08x03 - If the Ox Shoes Fit

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Tonight on
the curse of oak island...

Aaron:
I say we get those rocks out.

Marty: Okay, let's do it.

This feature was known as
a tunnel entrance,

and then ignored.

It does have a little bit
of an edge, though.

- Alex: Oh, yeah.
- Now, that tells me

- that's a coin.
- Mm-hmm.

- Also chinese.
- Cool.

We've got to dig this.
It's been there a long time.

- Oh!
- What is that?

This could have been
a deep harbor at one time?

It's not probably could have,
it probably was.

Wow.

Narrator: There is an
island in the north atlantic

where people have been
looking for an incredible treasure

for more than 200 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 d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

- Marty: Gentlemen.
- Alex: Hey, guys.

So, guys, we're back.

We're back on oak island,

uh,
we're eager to get caught up.

We're eager to have a plan,
we're eager to get going,

get briefed so we're
all on the same page.

Narrator: It is a new
morning on oak island,

and after completing a
mandatory two-week quarantine

that allowed them to
safely enter canada,

brothers rick and marty
lagina have called a meeting

in the w*r room.

Now, everybody can see
we don't have as many people

here in the w*r room,

because, uh, you know,

the overused expression
"the elephant in the room"

is covid-19,

which we're trying to take
as seriously as we can,

follow everything the
province of nova scotia says.

We are basically
six feet apart in here,

which means we are
at the maximum capacity

of the w*r room.

But we want everybody
on the same page.

This could be a really big year.

This could be where we
actually move the needle

before we do the massive
things we've done other years.

So, we need to get the
whole team on as best we can.

Doug, we've got 'em teed up to,
uh, to join us.

Narrator: Joining the
meeting via video conference

are rick and marty's friend and partner,
craig tester,

his stepson jack begley,

along with oak island
historian charles barkhouse

and archaeologist laird niven.

So the first item on the
agenda is the swamp.

And, uh,
we weren't here for this.

Doug,
maybe you want to fill us in about

dr. Spooner's work in the swamp.

How's the penetration look, ian?

Oh, it's incredible.

It looks really good right now.

Narrator: One week ago,
while investigating

a mysterious
anomaly in the swamp,

which,
according to an aerial photo taken in 1945,

might indicate the presence
of a mysterious tunnel

or searcher shaft,

canadian geoscientist
dr. Ian spooner

and professional
diver tony sampson

used a sonar device to see if
evidence could still be found

hidden beneath several feet
of brackish water and muck.

Big drop-off right here.

It's like a wall.

- That's fantastic.
- Yeah. What I'm convinced of

is a real feature
exists right here.

So,
when dr. Spooner identified this,

this is about nine foot square,
I believe,

is the impression
he got from the sonar.

Rick: And that goes
to the little problem

that fred and dan had.

- Fred surreptitiously drew the swamp down.
- Mm-hmm.

Dan confronts him, makes him

fill it back in, and then fred says to dan,
"hey, did you see

that shaft over there in
the corner of the swamp?"

narrator: Shortly after being hired
to mp all the land on oak island

back in the early 1960s,

surveyor fred nolan decided
to purchase land on the island

in order to pursue his
own treasure search.

Initially, he worked closely
with rival treasure hunter

dan blankenship
until the two began

a bitter feud that lasted
until fred's death in 2016.

Unfortunately,
one of the many consequences of the feud

was that much of the
pair's research became lost.

Only now,
with the laginas' recent purchase

of dan's land and
partnership shares,

has anyone had access

to dan and fred's vast
and invaluable archive.

So, there's a feature there,
certainly.

The hope is that we
can figure out a way

to get to it and dig it.

Marty: I'm gonna bet

that nobody here in this
room or on the screen

is gonna be against
trying to excavate

that southeast corner of
the swamp. Am I correct?

- Alex: You're right. - Correct.

- Yep. - Correct.

- You guys all on board? - Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Rick: There is one more thing

that we need to talk about,
though.

What do we do... You
tried metal detecting.

You did a great job,
but if we excavate,

would we put the
spoils outside...

You know how sloppy it gets...

Or would we take a chance
and truck it to the wash plant

and-and run through it?

Spread 'em out.

I'd put it through
the wash plant,

'cause you've got a big chance
of missing something in there.

Rick: There's enough work
for everybody to once and for all

have a much greater
understanding of the role

the swamp has played
in oak island lore.

We, having recently arrived,

still have been the recipients

of a lot of information on lot 15,
which was all new.

Very exciting stuff.

A feature we were...
Heretofore unknown to us.

Just today,
when david macinnes said

that as they were digging down,
they'd pretty much decided

this thing was a, um, tar kiln,

and then he's digging down,

and he finds another
almost layer of rocks.

Laird,
you're gonna dig deeper, right?

Yeah, david's, uh,
david's gonna take that down,

and we'll record it as best we can,
and then hopefully

he'll be able to remove
some of the rocks

and see what's underneath there.

Doug: It's not consistent

with what you expected
to see if it was just a kiln.

No.

Marty: Well, you know,

it was marked on fred's map
as an entrance to a tunnel.

That doesn't mean anything necessarily,
but...

Well,
it does if there's a tunnel there.

(laughter)

couldn't have said
it better myself.

Okay, well,
that's exciting yet; there's a lot

to be determined yet there,
and we're gonna

not cease until we find out
what happened on lot 15.

- Yeah. - All right,

well, that's a pretty full agenda,
gentlemen.

Rick, do you concur?

Rick: I agree. We've got

a pretty aggressive
agenda set forth,

and I have high
hopes for a lot of it.

I think it's gonna be
a really good year.

Marty: So, I think we're done,

as far as yakkin' goes, so...

We need to get up and go, right?

- Get after it. - Alex: Yep.

- Thanks, guys.
- Craig: Bye, guys.

- Marty: See ya, guys.
- Rick: See ya.

Narrator: After concluding
their meeting in the w*r room..

...Rick,
marty and doug are joined

by project manager scott barlow

along with heavy equipment
operator billy gerhardt

and geoscientist dr. Ian
spoonr at the oak island swamp.

Marty: All right.

Hello, guys.

We're trying to figure out,
ian, what, uh,

what exactly your target is

- out here in the swamp.
- Why don't we walk over there.

- Yeah, yeah, let... Yeah, okay. Marty:
Let's do that, yeah, point it out, please.

We're keenly interested in it,
and we got some plans

- we got to make. - Right.

There's nothing like
getting the team together

right where we're going
to do some sort of project,

to be able to look around
and make sure that, you know,

sort of common sense prevails,

as opposed to
having it all on paper.

I think the key thing is having a
kind of an honest conversation

- yeah. - About what everybody,

you know,
is kind of looking for, and...

- Right.
- And building it around that.

That's,
uh... You know where the rebar is there?

- That rebar sticking out?
- Marty: Yes.

There is... There was
a... There's a ledge there.

The sonar seemed
to show us that.

But didn't you see something?

A square-looking
thing that you thought...

- In the air photos, yeah.
- That might be a shaft.

Uh, yeah, it was,
it was... Let's make a square here.

Nee, nee, nee. It was like that.

Marty: Well, I've been...

Very much intrigued
with your hypotheses,

and don't... correct me
if I'm stating it wrong...

But that this could
have been a deep harbor

at one time?

It's not probably could have,
it probably was.

- Well, I like that even better.
- Now, harbor is deep, deep.

It could have been
used as a harbor.

- It could have been used.
- Yeah.

So, if we put a...

Retaining wall, sort of...

Sort of right there, heading out
towards the tip of the peninsula

- right.
- And then coming over this way.

- Right.
- And then you want to encompass the road here, right?

Narrator: To properly search
the bottom of the swamp

for evidence of what
could be a wooden tunnel,

the oak island team will
need to construct a cofferdam

similar to the one that
irving construction installed

at smith's cove two years ago.

Comprised of large steel sheets

hammered deep into
the mud and sediment,

the cofferdam will
create a watertight barrier,

one that will permit the
targeted section of the swamp

to be drained.

The thought is to put... and
this was scott's idea, I believe...

Put sheet within a sheet, right?

Because if we put
sheet within a sheet,

it keeps the crane pad from
encroaching upon the wetland.

- Yeah.
- Marty: We'll run that past irving.

That sounds like
a good idea to me.

This is gonna be
as big a project

as smith's cove, damn near.

It's a pretty big project, yep.

I kind of have a
difference of opinion.

I think it's gonna be far more
difficult than smith's cove.

Oh, boy.

Rick: We've got
permitting issues,

we've got logistical issues...

Here you go, billy.

Might as well must
have it right now.

(laughter)

marty: We'll get her done.

Narrator: After their
meeting at the swamp,

brothers rick and marty lagina

make their way to lot 15.

They have just been alerted

by archaeologist
david macinnes...

A direct descendant of famed
oak island treasure hunter

daniel mcginnes... of a
potentially important discovery

in the structure believed to
be a 16th-century pine tar kiln.

And located near a
possible entrance to a tunnel

that could lead directly
to the original money pit.

Well, what say you, david?

- Rick. Marty.
- You're pretty deep.

- How you doing? - Hi, liz.

- Hey, guys. - Hey.

What's the surprise
here? Because you-you...

Okay,
we've made some changes since you got here,

- but when we phoned you...
- Mm-hmm.

- Those rocks right there?
- Yeah?

- Were down there, right?
- Yeah.

And that had all the appearances

- of a pine tar kiln.
- Marty: Wow.

David: If this was an
early 1700s pine tar kiln,

and it would make sense
that-that... That it's...

That's a reasonable speculation,

that's reasonable interpretation
of what this might be,

this would likely be colonial.

Britain officially had
nova scotia at that point.

They look like they've
been thrown in by a person

to fill in a well.

Only we haven't gotten
down deep enough

to get to the slope.
Have you got my drift?

- Yeah. - Okay, so...

Marty: Or you know
what I'm gonna say.

- You know what I'm gonna say.
- Okay, what are you gonna say?

I'm gonna say it
could be a tunnel.

Well, we're gonna test that.

Narrator: A possible
tunnel entrance?

Could this stone structure,

which the team already
believes to have possibly been

the base of operations
for those who constructed

the original money pit,

also contain a secret
tunnel entrance,

as fred nolan indicated
on a survey map of the area

more than five decades ago?

That is really weird that

this feature was
known and delineated

as a tunnel entrance
and then-then ignored.

That is bizarre.

It just shows how treasure
hunters can really get blinder.

I don't think we're making that mistake,
but...

But we wouldn't know, would we?

I say we get those rocks out.

Okay, let's do it.

Um, now we might need some help.

- Yeah.
- Uh, because we can't lift these rocks.

I don't see anything
here that I can't lift out.

- (laughter) - okay.

You know the way
to probably do that?

If I went and got
the backhoe and just

put the bucket right there.

The hoe bucket... I'm sure rick and me,
if he needed help,

could put them in the bucket.

Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I'll go get the backhoe,
so we can get that done.

Okay.

Narrator: While
rick and marty help

excavate the mysterious
structure on lot 15,

at the oak island
interpretive centre,

alex lagina meets with artifact
conservator kelly bourassa.

Morning, kelly.

Narrator: He has come
to share his expert analysis

of what the team
believes could be

an ancient coin which was
discovered two weeks ago

by gary drayton and
jack begley on lot 15.

Well, uh, to get started,
I mean, we've got,

we can keep you busy all summer,
as you know.

- Wonderful.
- Um, and I'm gonna be bringing

things in periodically as we find them,
as well.

- And I have one for you to start with, if you can.
- Okay.

I'm just gonna
put it down there,

so you can see it.

Oh, yeah.

What in heaven's
name could that be?

There's, uh,
probably some equipment

that might need
that and there's also

chinese coinage had
a... Had a square hole.

- Cool.
- Narrator: A possible chinese coin?

Coins featuring a square
hole as part of their design

were first minted in china

dating back as far
as the 4th century b.C.

During what was known
as the warring states period

and were used all
throughout the region

until the early 20th century.

Could this coin actually be
an ancient chinese artifact?

And if so,
how did it end up on oak island?

Alex: If this is a chinese coin,
there should be

some kind of markings on the surface of it,
I would hope.

I don't see anything
that's obvious

under magnification here,
but first step would be

to take a photograph of it,
of, uh, both sides.

And I do that here with a scale.

It's a little over
two centimeters.

Okay, I'm just gonna flip
it over on the other side.

There's one edge
that seems to be

- a little flatter than the rest.
- Mm-hmm.

Good.

So,
the first part of the process is just

to take a toothbrush just to get that,
uh,

initial surface layer of dust.

- You see it's changing al-already, right?
- Mm-hmm.

There's a bit of green on it,

- which is a hint of copper.
- Mm-hmm.

This was found on lot 15 near

to a structure that we're
still trying to identify.

We think it might
be a pine tar kiln.

Oh!

It-it does have a bit of a ridge,
alex.

You have to look
at it pretty close.

If you see there,
it does have a little bit of an edge to it.

Right along here.

- Alex: Oh, yeah.
- Now, that tells me that's more

- like the kind of thing you'd see for a coin.
- Mm-hmm.

- And there seems
to be a couple - okay.

Of little markings here.

- Oh, yeah...
- So some little things,

but it's hard to
say really what it is.

It doesn't look
like it's characters

that I would recognize.

- Mm-hmm. - Right now,

it can't clearly be
defined as a... As a coin

until we do a little bit
more research on it.

- Right, right.
- But then, maybe.

Maybe see where
we go from there.

- So hints of a coin, but maybe...
- Hint, yeah.

Maybe a little
bit more leg work.

- Well, just another mystery right?
- Yeah.

Narrator: As alex and kelly
finish up at the interpretive centre,

back on lot 15...

Marty lagina arrives with

the backhoe to
help his brother rick

remove large stones and bouldes

from what they hope
could be a tunnel entrance.

Perfect. There,
you're right underneath it.

Marty: Now down?

Rick: Pull it up.

Liz: How's the texture?

Aaron: It's pretty loose.

Narrator: By examining
the various ratios

of sand, silt, and clay located

underneath and
around a stone structure,

experienced
archeologists can determine

if it might have been there
for a long or short time.

Soil that is primarily comprised of sand,
for example,

would be beneficial to
digging a well or a pine tar kiln,

whereas harder
more clay-rich soil

would be ideal for the
construction of a tunnel.

So what are you seeing?

Aaron: It's very loose.

- David: That's pretty packed till, eh?
- Yeah.

David: I think next steps are

to clean this up, uh,
and then take it down to till.

See what's in here.

And then we've
got to expose this.

Liz: Really like to
define that more.

David: Yeah,
that needs to be defined more.

Yeah,
see if there is actually is a trench

- running down there. - Yeah.

Narrator: Although rick and
marty would like nothing more

than to continue an
aggressive excavation

of the mysterious
shaft-like feature,

they must now allow
for the archaeological

team to proceed with caution

in order to avoid
compromising any evidence

that might help determine
just exactly what it is.

You know,
the lot 15 work, I think

there's a little bit of
frustration because

they're unsure, even after days

of doing their work,
the purpose for it.

But I think everybody
has immense respect for

the work they're doing and
how carefully they're doing it.

And I look forward to a
competent understanding

of what that structure is and,

again,
what lessons can be learned in terms

of coming to a greater
understanding of oak island.

Rick: It's still a mystery,

certainly. I have always
been of the opinion

that the story of oak island

is far more intriguing,

vastly more rich,
than any treasure.

- Yeah. - So...

We appreciate it and, uh,

look forward to what
you have to say yet.

- Well, thanks for the help.
- Aaron: Thank you.

Thanks a lot. We appreciate it.

You guys stay safe,
take care, good luck.

- Aaron: Thank you.
- David: Yeah, thanks.

Ce is covered with
fire-cracked rock.

Narrator: While archaeologists
david macinnes, aaron taylor

and liz michels
continue to excavate

the mysterious
structure on lot 15...

Let's go,
mate. You keep me straight.

Narrtor: ...Metal
detection expert

gary drayton, along with jack begley,
search nearby

in hopes of finding
more evidence related

to the recent discovery
of an ancient chinese coin.

Gary: As we get

further away from the guys,

we're actually getting
closer towards the swamp.

An area which would've
been traversed back in the day

by anyone working in between

the money pit and the swamp.

- Just to that rock right there.
- Okay.

(scanner beeping)

(whirring loudly)

that sounds good.

It's a little broken up.

More than likely it's iron.

We're looking for
barrel loops and tools.

- This could be one.
- Oh, really?

(scanner whirring)

it's a screamer, mate, that is.

Widen that hole, mate.

I'm hoping it's deeper
because if it's deeper,

that means it's older.
It's been there a long time.

It's this clump. We
were just missing it.

Jack: What is that?

That looks like a large,

broken ox shoe.

That's what that is.

Because it has the lip on the back,
right there.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

It would have come out...

And that was a large one.

Probably a draft ox.

Narrator: A so-called "draft ox"

is a steer at least
four years of age

which has been trained for
humn activities such as farming.

Because oak island
was used by farmers

dating back to the
late 18th century,

perhaps its presence here
has a simple explanation.

However, draft oxen have
also been used by m*llitary forces

dating back centuries for
the purposes of hauling cargo.

Is it possible that this ox she

might be connected to the
mysterious structure nearby

on lot 15,
which the team believes

could be a 16th-century
british m*llitary construct?

One also possibly
connected to the construction

of the original money pit.

We're directly between the swamp

or the paved area
and the money pit.

- Yeah. - So, yeah, they...

Someone could have
been transporting something,

either from the money pit

- or to the money pit.
- Yeah. You got that right, mate,

and they would have
needed a big oxen.

That's what this
would have fit on.

It would have gone that way,
so it could get the traction.

This is making sense to me now.

And with us finding a broken
ox shoe... a fairly wide one...

That tells me that this
is a large beast of burden

that would have been used
to transport something heavy

from one point to another point.

(scanner beeping)

we got to dig this.
This is no blasting cap.

There's a big
piece of iron here.

Just there, mate.

Yeah, it's about eight inches.

(scanner beeping)

yeah, I see iron residue.

You're on it.

- Jack: Ooh. There's another one.
- (laughs) another ox shoe.

Yeah. That's a smaller one.

But look how wide it is.

I kind of figured that
was gonna be an ox shoe.

Why would you
have ox right there?

If you kind of lined them up,
though,

you're coming from the
harbor and the swamp,

and it's headed back towards
where they're excavating

right now, the lot 15 feature.

You've got the
peninsula down there,

you got the paved area,

and now you've got
ox shoes in an area

where we know there
hasn't been a lot of farming.

So,
if we start finding these in one area,

and if they line up,
it could be an old track.

Yeah, and it lines right
back towards the tar kiln.

Narrator: A pathway or a track

leading from the swamp to
the stone structure on lot 15?

Is it possible that gary and
jack are finding evidence

of an operation to move
cargo away from the swamp?

If so, could that explain the
massive stone-paved feature

the team unearthed in
the swamp one year ago?

And also perhaps the
mysterious anomaly

detected by seismic scanning
buried some 50 feet deep

in the middle of a brackish,
man-made bog?

Gary: Okay, mate,

let's get back on track.

Which is kind of ironic,

'cause I believe
this could be a track.

(chuckles) I-I think so,
too, gary.

(beeping)

jack, I got more iron here,
mate.

Look... see,
it disappeared completely?

There's definitely iron here.

- Right there, right? - Yep.

(scanner beeping)

yeah, it is.

Gary: I can see rust.

- That's a good sign.
- Yeah, that is.

Gary: Hopefully
it's something cool.

(rapid beeping)

(whispers): Come on, come on.

Wow. The heck is that?

- The heck is that?
- A pin for hauling something?

- You know, I...
- I don't think it's a pin.

I-I've seen similar things

on horse and ox harnesses

where they have
these knobs on the end.

Oh.

- I think you might right, gary.
- Yeah.

Gary: That's what
this reminds me of.

What they'd, like,
put the reins around?

- I think?
- Yeah. But this is heavy.

That's what I like about it.

- It's nice and heavy.
- So you think it's really old, then?

Pre-1800s.

Jack: This is amazing.

Ox shoes were
never really anything

to get too excited about

until you find them
in the proper context.

So we're definitely
onto some sort

- of an oxen trail - yeah.

That leads between
the paved area

inside the swamp
over to the money pit.

I mean, we're looking for
tools and signs of activity

between the swamp and where
the guys are working up there.

This is what we want to be finding,
because some kind

of hauling took
place along here.

- We're on a track.
- And hauling before they had

- any sorts of roads or trails.
- Yep.

Obviously,
they were pushed to have to quickly make

some sort of a trail and
force their oxen through it.

- Sweet.
- We're on the right track, gary.

Gary: Everything
is lining up now.

Or: As a new day
begins on oak island,

and while
archaeologists liz michels,

aaron taylor and david macinnes
continue their investigation

of the mysterious
structure on lot 15...

Rick: Scott,
so if you want to bring them up?

Narrator: ...Brothers
rick and marty lagina,

along with marty's son alex

and team project
manager scott barlow...

- Hello, guys.
- Hello, gentlemen.

- Rick: Craig. - Hello.

Narrator: ...Have
gathered in the w*r room

for a meeting via
video conference.

Joining them are
rick and marty's friend

and partner craig tester

as well as david irving,
the general manager

of irving equipment limited,

pile driving manager
matt kingston

and his research and
developmet executive patrick craig.

They are eager to discuss
the possibility of installing

a massive steel cofferdam
in the triangle-shaped swamp

in order to successfully
drain and excavate the area

where the team has
identified the presence

of a possible
man-made structure.

You know, the first thing is
to discuss the crane position.

Where are we going
to set up the crane?

And as you know, uh...

We do have some
limitations there.

You couldn't use the road
as your secondary crane pad?

Yes... That's where we would set it up,
rick,

but we would need to...

Add a little bit more material just to,
uh,

widen it out a little bit.

Okay.

Marty: The present
plan is to run

sheet piling,
much like we did in smith's cove

well out into the swamp,
tie it back to the hill,

go across the road
to the high water mark,

to keep the ocean back,
and then back to the hill.

So that anywhere
in there we can dig.

We can dig the road up,
we can dig, um,

anywhere in the swamp,
and, you know,

hopefully,
successfully find out what's in there.

David, I'm gonna let you,
if you'd be so kind,

to-to start in and give us our options,
if you would.

Yeah, sure.

We've got pretty
big sheets here.

These are 30, 40-foot sheets...

In terms of pile length.

And for that reason,
we're gonna have

a fairly big vibratory hammer.

I think it's our
biggest one we have.

It's a 300 xl. And
for that reason,

I think you'd be hard-pressed
to find a suitable excavator

to hook it up to that could
handle that size vibro.

Narrator: Installing a cofferdam
would entail a multistep proces

that begins by building a
1,600 square foot crane pad

out of gravel.

Once completed,
a massive 300-ton crane

will be used to lift nearly
90 large interlocking sheets

of steel into place and
driven between ten to 20 feet

into the ground
by a vibro hammer,

ultimately isolating
the desired area.

This will allow the
oak island team

the ability to fully drain
and excavate the area

without the thr*at of
flooding or cave-ins.

Craig,
we'll verify with the design team

and let you know how-how far,

how many sheets do we need,
to, you know,

allow you guys to start
digging as soon as possible.

That's definitely something,
I think,

that's in the
realm of possibility.

Right.

Marty: So, I think,
if I can summarize,

regardless of how this evolves,

I think what we can
agree on for sure

is we put in the crane pad,

we put in the sheet
piling all the way around,

we excavate the swamp
first and the road last.

- Mm-hmm.
- All right, so, you know,

we need a, we need a quote
and a time and money now, right?

When can you do it and how much?

Yeah, well, uh...

So we're gonna go with this configuration,
this crane.

A lot of our 300-ton
class machines

are busy right
now but we do have

one coming up from texas.

And we think we
can be hook ready,

on-site, ready to go

in about a month's time.

Okay.

We think we would have
all 89 sheets installed.

Craig: If you start
in the swamp side,

once you get to the road,

are you okay with us working

the northern part of the swamp?

Yeah, I think that's no problem.

Thanks, guys.

Rick: Look,
david and matthew and, uh,

patrick,
we-we can't say enough about,

you know,
working with you has been a pleasure.

Uh,
we look forward to this endeavor as well.

We really got to get moving,
so we look forward to hearing

back from you as
soon as possible.

Yep. Hundred percent.

No,
we're all over it. We understand

that time is of the essence.

So,
we're going to jump on it here

and get back to you as soon as we can,
and...

We look forward
to trying to help you

find something this year.

- Marty: Good.
- Rick: Well, thank you.

Narrator: Later that afternoon,

approximately 50 miles
north of oak island...

- (metal clanging) - alex: Hey,
carmen.

Narrator: ...Alex
lagina and jack begley

arrive at blacksmithing
expert carmen legge's shop

in centreville, nova scotia.

They are eager to have
him examine the recent finds

made by jack and metal detectin
expert gary drayton on lot 15.

All right,
let's start with this one.

So...

You're gonna know exactly
what this is immediately

because we've come and
shown you these before

and we have a couple
different... Ox shoes.

Jack: A winter shoe?

Well,
what do you mean by winter shoe?

How can you tell that?

Is there a difference between
the shoes that would be used

by a british farmer or,
you know,

something like that
versus what would be used

by the british m*llitary?

Or would you be able to tell?

Jack: So that's not the same

as the old shoes

that we brought
you in years past?

No. Some of them were german

and there was also a
few french shoes in there.

Mm-hmm.

Early 1700.

Narrator: At northville farms
in centreville, nova scotia,

blacksmithing expert carmen
legge has just concluded

that the ox shoes found
on lot 15 could date back

to as much as 150 years

before the discovery
of the money pit.

- Alex: Cool.
- Narrator: Could that mean

that the animal
these belonged to

was in some way connected
to the mysterious stone structure

found on lot 15?

A structure that might
also have been involved

in the construction of the
money pit prior to 1795?

Alex: We do have a few more
from the same region. Right, jack?

Jack: Yeah,
we got a couple different ox shoes.

Alex: That seems much bigger.

Two different animals, at least.

- Yeah. - Carmen: Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Alex: One other interesting
thing about the ox shoes

is that we found

both kinds on oak island,

in the vicinity of
this lot 15 structure,

which indicates that not
only was there a large-scale

industrial or m*llitary
activity happening,

it was happening in
two different seasons

for at least a decent
length of time.

Jack: All these ox
shoes were found

in a line, that it seemed like
someone was hauling something

between the swamp
and the money pit.

And... Yeah.

Along the same trail.

Alex: Right.

Jack: Mm-hmm.

A massive excavation.

Jack: Well,
do you think this piece

is related as well?

Jack: When you identified
all the other objects,

it really makes
me think there was

an old british m*llitary
operation of sorts

between the swamp
and the money pit.

Or that's what it appears to be.

We haven't finished detecting the area,
so we'll have to

- go back and see what else we can find.
- Yeah, we will...

We'll go back out there
a-and look for some more stuff.

- Thank you very much.
- Thanks for all the help.

Thank you. We'll see you soon,
carmen. Take care.

Narrator: Later
that afternoon...

- Marty: Hey, there they are.
- Hey, guys.

...Alex lagina and jack begley

meet with rick, marty,

gary drayton and peter fornetti

outside the interpretive centre
to report what they've learned

about their latest
finds made on lot 15.

- Back from the blacksmith's?
- Alex: Yep.

- Cool.
- With, I think, really, really great results.

- Talk to us.
- Well, we took a couple objects,

- mainly the ox shoes. - Mm-hmm.

So, I'll go over those first,
but...

- Lot 15 finds? - Mm-hmm.

So, a couple of key points.

They're old enough to fit,
even predate, the money pit.

He told us that an ox
usually would throw a shoe,

one or two shoes
in three months.

And we're finding
all kinds of them.

So, h-he... his thought was,
you know, that's indicative

of a lot of activity.

So,
what carmen said is that the ox shoes

and-and what we've been
calling a harness could date back

as early as the 1600s.

He's also certain that they
were not used for farming.

He thinks m*llitary or
large-scale industry.

Wow.

In, he thinks, is british.

Wow.

Gary: And it was
a rocky area there.

- Alex: Yeah. Yeah.
- Wasn't farmland.

Alex: And, uh,

two different kinds of shoe.

Winter and summer.
Indicative of...

Year-round.

Year-round or at least
through two different seasons.

Based upon the style
and that it was all the same,

it would appear to him
that it was some sort

of a well-used and
well-traversed hauling area.

So, it's not just one ox

that, you know,
a farmer's using.

It's a team of oxen

that are,
over the course of many months

if not years,
hauling stuff between

the paved area in the
swamp and the money pit.

Yeah. Well,
this is all what you suspected, isn't it?

- Yeah. - Marty: Yeah.

Gary: Yeah, some kind of trail.

And-and it's exciting for
me knowing that there was

a lot of british
in that one area,

uh, doing a lot of hauling.

Rick: We have templars. We have,

uh,
rosicrucians. We have pirates. Uh...

(chuckles): And now
we're gonna throw

the british m*llitary into this?

I mean, it's amazing.

Uh,
it's an island... It is indeed an island

- of what-ifs and possibilities.
- Alex: Do you have

- the other thing that we brought him?
- Jack: Yeah.

- There we go.
- Alex: Oh, here it is.

You remember this one, gary?

Well, let me see.

Yeah, I thought that was
something to do on the end

- of the harness of the ox.
- Alex: Mm-hmm.

Carmen doesn't think so.

- Gary: Okay.
- He thinks this is cast iron.

- Gary: Yeah.
- So, not functional.

- Okay. Yeah.
- Alex: And he thinks this is a finial,

which would have
been on a m*llitary cart.

Wow. That's even better.

Well, can we clean that?

Yeah,
that would be interesting to clean.

Alex: He said if
you do clean it off,

there'd be probably
more decorative stuff

under this part.

- Age.
- Alex: Two things, actually, about this.

I asked him, you know,

a cast-iron piece like
this is not something

that you just make in, like,
a small, little blacksmith shop.

He said no, it's not.

- You'd need a mold.
- Alex: Yeah, you need a mold.

You need, obviously,
high temperature.

Um, so, this isn't something
that was made on the island.

This was obviously
made elsewhere. And...

And being decorative,
it would have cost money.

- Alex: Right.
- Sign of opulence.

Alex: So, I mean, that was...

It's still pretty
interesting. You know,

- it's not exactly what we thought at first.
- Yeah.

Alex: But it is...

- Better.
- All in all, it's almost better.

- Alex: Yeah.
- I was just gonna say the same thing.

- It's better. - Yeah.

All right, well, that's good.

You guys did well.
You did very well.

- Alex: Thank you.
- Thank you for your mission.

Rick: Well, look, I-I'm glad

that you guys are excited,
right?

And every time,

every little bit of
information adds to the story.

You know I'm always about the story,
right?

What do you make of it all,
gary?

Th-these finds have
shown us these are

old british pieces of iron,
and all we got to do

- is find some old british gold and silver.
- Alex: Mm-hmm.

Rick: Good job, guys.

Narrator: Since 1795,

generations of
determined treasure hunters

have tried to reach the
bottom of the money pit.

They were thwarted
in their efforts

by everything from
ingeniously designed booby tras

and sudden cave-ins

to harsh weather

and a legendary curse

that, so far,
has claimed six lives.

So, will rick,
marty and their team succeed

where so many
others have failed?

There are many who
are hoping that the answer

is a profound yes

and that the oak island mystery

is finally on the
verge of being solved.

Next time on the
curse of oak island...

Marty: Let's quit
jawboning and dig.

- There it is. Looks like a nice, big "x."
- marty: Wow.

Gary: What the heck?

- Oh! Another a*!
- No way.

Gary: This is no coincidence.

This reminds me of a camp.

- That's impressive.
- Yeah.

Well,
there's something dug here.

It is 100% man-made.