In 1928, a New York businessman, Gilbert Hedden, got captivated by the strangeness of the mystery following the island after reading an article about it. As an operator of a steel fabricating firm, he was curious about the engineering issues that the previous explorers encountered.
Determined to apply his engineering skills and, of course, try his luck in finding the controversial treasure, he arrived on the island with his business partner, Fred Blair. They drilled some of the shafts and discovered something more intriguing than had ever been found before. Could this pair be the key to solving the mystery?
Yet Another Tragedy
Still, even without knowing what the parchment meant, they still wanted to continue digging. Just as they were getting close to their mission, Maynard Kaiser, one of the team’s explorers, met his tragic death.
It all happened when they tried to lift him back to the surface. As he was being hoisted up, his rope untangled from the pulley and, tragically, Maynard fell to his death down the shaft. Was this just an accident? Or maybe a part of some island curse?
President Roosevelt's Involvement
At some point, even the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt got himself involved in the mysteries of Oak Island. Stirred by his family’s sailing stories, he continued following the island’s treasure mystery until his death, in 1945.
Roosevelt was a member of The Old Savage Group. Even though the crew of explorers didn’t make much progress on their hunt for the island’s treasure, he continued to monitor the Oak Island attempts and developments. In 1939, he planned to secretly visit the island but it didn’t materialize due to weather and certain international issues.
More Discoveries
Gilbert Hedden and Fred Blair’s decision to take on Oak Island did not disappoint them, as they became the first witnesses to the island’s newest revelations. What the pair discovered was a stone with markings almost the same as the one that was discovered in 1804 in the Money Pit. Later on, they found some old timber at Smith’s Cove that appeared to be the exact material that was used when the pit was initially built.
What the pair discovered was a stone with markings almost the same as the one that was discovered in 1804 in the Money Pit. Later on, they found some old timber at Smith’s Cove that appeared to be the exact material that was used when the pit was initially built.
An Odd Layer
Another treasure-hunting hopeful was Erwin Hamilton who arrived on the island in 1938. When he started drilling in 1939, he came across two interesting discoveries. About 190 feet down the Money Pit, he found some intriguing rocks and gravel. Upon checking them, Hamilton realized that they were foreign and that they had been placed there intentionally.
His next discovery was an odd layer of natural limestone that contained some oak splinters. As such, he believed that a layer of wood existed underneath the limestone layer. Hamilton was thrilled with his findings but reached an impasse.