The TRUE story behind the Oak Island legend... (Finally revelaed)

[Real of Tayopa]

To warrant that much work in the form of a filtered salt, would leave an enormous pile of charcoal and other contaminates. Where are they

 

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[somehiker]

To warrant that much work in the form of a filtered salt, would leave an enormous pile of charcoal and other contaminates. Where are they

Where ?
In between the evenly spaced separators (log platforms every 10 ft), along with the layers of coconut fiber, sand,gravel and muck. That muck would have been the trapped contaminants, which eventually clogged the system until the treasure hunters reached the level where seawater could once again enter the system.
I see no other viable reason for the design of the "money pit", and the materials used in it's construction. Filtered sea water makes cleaner salt that will not taint whichever meat or fish that it is used to preserve, regardless of whether it is produced via solar and wind evaporation or by boiling in pans over fire......which WOULD of course result in large amounts of ash rather than charcoal. But even if the fire method was used, AND resulted in significant amounts of charcoal, it all wouldn't necessarily have been set aside in an "enormous pile" that would still exist today.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Most cultures would have constructed (and did/do) pans a foot or so below Spring Tide so the highest tides would flood them and then they would be above mean ocean level so they could evaporate.

Do you have any sites in the world you can show that are similar to a pit evaporator or filter below sea level as you suggest?

 

[somehiker]

Most cultures would have constructed (and did/do) pans a foot or so below Spring Tide so the highest tides would flood them and then they would be above mean ocean level so they could evaporate.

Do you have any sites in the world you can show that are similar to a pit evaporator or filter below sea level as you suggest?

I've only suggested the design of the pit as a filter, since the surface area at the top of the water level would not be large enough to allow for much, if any, evaporation.
The top was also sealed with a final layer of flat rocks. I believe that final layer would have helped to prevent wind and rain from introducing contaminants and fresh water dilution to the sea water.
Do a search for "sea salt production", and you will find many different approaches to the process worldwide. Also many examples where the salt flats are well above tide and surf levels. If you watch and listen to some of the videos, you will see and hear the people who make the salt mention filtration as a necessary step in the process, and sometimes why it is done. Even in some of the more primitive operations.....

eg: the large conical structure in this photo is a filter, used in a multi-step process to clear the salt brine prior to it going to the final evaporation pans.



Raw sea water is first allowed to partly evaporate in shallow pools. Then it is carried in pails up the ramp and poured into the filter.
The filtered water drains through a pipe at the bottom, into the drum, from where it is then carried to individual salt pans for the final evaporation step.

And although rare, since above ground filtered water supplies are easier to build, here is one from Malta that is very close to the edge of a low cliff along the coast.




It's used to draw clean ocean water .....like any fresh water well.... to supply the salt pans there. They used to use buckets, but now gasoline driven pumps. I'm not sure if this operation uses filters on their pumps as well, but I have seen photos of other operations that do, including one which was quite old and windmill driven. That one had a tall cylindrical filter to one side of the windmill.
When I get a chance, I'll do something up, showing how I think the "money pit" would work with the tide as a a no-labor pump and filtration system .

 

[Real of Tayopa]

Some rider; Salt was an extremely valuable product, The various producers, were tightly controlled as a side method of collecting the gov'ts taxes. . example in the patio process in mining in Mexico . It was an indirect way to collect their taxes hence all known salt producers were considered gov't only. I can't believe that an operation such as oak island would escape the Gov't eye, sooner or later someone would talk.

 

[Raparee]

To warrant that much work in the form of a filtered salt, would leave an enormous pile of charcoal and other contaminates. Where are they

Wood ash was used to sweeten soils in order to increase crop productivity. Maybe the waste from this hypothetical salt manufacturing operation was spread on local fields.

 

[somehiker]

Some rider; Salt was an extremely valuable product, The various producers, were tightly controlled as a side method of collecting the gov'ts taxes. . example in the patio process in mining in Mexico . It was an indirect way to collect their taxes hence all known salt producers were considered gov't only. I can't believe that an operation such as oak island would escape the Gov't eye, sooner or later someone would talk.

Joe:
I don't think this had any connection with gold/silver mining in Colonial Mexico.....not everything does, you know.
And it wouldn't have had anything to do with the Spanish Gov't, and their taxation system either.
As far as Oak Island was concerned, if it was a salt harvesting operation as I and at least one other writer has proposed, it would have been quite small, compared to the larger operations on the Eastern side of the Atlantic. As such, who would have cared, except those fishermen who had a good use for the salt. If they were taxed, it would have been on the fish that they delivered to market.

 

[Real of Tayopa]

S hike you missed the pont.it was not about vmining as such,but gov't control of the salt production.Incidently the pt was a red herring.

 

[somehiker]

Red herring Joe ?
I'm only theorizing, but I suppose you have it all figured out.
If so, then tell us why that's what it is. And how you can prove it.

 

[Dave Rishar]

No firm opinion here, but I was curious about just how much salt is in seawater so I looked it up. It can vary a bit by locale, but seawater on average contains about 35 grams of salt (mostly sodium chloride) per liter. That's about 13 liters of seawater to provide one pound of salt, not counting any losses from carry over. I found this rather interesting. I'd always figured that it would take a lot more seawater than that, but there you are. Feel free to check my math if that doesn't sound right.

To put this in perspective, I'm imagining a salt extraction operation at the edge of the beach, past the high tide line but not too far into the treeline. One healthy man of military age carrying two 4-liter buckets of seawater is no big deal over reasonable distances, which represents more than half a pound of salt. A crew of men could move a lot of water like this fairly quickly, which in turn would eventually yield a lot of salt. If I were in charge of a detail that was extracting salt from seawater, I'm not sure that I'd use the labor required to dig trenches and filters and all of that other crap unless I was planning on being there for a very long time. I can't give you a break-even point, but if I was only planning on being there for a year or so, I'd probably just organize the men into a bucket brigade when it was time to refill the pots. I'll be getting results far more quickly that way. If I had to take a guess, moving the fuel would be more work than moving the water. The water's right there - wade out into the surf at high tide, dip a bucket and carry it back. The fuel (trees) must be felled after the deadwood on the ground is gone, it must be bucked and split, and it must be carried to the work site. The longer that the operation runs, the further away the fuel is, but the water remains right where it always was. I'd guess that moving the water is the easy part over the long run, if not in the short term.

Come to think of it, I can see the operation moving further and further inland as time goes on. That makes the water further and further away, which in turn makes those trenches/tunnels even more painful to construct. No, I think that I'd rather have my men haul buckets. (When they weren't chopping wood, that is, because there would be a hell of a lot of wood to chop.)

If the plan instead was to excavate evaporation pools, trenches to the ocean might make more sense, but I'm not sure that those would work in Oak Island's climate. Have any been found?

 

[releventchair]

Southern Europe had cheap salt in the 17th century. Northern Europe had access to it.

In Nova Scotia waters ,the Basque were the early birds in salting and drying cod. Plenty of salt works at their home country to bring aboard an empty craft heading for fish. Summer months were the window of time. Inspect a salt works in the assumption salt will be waiting? Or frog around instead of fishing while missing out on ...time.
After Cabot got wind of the cod ,salt was still in Europe's case no problem to have aboard and not risk gambling a salt works on the island remained effective , unmolested ,and functional in their winter absence.

Had salt been needed for some non independent reason,why not just ask the Natives? Heck ,go to Pugwash and knock yourself out without leaving a work at the whims of nature in your absence and requiring routine maintenance upon return. The weight of water in holding structures posed above eroded limestone? Basic control of hydraulics entrusted to design when no one is around ? No fouling over winter months? That's alot to speculate ,but it is not a tropical clime and the sites features are fragile.

A porous limestone exposed to time and ocean is going to erode in many fanciful ways. Second hand data about what the pit was and contained is just that.
The engraved stones fate after being a subject of curiosity (depending on who observed it) ? Abandon.

What of the Mahone Bay pit? What is any different?

 

[Real of Tayopa]

some hiker, yep, but how to prove it? I hae posted it here before, two or three times.
How can you prove something that only has a pit and a pully ?

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Depression and a mark where there might have been a pulley . . . as related by one of a group of then kids who later said they had found nothing when they dug around.

 

[somehiker]

Depression and a mark where there might have been a pulley . . . as related by one of a group of then kids who later said they had found nothing when they dug around.

Ok, lets start with that.
A depression in the ground under a tree, and a mark of some kind on a limb above......with possibly one or the other, or even both being natural features.
So why does anyone think there is a treasure buried there, or anywhere else on that island ?
While it's fun to speculate about this and that, and awful expensive and risky for all those folks who kept on digging a that hole down to and beyond the water table, including the current crew busy digging up everything else, so far nothing has been found. At least nothing IMO, that would encourage me to keep looking for treasure.

Back on the 9th, sdcfia had posted a link to this page......Dennis King's article on the "Finger Drains"
I think the author has laid out a good case for a salt works on the island, at least for the early-mid 1700's, even though my own ideas may differ somewhat.

 

[franklin]

If there is or was any treasure on Oak Island is a question that may never get answered. But I do not believe that about "salt" No sane person is going to dig over one hundred feet and go below the water table to filter "salt?"

Too many documents, maps and drawings as well as monuments say a treasure was buried in Arcadia. If you look at the work Petter Admundsen did with "Shakespeare" and the folios you will know that a huge KGC treasure was took to Oak Island. Most of the Holy Artifacts have already been removed and maybe all of the treasure has too.

 

[somehiker]

Sorry franklin, but I've never created a file for anything KGC. If I had, it would probably be thinner than most, since pretty much everything I've seen to date, including PA's theoretical propositions, has been folks trying to shove the square peg thru the round holes where other lost treasures remain. You may see it differently, but that's my take on the KGC.
Do have a rather bulky file on the Templars though, so Arcadia/Acadia IS familiar. But the most recent date in that timeline leaves a considerable gap before anything KGC shows up.

 

[franklin]

Sorry franklin, but I've never created a file for anything KGC. If I had, it would probably be thinner than most, since pretty much everything I've seen to date, including PA's theoretical propositions, has been folks trying to shove the square peg thru the round holes where other lost treasures remain. You may see it differently, but that's my take on the KGC.
Do have a rather bulky file on the Templars though, so Arcadia/Acadia IS familiar. But the most recent date in that timeline leaves a considerable gap before anything KGC shows up.

The KGC and their treasures are real. They are just very difficult to find or to recover. If the US Government would let me dig three feet I could pay off the National Deficit.

 

[Real of Tayopa]

Franklin, I find myself tending to agree with you. They are the only group that are unaccounted for, that had the advantage of so many men under their power that would keep it secret. Only they could dig the pit, and keep it quiet. They built the pit as a red herring . They built a tunnel above the high water mark in the side of pit/hole that led to another part of the the island The treasure is under a non disturbed area. They were excellent navigators. They left pit i full of traps that eventually would stop any treasure hunters. They only has to dig a short depth.in undisturbed ground to recover what they buried

 

[Robot]

Never Leave Out...The Freemasons!

The (Untold) Story of The Oak Island Money Pit

The Oak Island Money Pit was constructed by the “Powers That Be” who were and still to this day, The Secret Force that controls the course of mankind on earth.

This organization is known as - The Freemasons.

The Story of The Oak Island Money Pit begins in the 1760’s

It was conceived by a number of Britains’ high ranking Naval Officers, who were Masonic Degree Members of the Freemasons and belonging to the Premier Grand Lodge of England.

These members were:

Washington Shirley, 5[SUP]th[/SUP] Earl Ferrers — Vice Admiral - Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge — Premier Grand Lodge of England

George Anson, Baron Anson — Admiral of the Fleet

George Keppel, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Earl of Albemarle - Commander-In-Chief

Augustus Keppel, 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Viscount Keppel — Rear Admiral — Brother to George Keppel

William Keppel — Lieutenant-General — Brother to George Keppel

George Pocock — Admiral — Commander of the Invasion of Havana

and

Benjamin Franklin — First Grand Master of Pennsylvania who met in 1760 with the Grand Master of England to discuss their plan.


These Masons were members of the Whig Party opposed to the next successor to the throne, the unstable King George III.

Their plot originated after King George III’s continued destruction of their Whig’s political power and his redirection of this power to the Tory Party.

These Freemason feared for the continuance of their organization during the Seven Years’ War, with the imminent invasion of England by the joint forces of France and Spain.

Spain outlawed all forms of secret organizations, including the Freemasons.

The Masons planned redirecting all their fortunes to the “New World” (North America), to enable the transfer of the Masonic organization, if and when these fears materialized.

Their military plan entailed the capture of Havana in 1762.

Havana’s Morro Castle and the Jesuit's Cathedral were the Fort Knox of Spain, holding the plunder of South and Central America’s treasure prior to its shipping to Spain.

The invasion of Havana was under the command of George Keppel, with Admiral George Pocock and Keppel’s two brothers Augustus and William Keppel, commanding the actual attack.

They were successful with the capture of Havana and Fort Morro and its unprecedented amount of treasure.

They also captured a number of the Spanish Fleet, which were needed to accomplish their plan.

Accordingly, Admiral Pocock returned to England with the main English fleet carrying a portion of the treasure, while Augustus and William Keppel along with their crew and Masonic engineers all sworn to secrecy, manned the Spanish Galleons and the British Man of War Vessels.

This treasure was diverted to a small island off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia, now called Oak Island.

At Oak Island, the treasure was buried based on the Masonic “Royal Arch” (Enoch’s Temple) doctrine, consisting of nine arches going down nine levels by way of the main shaft (The Money Pit) which was then dug further down to the bedrock.

From the ninth level another circular tunnel was constructed which ran back up to a point above the known water level, roughly 20 feet underground and then towards the North/West end of the island.

This tunnel stopped roughly 50 feet out under the ocean where an enormous cavern was built to hold the treasure.

The treasure was carted down the main shaft and placed up into this cavern.

To conceal their plot they had the Spanish ships and some of the British ships dismantled with all the wooden parts not used in the construction of the shaft, tunnels, and cavern, burnt and all the metal parts, canons, anchors, and bolts placed at the bottom of the main shaft.

A Flood Tunnel was built out to the ocean to booby trap any treasure seekers attempts to follow down the main shaft.

A large stone was placed above the air lock (8[SUP]th[/SUP] level) as bait to activate the flooding.
This stone had strange engravings on it to entice any unworthy treasure seekers to pause and take the bait (stone) away for deciphering, thus allowing time for the tunnels and main shaft to fill with water and be destroyed forever.

The Masons could access the Treasure Cavern under the ocean by digging down to its entrance from where they triangulated a set Marker on the shore to be.

Once the treasure was secured in the cavern and all the evidence was hidden from the island, it was documented that the Keppels sailed back to England with a few ships and a small portion of the treasure.
They claimed that the remainder of the fleet had sunk in a hurricane on route.

The Masons left several Marker Stones on the island to relocate the treasure.
1 large triangle or more precisely a crude Sextant
Many drilled holed Marker Stones
1 large Marker Stone Cross
These combined Marker Stones from the Freemason’s Star Map are used to cross triangulate to locate the entrances to where the Treasure Cavern and Sir Francis Bacon’s Tomb are located.

Is the treasure still in this cavern?

I believe it was removed shortly after the American Revolution.

One of the three original discoverers of the Money Pit was Daniel McGinnis, who stated he was drawn to the island when he noticed strange lights appearing on the island just prior to his discovery.

These lights were made by the Freemasons when they returned for their treasure.

This Masonic party was headed up by George Washington, President of the United States — acting Grand Master of the Washington DC Masons.

The Treasure’s vast fortune was used to further the power of the Freemasons in their New World and accomplishing Bacon’s dream of a New Acadia.

Sir Francis Bacon, along with his original and unpublished Manuscripts, are resting in his Tomb, located between Nolan’s Cross and the Money Pit, watched over by a statue of the Knights Templar.

 

[ArkhamB]

The KGC and their treasures are real. They are just very difficult to find or to recover. If the US Government would let me dig three feet I could pay off the National Deficit.

You're going to let the government stop you from digging 3 feet and discovering a treasure? Is this near a national monument or something?