After putting in the work, day in and day out, their lucky break finally came: as they were drilling, they hit the jackpot. Tada! They successfully drilled through two chests filled with coins.
They thought this was the first sign of the massive hidden treasure that was promised by the stone. There was a claim that three gold links from a chain were also discovered, but these gold links went missing and no one had an inkling of what actually happened.
Hitting Rock Bottom
Nothing they tried worked and the non-stop pouring of water made their mission impossible to carry out. The Onslow company realized that they could not push their search any further.
The pit was designed with a 500-foot waterway that connects to Smith’s Cove. This means water can get in freely from the sea, and any time there’s an attempt to empty it, it quickly fills up again from the endless oceanic supply.
A 45-Year Delay
This conundrum had a massive impact on the discovery of the mysterious treasure. Trying to figure out a way around it caused a delay of almost half a century in the exploration. However, even such seemingly insurmountable obstacles cannot deter explorers.
Unfazed by the challenges of the Oak Island treasure, in 1849, a new team of explorers called The Truro Company, set foot on the island. They found an efficient way to drill samples of the pit without the water being an issue.
A Deeper Pit
The Truro Company realized that the so-called “Money Pit” was deeper. As such, they had to keep draining the water over and over. However, as they repeated the process, they noticed something strange was happening: the level of the water in the pit was moving with the tides.
This realization led to the discovery that the entire beach was artificial; a complex construction with drains and flow tunnels beneath it. Surely this kind of effort would only be undertaken to protect a pretty hefty treasure, right?
The Storm That Ruined Everything
The Truro Company thought of creating a dam to obstruct the flow of water and dig out the treasure. However, they discovered that somebody had already attempted this when they came across an older dam. Then a storm came.
The storm created an unusually high tide which destroyed all their hard work. At this point, they were in way too deep, and the endeavor drained their pockets. Lacking the funds to rebuild, they had to give up.