He wasn't even looking for a treasure when he died. He was desperate to produce anything that would have worked to convince his investors to continue giving him money (the family needed it to live). He himself had sold off the majority of his cut in anything he might find by the time he died. He was chasing his losses. And he was, in fact, excavating around a hole suspected by everyone before him of being the MP in an effort to discover flood tunnels to it when he was overcome by gasses. Flood tunnels from Smith's cove is the one thing Restall successfully eliminated from the realm of possibility. Because of Restall, we have physical evidence of there being no relationship between the vertical shaft, the drainage feature in the cove, sink holes, and the various holes called MP locations. Not that we needed it, but he did show there are no such tunnels. We know today that all flooding of shafts is from dissolution fissures at depth. It was a problem that had routinely fouled the wells that existed on that island since ca. 1800. Holes were "flooding" with sea water before there were OI stories.
What we actually know from the letters we have is that RR was always at his last cent and was growing increasingly desperate to coax out more funds by coming up with novel suggestions. IMHO, he was even lying to his wife and she probably knew it. When all you have is the front you show the world, that has to be well managed.
They were the only ones who found treasure, called a steady pay check.
Yes some of do but it's kind of a Tnet secret so kindly keep it low key please. Thanks...!
We have great insight into that because of the publication of some personal letters. If you want to read them, find a copy of "Oak Island Obsession, The Restall story". RR was being coached by the individual who leased him his access to the island to come up with convincing details to keep his funding rolling in. He was always on the cusp of losing his lease. This we can know. When we can know something it is our damn fault if we do not do the work to be aware of it. It serves no one to pretend that RR or Dan were honest and upright men. The delusions involved almost require that one play fast and loose with the facts to manufacture compelling narratives that keep giving this life. Same with the show. Zero gets said, or shown, that isn't a plea for viewers to suspend their disbelief. The sins of omission are breathtaking. The embellishments are preposterous in their reach.
Not the same thing. The Attocha and the Santa Margarita were real ships. No one was deluded about their existence, their wrecking in the Keys or their listed contents. No invention was involved in the stated goal of salvaging these wrecks. Finding them was doable on that basis. OI is an alleged mystery where no one even knows what they are looking for. The origin story given for it has no documented basis. In fact, people are still trying to write it. If you die in an anonymous hole looking for something no one can even name, what exactly is driving you? It is "not knowing" that is driving you. That, mixed with a refusal to disbelieve any and all possibilities, creates the impetus for "answers" that people like Rick Lagina insist must exist. The real OI story is one that mirrors the Millerite "Great Disappointment" of 1843.
I have actually read this book. Granted it has been some years since. He might have been stretching the truth like many others to get funding but he believed in what he was looking for. He had all kinds of drawings as to what he thought was happening under ground. He always thought he was close to figuring it out. Said that many many times in the book. Even his wife said it as she believed in him.. He wasn't doing any of this to make a nice living. They had that before they got there. They all lived a rough life while on the island. Remember they lived on it year round. No road to the island then and they had no electricity.. They had some money from years of touring with their motorcycle cage show. Granted they may have spent it all on the search, but they were not living that life and making a nice living from it..
