After 220 years, two brothers finally found the treasure of Oak Island

After a lot of research time invested and money spent, Marty and Rick Lagina hit the jackpot, as they like to say.

Oak Island was said to have buried treasure under it, attracting the attention of researchers, historians, and various treasure hunters throughout the years.

Most of them tried unsuccessfully to learn the island’s secrets, with some losing their money, lives, and sanity.

The two brothers, Rick and Marty Lagina, believe they’ve solved the riddle surrounding the enigma of Oak Island.

The question everyone wants to know is: Was there buried treasure, and did the island give it up?

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The two brothers worked hard and spent much of their lives trying to learn of the mysteries of Oak Island, but it was to no avail.

Then, their last attempt for fruit led to A&E, a television network, chronicling their efforts in a documentary called The Curse of Oak Island.

These brothers were obsessed with the island, causing them to spend a lot of money to fund their excavations and locate the treasure.

Fortunately, the television show helped to bring in more investors, so they had the funding needed for their treasure hunt.

The show ended up moving through two seasons without a discovery from the legendary brothers.

During the third season, that all changed. While they drained a hole, they found artifacts like a ceremonial Roman sword, suggesting that the Romans were in North America before Christopher Columbus.

At the end of season three, they had unearthed many artifacts, leading them to feel that they were on the right track.

As season four started, they wanted to identify one of the interesting items they found: a handmade copy of a French map.

Xena Halperin, an expert in ancient seafaring and a historian, helped them.

They ended up dating the map to about 1647.

It had the words “valve,” “anchor,” and “hatch” on it, suggesting that the hidden treasure might be from Africa.

The treasure hunters also found what appeared to be one section of a book—a book binder—something that held paper together.

Therefore, the brothers thought there could be manuscripts waiting to show their secrets to the bigger picture.

Along with the book binding, they found a piece of parchment made of animal skin.

Some speculated that it was linked to William Chapo and Frederick Blair, who had been involved in an island investigation.

It was dated to about the 15th century, when only the wealthy could receive or send letters.

A few gold pieces were found on Oak Island in the 21st century, while the Churro Company excavated.

They ran into trouble when the sea filled the hole, and eventually had to stop because they ran out of money.

That area was dubbed “The Money Pit,” which claimed a life while trying to drain it.

Many people explored the island in the 20th century, and each company hoped to be successful but wasn’t.

President Roosevelt was obsessed with the island and was part of the exploration group.

It’s said that his team wasn’t successful and couldn’t fund more excavations.

Interest in the pit never stopped, even with all the failures.

The mystery was kept alive by people like Irwin Hamilton, who cleared a shaft and found wooden rocks that were alien to the area.

This confirmed that something was underneath.

Rick and Marty were in good company; the team had skills, experience, and knowledge, and were sure that the island might give up its mystery.

Craig Tester, Marty’s roommate in college, Dan Blankenship, and his son David formed part of the team.

Dan Blankenship was the famous Nova Scotia hunter and was often called a living legend.

He left his contracting business for Oak Island and has poured his life into unraveling the mystery.

His son followed in his footsteps, and now they both help their dream move along.

It had been hard to get water out of The Money Pit in the past; therefore, Craig thought about freezing it, and the legend team liked it that way.

It was easier to excavate.

Since childhood, the brothers had been budding treasure hunters, so it was a matter of time until a treasure hunting mystery pulled them in and had them pursue it as hard as they could.

At just 10 years old, Ricky Lagina, living in Kingsford, found a granite boulder and tried to find out if treasure lay beneath it.

This was a momentous occasion, even though he found nothing.

These brothers wanted to buy a stake in the island to pursue their dream.

They did so in 2006, buying about half of the Oak Island tours.

Dan Blankenship owned the other half and was part of the team.

Both knew they had to collaborate with everyone.

Marty was cautious and didn’t want to jump to conclusions when they made their initial discoveries.

However, evidence suggests that some significant events happened further in the past than they imagined.

Still, he couldn’t help but be optimistic.

The first indication of treasure on Oak Island happened in the 18th century.

Daniela Jennings, a young boy, found unnatural scarring on one of the oak trees.

He thought it was from a rope and pulley system.

Then he saw a five-meter depression and thought something was buried there.

He told his friends, and they started a decades-long excavation.

A few years later, the Onslow Company attempted to finish what those three friends started.

While their efforts weren’t successful, they defined a table with writing on it.

Finally, after a century, it was translated.

One self-claimed expert believed that parts of what was written said, “40 feet below, 2 million pounds lie buried.”

Some have taken that to confirm that there was treasure buried on the island.

But was it true?

Oak Island was also the staging ground for wild theories.

Some theorized that the treasure was Marie Antoinette’s; others felt that Francis Bacon and Shakespeare left manuscripts.

Regardless, most theories captured the imaginations of people, though none were confirmed.

The legendary brothers found the Woodline Shaft, and they think it was built in 1805 by those who first located The Money Pit.

In fact, they have discovered about 600 historical artifacts since they began their adventure on Oak Island.

A significant find inside the pit was a human bone; they speculated it was from someone with Middle Eastern ancestry.

Another bone was found to be of European ancestry.

Through his research, Marty hypothesized that they were from the Knights Templar.

Gary Drayton was a fun addition to the Lagina team.

He has been dubbed the “metal detecting ninja” by those familiar with his work.

He’s often regarded as someone who can find things others can’t.

On the show, he has definitely had to put his skills to the test and use them for the team.

Before The Curse of Oak Island ended its season 5 series, Gary and the Laginas found something quite remarkable.

The small cross, dated to be between 1200 and 1600, had a hole at the top.

There was also a stone with Greek letters, reminding Rick of a Templar prison.

The artifacts seemed to fit the context of theories connecting Oak Island to the Knights Templar.

The show claimed that if proof was established that the members were in North America seven centuries ago, it could change the world’s history.

Xena Halpern, the historian, proposed another option for the cross’s origins.

She said it could depict the Phoenician goddess named Tannen, which may mean the Templars revered the goddess of health and fertility, potentially turning history on its head.

From there, more theories cropped up, and they seemed preposterous.

One explanation of the origin of the cross proposed it could have been used as a way to smuggle gold.

How is that possible, though?

Jack Begley claimed that the cross was covered in lead; however, when it was scraped away, gold was underneath it.

He says that the group might still be in Smith’s Cove, or it might have been transferred there in the past.

One discovery the brothers made is a stone about 400 to 500 years old.

The rhodolite garnet features a raspberry color, and some say it confirms the connection to Marie Antoinette.

Rick Lagina claimed they deserved a pat on the back because they found treasure.

However, the rhodolite garnet could have come from various places; the Marie Antoinette connection is just one of the theories surrounding the origin of the stone.

From the design, some feel it’s linked to Masonic wear, large and high priest.

The legendary brothers don’t care if the show is renewed for a sixth season; they are more focused on untangling the mysteries of the island and finding hidden treasure.

Maddie Blake hosts an after-show about their team and claims they are sure to keep making tons of discoveries.

The legends chill out discoveries; the raka found another strange stone with interesting carvings on it.

This indicated that it was an average stone crate.

The team’s drilling expert thought they looked like Roman numerals.

At this point, the entire team agrees that whatever is found around the Money Pit should be investigated thoroughly.

That was a sound decision because later they learned something startling about this stone.

They brought the stone to their lab and ran relevant tests on it.

Overall, they subjected the item to scrutiny and hypothesized that the evidence suggests there was a Viking presence on the island at one time.