it, rather than bury treasure in it. It’s probably the closest you’ll ever come to anything like the Oak Island mystery. Nickell’s debunking is pretty convincing stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/7 "2003-04-03T17:14:04Z")
Did pirates really bury treasure? Why? It seems like they’re just asking for it to get lost. ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/8 "2003-04-03T19:17:33Z")
For info: According to a book of mine, **pirates** were never involved at all. It claims that the most likely builders of the money pit, were a detachment of British Royal Engineers. In 1778, the New York Garrison was under siege by American forces. The governer held **all** the pay for the British army in America and was obviously worried about losing it. The Royal Engineers, based in Halifax, were tasked with building the pit to keep the money safe for a while. It seems plausable that only the Royal Engineers would be able to conceive and construct such a complicated hiding place. The only possible drawback to this theory, is that no great some of money is recorded as having gone missing during this period, so perhaps after the crisis was over, the money was recovered and the pit has been empty for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/9 "2003-04-03T19:19:01Z")
Sounds like a pretty complicated setup. Did they (the pirates) even have the technology to dig a hole 100+ feet down on an island? What about the “side tunnels” that flood with sea water? I’m sure it is possible to construct such tunnels, but how long would it take? How much man-power would one need? MtM ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/10 "2003-04-04T01:59:23Z")
See also [A Critical Analysis of the Oak Island Legend](http://pws.prserv.net/djoltes/oakisland/) Pretty fascinating stuff, actually! I mean whether it’s real or a hoax, it’s quite a story. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-pirates-treasure-on-that-island/166144/11 "2003-04-04T04:22:50Z")
**Chalkpit,** I might have the same book. Is it, by any chance, _Oak Island Gold_ by William S. Crooker? This book has an excellent history of the Oak Island treasure hunt, including the different groups who’ve tried and the guys who died (six of 'em). As for who built it and what’s down there, the author eventually settles on the British Royal Engineers as the most likely builders. He thinks that they hid a large load of treasure that the British took from Havana in 1762. Supposedly, it was arranged by King George III and a bunch of his buddies that some of the plunder from Havana would be diverted for their own personal enrichment. According to the theory, they constructed the “money pit” under the guise of building a secret ammunition cache and hid the loot in it. They never returned to get the treasure because George went nuts and was placed in regency. A very interesting book for those of you who are interested in Oak Island.