The mystery continues
Cape Bretoners tour Oak Island
Late last week Trout Brook resident Scott MacFadgen took several fellow Cape Bretoners on a private tour he had booked on Oak Island.
All were impressed by the visit and all came away with a greater appreciation of the enormity of the effort of discovery there that continues to this day.
The tour was hosted by Charles Barkhouse, local historian and cast regular on the television program, The Curse of Oak Island. The TV show does not convey the wealth of knowledge and insight that Mr. Barkhouse has concerning the island and its history of discovery. He brought to life numerous aspects of the island’s past and the dedicated and tireless efforts of those who have explored it.
The tour proceeded along a small dirt road, no different than any other such lane found anywhere in Nova Scotia. In fact, the island is noteworthy for its lack of showiness or glitz. It is very plain, and most areas betray no evidence of discovery. As well, its explored venues are in relative close proximity to one another, much closer, in fact, than one would gather from television.
Early in the tour group members were shown the property of former slave Samuel Ball. After being given his freedom by the British during the American War of Independence, he found his way to Oak Island and became a cabbage farmer. Soon afterward, however, he achieved well to do status. Barkhouse speculated, as the guests stood near the stone remains of Ball’s former home, that this man’s fortune may have come from at least part of the island’s riches and not from mere cabbages.
As one thought of the miseries Ball doubtless endured as a slave, it struck one how this would be a sweet and deserved form of justice for a man who had suffered such indignities.
Next stop was the land of surveyor Fred Nolan. Barkhouse knew Nolan well. His respect and admiration for Nolan came through as he described his meticulous work habits.
We were shown part of the famous Nolan’s Cross, a series of large stone formations forming the shape of a cross. The group listened intently as Barkhouse described in detail Nolan’s intricate survey work, how he would quite literally crawl across the ground to be entirely accurate in locating his survey lines and later drafting them. Barkhouse made clear his belief that Nolan took to his grave much information concerning the island’s mysteries.
Nolan apparently believed that key to any discovery was the much-discussed swamp which was the next stop on the tour.
We stood near it and it truly does strike one as being oddly placed considering its proximity to the open sea. It is separated from the ocean by a manmade barrier of sorts, now serving as a roadway to the Money Pit and Smith’s Cove. When and by whom this barrier was built remains unknown. Why it was built remains a bigger mystery.
Soon we were upon the location of where it is thought, though not yet confirmed, lies the famous Money Pit. For 200 years this spot has been considered key to the search by most observers. Yet, to look at it, one sees no difference between it and a small gravel yard, aside from several large pipes ascending from various spots. We were told, however, to stay outside of its centre as the area was littered with craters and holes that “would quickly break ankles or worse if you stepped in,” said Barkhouse.
Above the Money Pit on a nearby ridge stands 10X, another such dig but one with a compelling tale of the extraordinary effort of Dan Blankenship. Still living and in his 90s, as fans of the TV program are aware, this man was as able a worker as he was a dedicated explorer. 10X descends 18 building-size storeys into the ground. He and his son, Dave, were its principal builders.
Apparently, Blankenship, who is not a commercial diver, would suit up and hold a large boulder in his arms and would jump down the water-filled 10X shaft. This method would allow him more exploration time on the bottom, as opposed to what a gradual entry would provide.
Bringing home the reality that exploration costs money and lots of it, Barkhouse described how Blankenship spent a good deal of time “travelling to and from Montreal raising funds.”
Next and near the tour’s end we were taken to the location where the Restall family, including father, Robert, son Bobby and friends and co-workers Cyril Hiltz and Carl Graeser, lost their lives to “a toxic brew of gases” on a hot and humid afternoon in August of 1965.
Barkhouse described the events of that day in such compelling detail that one felt a sense of experiencing it. He described the blistering heat, the fact Mr. Restall has told his wife that he had “one more thing to do before we go to Chester for groceries.” As it unfortunately turned out that one more thing was to go down the now infamous shaft, never to emerge alive. His son, realizing his father was in danger, dove down to save him, only himself to succumb to the lethal gas mixture. A similar fate soon awaited the others.
The locals, firefighters and volunteers, rushed to the scene. The Restalls, despite being from “away” were highly regarded. They quite literally put everything they had into the discovery work and what they had was little. They lived on the island without even the benefit of running water.
When it was suggested that their bodies be retrieved with a fish hook, the crowd would have none of it. One found an old-World War One gas mask from a local museum and rushed back, himself risking his own life each time to personally take up each body.
Oak Island has captured the attention of many, ranging from the famous including Franklin Roosevelt and John Wayne to the industrious and well-off such as Cape Breton’s William and M.R. Chappell to the impoverished yet dedicated Restalls. It has had its ever-present workhorses such as Dan Blankenship and Fred Nolan, rivals and sometimes adversaries but each never abandoning his respect for the other. The Lagina brothers, Marty and Rick, are today’s dedicated duo, representing a blend of money, effort, dedication and perseverance. As well, they would seem to have brought a considerable measure of peace and unity to the project.
Whether there was or is any financial treasure or artifacts of tangible value on that island remains part of its mystery and attraction. There is, however, clearly on display the human condition in its varying and many forms. We need our myths and our folklore and, in many cases, the Oak Island mystery perhaps being one, they intersect with that which we call our history.
For history, as Tolstoy once remarked, “would be a wonderful thing if only it were true.” What we know to be true is that on Oak Island there is found a thirst for discovery and knowledge, a desire to succeed, an irrepressible energy and the strength to take on challenges despite their perils. It is a place where courage triumphs over timidity and hope over despair.
These are the characteristics that allow humanity to flourish and without them we would be cowering creatures, knowing neither victory nor defeat and lacking any appreciation for the meanings and lessons of either.
Finally, tour participants were witness to a fact not yet revealed on the TV program. There, in full view at a wellknown island location, is a large engineered structure near completion. It is unquestionably the biggest and most organized effort yet undertaken on the island.
For even the most ardent skeptic, it is something to give one pause for thought. It should be ready for all to see on this season’s “The Curse of Oak island.” Until then those on the tour were led to understand they should keep secret its presence.