![]() McGinnis thought this unusual-looking area signaled a pirate treasure hiding place. 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. Des Barres called it Gloucester Isle, the name “Oak Island” had been used on land-transfer deeds even before that time, according to D'Arcy O'Connor, author of The Secret Treasure of Oak Island: The Amazing True Story of a Centuries-Old Treasure Hunt. And while a 1776 map by British cartographer J.F.W. The first survey of the island-which is about one mile long by less than a half-mile wide took place between 17, when it was divvied up into 32 four-acre lots. (Because a black ant infestation largely destroyed the oaks in the 1800s, the island is now covered mostly by spruce trees and shrubs.) During an early dig expedition, a stone discovered 90 feet deep bore a mysterious inscription that one decoder interpreted to read, "Ten feet below two million lies buried." Island lore includes tales of hauntings and eerie lights-and a widespread prediction that no treasure will be found until seven treasure seekers have died trying to find it. From its early discovery, it was the only land in the area covered in red oak trees. ![]() ![]() But, as yet, no hunter has struck it rich. Theories abound as to who may have stashed a bounty there-from infamous pirates Captain Kidd and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach to secret societies like the freemasons and Knights Templar to philosopher and scientific thinker Francis Bacon burying original Shakespeare manuscripts. Oak Island may not look like much, but it has a robust and mysterious history that has baffled treasure hunters for over two centuries.
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