elag <elag@cloud9.net> wrote in message news:<3F4C3BE6.63BDCD03@cloud9.net>...
> Parry wrote:
> >
> > elag <elag@cloud9.net> wrote in message news:<3F38B8BC.8462C6CF@cloud9.net>...
> > [snip for length]
> > > Sure, what's really needed is a 3-D sonar map of the island so that all
> > > the underground cavities can be interpreted. Then any promising areas
> > > could be investigated w/ fiberoptics and core sampling. At any rate I'm
> > > not convinced of the sinkhole theory either. After all, people buried
> > > things all the time in the days before insured banks.
> > >
> > > > > In another place
> > > > >
> > > > > http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/natural.htm
> > > > >
> > > > > I read:
> > > > >
> > > > > "A natural pit was in fact discovered in 1949 on the shore of
> > > > > Mahone Bay, five miles to the south of Oak Island, when workmen
> > > > > were digging a well. Just as with the 'Money Pit', reports of a
> > > > > stone platform and layers of logs invoked the excitement of
> > > > > another pit yet given the geographical behaviour of this area,
> > > > > such flights of fancy were soon dismissed."
> > > > >
> > > > > so it's not unreasonable to consider that the "Oak Island" legend has a
> > > > > similar genesis.
> > > >
> > > > I wouldn't think they have a similar genesis, as this latter story is
> > > > obviously a copycat.
> > >
> > > I'll need a cite before I'll believe that. Everything I've read leads
> > > me to conclude the opposite.
> >
> > No citation, but given the year of the find and that it happened just
> > five miles from Oak Island, it should be a safe assumption that the
> > people there had Oak Island in the back of their thoughts.
>
> Sure, I don't argue w/ that, but going only by what I read it seems
> likely that they might have encountered the same combo of decaying
> organic matter flagstones and odd geology that might have led the
> original treasure hunters astray. I concede that a copycat prank is a
> distinct possibility, but I've never read any report that implied it.
> Not that I want to spend any more time doing research, mind you...
>
> > On the other hand, the Oak Island story appears unique. I haven't heard
> > another buried treasure story like it.
>
> Yes, I suppose that's so.
>
> The "Lost Dutchman Mine" is another interesting treasure story:
>
> http://www.prairieghosts.com/dutchman.html
The combination of greed and madness usually makes for a good story.
It's nice that after the mountain decapitates and mutilates
treasure-hunters it flips them the bird. It's not surprising that so
many deaths have accrued in this rugged terrain over the centuries.
Probably a comparable number of fatalities have happened at the
picturesque falls near here, and that's without guns being involved.
> > > > As a last footnote to the tale, I just read in Fortean Times that the
> > > > site's owners have the land up for sale: "We're asking $7 million.
> > > > [...] If we factored the buried treasure into the price, we'd be
> > > > asking for $50 million." If you have the scratch, I have a shovel. The
> > > > article also notes that the Oak Island Tourism Society failed to raise
> > > > the money to buy the place, and despair that it will be developed for
> > > > luxury housing.
> > >
> > > Ah, that'll just be another "Money Pit". Maybe they could build the
> > > buildings around the pits so people can go and asphyxia... explore them
> > > in their spare time.
> >
> > It's the Canadian way. If an affluent joe wants a cottage, historical
> > interest be damned. Heck, we shoot natives rather than give up our
> > golf courses.
>
> Hmmm... I thought that the Canadian Gov'ts dealings w/ the Natives were
> a lot more even handed. Is there an interesting story behind the reference?
Actually, I conflated two stories. There was the so-called "Oka
Crisis" in 1990 in Quebec in which Mohawks barricaded highways to
prevent a golf course expansion into burial ground land. The
provincial police launched a violent assault on the barricades in
which a cop got killed; afterwards federal troops replaced the
provincials and a deal was brokered. The other incident was in
Ontario, in 1995 I think, when Stoney Point First Nations natives held
a peaceful occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park, again over a
burial ground issue, and again a violent assault by provincial police,
this one killing native Dudley George.
-- Parry
|
| Follow-ups: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 |
| 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 |
|