Robert Dunfield had big plans for Oak Island but no idea the scale of what actually needed to be done. If you like the story of Oak Island. Here are some interesting things I found associated with Robert Dunfield, one of the searchers on the island.
THE ROBERT DUNFIELD EXPEDITION
JULY 1965 TO AUGUST 1966
by Paul Troutman
JULY 1965
Dunfield contacted Melbourne Russell Chappell (Oak Island Owner and Treasure License Holder) about wanting to his own treasure hunt on Oak Island. But since that wasn’t an option, with the current agreements with Robert Restall, Dunfield hoped to be an investor and partner in the Restall operation. He then laid out of a detailed plan of using Surveying, and Sheet Piling to hold back the water, and an Orange Peel bucket to excavate the Money Pit.
From the very start, Dunfields approach was going to be different than any other prior operation on Oak Island, and one of the most controversial uses of Heavy Equipment for all of the work on the island. Rather then the slower hand digging and examination of the past. Up until this point, hand tools (pick axes, shovels, chisels, coal pod augers, valve sludgers), horse gins, steam shovels, dynamite, buckets, casks, small engine drilling and pumping machines had only been used.
Restall phoned Dunfield in California, and then Dunfield visited the island. A contract was signed on July 15th 1965 in which Dunfield invested an Initial $5,000 in the Restall operation, with an option of an additional $5,000 later on. Another investor from Miami, Florida, named Dan Blankenship showed up around this time. But he was turned away, as Restall felt with between his new round of investor funding, along with Dunfield’s investment, that he had more than enough to complete his operation. Restall felt was very close to finding an answer. And worked hard toward completion of his work in the digging of the drain convergence point (Vertical Shaft) below the Cave In Pit. Less than 5 months of the Restall Contract remained.
AUGUST 1965
August 3rd – The 1st Caterpillar Bulldozer arrives on Oak Island by Barge.
August 17th – The Restall accident occurred on the island, which resulted in the death of Robert Restall, his son Bobby Restall, Karl Greaser, and Cyril Hiltz. Restall had recently installed a pump at the bottom of an old 27 FT pit to drain the water. There was 4 feet of black stinking water at the bottom. He went to check on the pump, and the air was unusually thick and heavy that day. When he looked down into the pit, he was immediately knocked unconscious by toxic fumes coming from the pit, and fell in. His son Bobby saw his father go in, and he ran over and climbed down the cribbing and began to cough and choke. Karl Greaser and Cyril Hiltz also went down to save the two Restalls, but he also was overcome by the fumes. Andrew Demont and Leonard Kaizer also followed into the pit, to try to save the others, and were also knocked out by the fumes and vomiting. Worker Jim Kaizer (Leonard’s father) who was a Western Shore Volunteer firefighter, and a visiting firefighter Captain Ed White from Rochester, New York happened to on the island, ran up to the pit. White tied a rope around himself, and used a handkerchief tied around his head. He held his breath and went down to pull out Andrew Dumont who was inches away from the water. When he reached Dumont, even while unconscious he tried to punch White. White ducked, and tied the rope around Dumont, gave a tug on the rope to signal the men above to him pull up. White went down again and pulled Leonard out. Leonard and Andrew were taken to a hospital in Halifax where they made a full recovery. When a crew of firefighters from Western Shore arrived. They wanted to use a fish-hook to get the rest of the bodies in the pit. To which, Jim Kaizer respond, “Your not putting a hook in Mr. Restall. No Sir.”, and he put on a mask and climbed down to pull the bodies from the pit. The official autopsy report specified the cause of death was by drowning in the water. Over the years there has been much speculation on the type of gas that caused the accident. The possibilities debated over the years have always been Carbon Monoxide (the pump was supposed to been installed above the platform), Chlorine Gas (a green haze, which can cause the choking and vomiting and is common from soil in salt water islands), to Hydrogen Sulfide (yellowish haze and rotten egg smell, can be caused by rotting vegetation and Coconut fiber in salt water). Captain White’s Son always said his father saw a Green haze over the pit, and thought it was Chlorine, which can induce vomiting, while others said it was more of a yellowish looking haze. Jim Kaisers clothes from that day always smelled like rotten eggs. They could never get them clean, no matter how much he and his wife washed them, and threw them out.
August 21st – Church and Funeral service was held for the Restall’s with their family interred in Western Shore Cemetery with Karl Greaser. Cyril Hiltz was interred in Martin’s River Cemetery. Days after the funeral there was a meeting called with the Restall family (Robert’s widow Mildred Restall, His daughter Lee Lamb Restall, and Lee’s late Husband Doug Helland). In attendance were Dunfield, the island owners and investors, and a lawyer who had represented Restall, but who was now was going to represent both sides. Dunfield made assurances to the family to carry forward Restall’s vision of the work in the same manor. And pledged financial assistance and to help Mildred. Mildred and Ricky Restall to move to a house on Western Shore, off island. The group wanted the operation to continue, and for investors to have a potential return. Feeling that pressure, The Restall family agreed to have Dunfield carry on the work. Dunfield purchased the controlling interest, and was granted the remainder of Restall’s legal contract until Dec 31st 1965, with an option to extend for $5,000
Eventually Dunfield did have his contract extended to August of 1966 (and only worked until May of 1966 on the island, and never came back). Dan Blankenship who had since been turned away from the island 1 month before, was in currently New York with his son, David Blankenship at the time. Dan heard news of the accident, and rushed back. Dan was able to talk to Dunfield, and make an agreement with him to invest, and be involved in the operation. Dan offered also to give $5,000 to Mildred Restall to help with expenses, but eventually it was negotiated to $1,000. Mildred Restall and Ricky Restall moved off the island within weeks to a home on Western Shore near the island, which Dunfield suggested she move to.
During this same period, Dunfield had also sought other partners and major investors in addition to Blankenship to join for the expedition, including Merle Norman Cosmetics founder Jack Nethercutt of Beverly Hills, and Geologist George R. Lapearl of Western Continental Corporation in Bakersfield. Major investors were in for $35,000 each. Another person he wanted to bring in as a partner was James Troutman from California for his technical abilities, and advise. Troutman used to design and build some of the first smaller-sized transistorized metal detectors which could be useful in the search. He owned a Radio and TV Repair businesses in San Diego at the time, and had operated a 5 year business in gold mining operations in Bakersfield, and Randsberg, California. Troutman had 1st read about the island in 1955, and other books and articles. The January 1965 Reader’s Digest article about Restall’s search on the island had re-piqued his interest, and he was keen on joining the search with Dunfield. Later in December of 1965, after a several disagreements with Dunfield, their partnership was dissolved, and he would leave the expedition behind, and work on other mining projects in Nova Scotia for 10 years. Dunfield would later bring in other smaller investors and partners which included several of his family members, as well as group of 8 key people he personally knew from California including other Geologists, Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists. raising and spending a total of $130,000 for the duration of his time on the island.
SEPTEMBER 1965
September 1st 1965 Work started on the island in earnest, with Earl Armstrong, Jim Kaizer, and others of the initial 5 men crew. This grew to 7, then 11 men by Oct 26th. Sometime a week after Troutman left California on September 8th, he met with Blankenship and Dunfield at Doug and Edith Eisner’s Oak Island Motel to discuss plans, where they had been staying. They all used the boat service from Bill Sawler to be transported and from the island, every day. Work started on the island by burning brush, clear cutting trees, and using chain saws to cut off boards and limbs from a wooden tripod over a Restall pit on Smith’s Cove. This was followed by removing some of the timbers, and then burying both this pit, and the narrow 27 Foot deep Restall Accident pit just behind it. They used the 1st Caterpillar bulldozer, which had push dirt from down the hill over exposed Restall beach pits. Dunfield also used the bulldozer to push tons of dirt over the end of the old coffer dam on Smith’s Cove’s beach into the water, to try and bury the flooding system there in an effort to block it. The water in the Cove became very muddy by this attempt. When he pumped the Hedden shaft, he found the water to be clear. So he felt confident that he had blocked the Eastern tunnel, while one other tunnel from the South Shore was still operational.
During the month, work begins on removal of the Restall buildings, and the Restall Bridge/Gantry spanning across the Hedden shaft, which Restall’s pump was suspended into the Hamilton Extension Sump hole.
September 30th – a second Bulldozer (Earl Armstrong) was also brought to the island by Barge. The Bulldozers started moving dirt over the Money Pit area, eventually removing 12.5 feet from the surface to uncover a circular 13 foot depression they think is the original Money Pit 15 FT above the Chappell Shaft.
OCTOBER 1965
Oct 10th – Both Bulldozers were then used to clear passages and start the construction of a causeway to the island for bringing a leased 70-Ton P&H (Pawling & Harnischfeger – Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Orton Crane from a New Glasgow, Steel company. The Crane has a 90 Foot boom, and a Two Yard Clam Shell bucket with a drag line. This Crane was too heavy to be brought by Barge. This machine was capable of digging a hole 200 FT deep, by 100 FT in diameter, and moving 800 yards of dirt in an hour under ideal conditions. It would arrive soon by Canadian Rail in Western Shore Train station, to help dig on the island.
Oct 17th – Oak Island is no longer an island. A 650FT Causeway linking Oak Island to the Mainland was completed Billed as being “Temporary” and needed for bringing cranes and heavy equipment to the island, It was made by using Stones, Logs, and Dirt pushed by Two Bulldozers. One from the Mainland, and one from the Island to meet in the middle. Dunfield said “We built the causeway only as a means of accessibility to the island with this heavy equipment. It will come down, and the channel deepened in three weeks.” The causeway was completed in ten days, using 7,000 yards of fill.
Oct 18th – 21th – The Crane arrived during this time along with operator Harold Bishop, and was off loaded from Western Shore Train Station and driven to the island, where it was unloaded and walked over to the causeway, and down to the South Shore. The 1st task (Which Blankenship persuaded Dunfield to do) was to cut a trench 22FT deep, and 200FT in length across where they suspected the site of the 2nd the flood tunnel was in an effort to block it (based on William Chappell’s Dye tests). They started the excavation on Oct 21st of the trench which was just below the Stone Triangle. Logs were placed over to protect the top part of it, while the base of the Triangle near the shore was cut into.
Oct 26th – Work on the trench was suspended after digging, since two buckets on the excavator had broken, until replacements arrived. (The trench would eventually cause them go thru another two buckets because of the Hard Soil and Rock)
Oct 29th – Digging continues on the Trench after the new bucket arrives.
Oct 30th – Oct 31st – Digging in the Trench just below the remainder of Stone Triangle, they uncovered what Blankenship described as a “hidden shaft”. The digging had been hard, and the became very soft. The layer had some round beach stones, sand and vegetation. As it was dug out, revealed a dome shaped shaft, approximately 8 FT in diameter, 12 FT below the surface (top of it was 3 FT to 4 FT vacant). Distinct pick marks were on the sidewalls and on the top. They dug in this area for 4 days with a clamshell that was too big for the hole, and slowed progress. They lowered a pump and pumped out 7FT to 8FT of water. A few twigs were on the water from 18FT to 20FT. They found pieces of roots at 25FT to 35FT down. Blankenship found and kept an old hand-made nail which was found at 60FT down, and a piece of either a Juniper or Cedar Tree found at 65FT. From 65FT to 77FT was a thin layer of fine blue puddled clay, which alternated with layers of course sandy red material to act as a water seal. Once they pieced that clay water seal, they brought up several buckets of black stinking water and muck. The team thought this was part of one of the original drain system which predated 1795. After this was dug out, Dunfield set-off a case of Dynamite in this hole, while a Helicopter filmed from above for the 35mm “Helicopter Canada” Movie from the National Film Board, and circled the island. They then moved off of this location with the Crane, and moved it to the Money Pit. [Part of this was publicised in the Chronical Herald story “Key To Captain Kidd’s Treasure Found”, Nov 5 1965 for photo and description]
NOVEMBER 1965
Nov 2 to Nov 16th – The Crane was moved into position to start his excavation of what they thought was the original Money pit over a 13 FT depression 15 FT above the Chappell shaft. They discovered this while removing 12.5 Feet of top soil with a Bulldozer from the Money Pit area. The circular shaped hole he started on and excavated expanded to approximately 100FT wide and 140FT deep by the time the excavation was finished. The hole was wide at the surface sloped inward as it went down and formed a funnel shape to the circular depression he chased. His excavation would clip the front of the Chappell shaft, and cause the top section buckle and fall in, along with part of Shaft 3 in the area. It would also expose the front North corner of the Hedden shaft, where a wooden walk-way/Bridge was constructed and anchored to Apple or Cherry trees near by above the corner of the Hedden shaft. A small wooden sluice box with a screen was also constructed for washing some material.
Nov 17th – Digging with the Crane now at depth of 98 FT in The Money Pit area. This was costing him $2,000 per day by now, $70,000 in total so far, and up to this point, this was one of most costly and extensive operations ever run on the island.
Nov 21 to Nov 24rd – Hard Rain for two days caused a Cave-In where earth slid into the hole they were excavating and had to be re-excavated and delayed digging, along with mechanical troubles with the Crane and a water pump. Dunfield denied the report of the Cave-In, but it was heard from sources on the Mainland. He then made a correction, Initially it was reported by Dunfield that he had reached a depth of 152 FT, He revised that calculation, and put the depth at 140 FT. He also stated, “We’re in the original pit, there’s no question about that. We’re finding bits of old oak and other artifacts. But no gold.”
Nov 25th – The teeth were re-welded and ground to sharp points on the buckets, since layers of old Spruce and some Oak wood were dulling them and slowing progress. The blackened wood slowed the progress down to a foot or two of headway in the last two days. Two crews worked split shifts now for the digging, consisting of four or five men. Dunfield states he would like reach his 1st objective of 155FT, then go to 180FT before stopping. He said, “It has been a pretty tough week. Everyone is quite tired and I believe this two-day shutdown will help everyone feel better. But we’ll be in full operation Monday (Nov 29th)”. He said with the two-day break the digging clam bucket would be changed, and the earth-biting teeth sharpened, and servicing of equipment used in the search.
Nov 27 – CBC Film crew shoots a segment for the news – “Treasure hunters looking for pirate gold on Oak Island, hit a solid layer of Oak at 140 FT (Revised – Not 150FT) below the surface, which prevents further progress.” Thick layers of Old oak kept the progress to an inch-by-inch level.
Nov 29 – Water pump sprang a leak and forced a delay. Pump was later put back into service after repairs.
Nov 30 – Operations had to be halted due to a break down of their generator. A cracked engine block or blown gasket in the diesel generator, is the latest problem encountered. The generator a 550-volt machine procured in Montreal is still working, but the engine will have to be “torn down” and repairs made from the parts flow in from Montreal. Recent setbacks have slowed actual working time to “4.2 hours out of every 10” on the average during the last six weeks. “We hope to make better progress soon, but better than average is going to be a tough job.”, Dunfield said.
DECEMBER 1965
Dec 1 – A new diesel generator which produces 550 volts for the submersible pump and night lighting arrived today after being trucked thru Montreal. A mechanic would have it operational by the night shifts arrival. “If we don’t come up with something interesting tonight, we’ll be delayed until next week”, he said. Yesterdays efforts unearthed more old wood that has hampered digging operations for more than a week, but it may prove more of an encouragement than a hinderance. Dunfield said hand-hewn logs were brought up that a visiting provincial forest service official believed might be hemlock, a wood not native to the area. “It must have been the original floor” Dunfield said. The forestry official Lloyd Hawbolt of Truro is examining the logs in an attempt to date them.
Dec 2nd – The excavation was still at 140FT. They used a closed circuit TV camera to look into the Money Pit, and “got a good picture” of the hole. Dunfield said the picture showed the hole was standing up well. Excavation had to be stopped again, since the lease on the P&H Crane was up and it was already under contract for another job and had to leave today. Dunfield made arrangements for another heavier Crane to be brought to the island.
Dec 8th – A newly leased Powell 80-Ton Crane with a 90 Foot boom owned by a Halifax Company, arrived by Rail from Moncton to the Western Shore Train Station. It was brought to the island, and needed a day setup for rigging.
Dec 14th – It was reported that Dunfield was back in operation after a 10-day layoff.
Dec 15th – Dunfield reported no progress. “The operation has been shut down for the last few days and we haven’t made any progress”. While the hole was not being worked on several feet of fill fell into it and Dunfield has not been able to clear it out to the previous depth of about 140 feet. Several Mechanical problems have been experienced including trouble with a water pump, the working of the large crane and a generator.
Dec 21 – The Crane was reported to be back in operation on the island.
Dec 22 – Dec 31 – Crane operators with a Yuletide spirit and sliding earth in a deep pit, have left treasure under Robert Dunfield with an impatient itch to get on with the task of solving the mystery. Dunfield estimates he has now poured $85,00 into his attempt, with his crew of 13 men. “It’s going too slow for me”, he said.
Operators of the crane refused to work Christmas Day or Boxing day. “Although I told them the hole would fill in. It’s pretty hard to get people to
work Christmas Day around here.” Said Dunfield. Rain and partial
thawing added to the list of troubles plaguing the expedition since
the digging machine took it’s first bite at the money pit. He was
within striking distance of his 155 FT objective, But “slough” (loose sliding earth), pushed up his measurement back up to 112 feet, before a 12-foot advance since Christmas. Another machine a 22-ton mobile digging unit from Halifax was due to arrive at the island on Dec 31st, but is not expected to be operational until January 3rd. Dunfield said that machine will work on the beach to investigate flooding of the main pit but it details of its main purpose was being shrouded “until it arrives.” Dan Blankenship took a break, he said, “I’ve already missed Christmas, and I’m not going to miss New Years.”
JANUARY 1966
January 3rd – Dunfield’s treasure hunting suffered a setback January 3rd, as he was forced to dump fill into his excavation. He said he was filling in the 112-foot deep hole because of sliding earth in the recent weeks had a set back digging more than 20 feet. He would try to “excavate a system of underground flooding tunnels believed to have been constructed by whoever built the Money Pit.” The hole was cleared out three times before Mr. Dunfield who says he has spent close to $90,000, decided to change his tactics. Dunfield believed he had solved the flooding problem but the water was still seeping into the pit in December. He hopes to find a way of entering the Money Pit through one of the tunnels.
January 6th – Two machines are now working full time to stop the flow of water into the underground tunnel system on the island. Dunfield hopes to resume digging in the spring. He filled in a hole he had spent two months digging in an effort to reach the treasure. “The flow of water into the pit was just too much”, He said. But he had hoped the operations now under way would keep the water from flooding the tunnel and seeping into the pit. He hoped its results would enable him to dig his shaft once again “this time through solid ground”.
January 13th – Dunfield said he’s no less enthusiastic about his chances of finding buried treasure when the operations began five months ago. “There have been so many setbacks, I don’t know what to think.” He said. But Dunfield refuses to give up. He said a crew would begin drilling today
over the area of The Money Pit. 6 inch core samples will be taken from a depth of 135 feet to about 180 feet. “If nothing is found that indicates we’re in the area of the treasure we’ll dig a few feet anyway. We’ve taken this thing this far and we’re not going to give up.”
Jan 20 – Dunfield said today he has located a large cavity
about 40 feet in depth more than 140 feet below the surface. He said drillings
brought pieces of oak wood and a small piece of metal to the surface [Later Dunfield said this was a piece of Iron, like the Iron Plate in the Money Pit]. He expected a report on the metal would be released from the University of Southern California today. The cavity he reported however is believed to be the same one located in 1955 by George J. Green, a Texas oil driller. Mr. Green said he filled the large cavity with more than 100,000 gallons of water in an attempt to determine it’s nature, but it all ran out.
Jan 21 – Jan 22nd – Dunfield today awaits a report on material discovered in four 6 inch holes drilled 140 feet into the Money Pit. Dunfield said core drills brought up about 1,000 pounds of what he thought was concrete or natural carbonate. (Or Limestone). The material was sent to University of Southern California for examination by spectrographic microscope to determine its age. He said he located a large cavity at the 140 FT level he said the cavity was about 40 feet deep but other dimensions were uncertain. The material was found at the same level as the cavity over an area of nine square feet. Dunfield said he would probably resume digging after reports are received on the metal found. Dunfield said holes will be drilled to the North of the “Money Pit” to determine the nature of earth there, and a hole will be drilled on the South Shore of the island to investigate a tunnel that has flooded the pit with sea water. He said a large pump continually removes 200 gallons of water a minute from the area of the “Money Pit.”.
FEBUARY 1966
Feb 10 and 11th -Dunfield to start re-digging today. “If we can’t make it this time, we will leave it to someone else.” Now working with a 9 man crew, he just returned from a five-day holiday in Bermuda. “We enjoyed a hard earned few days off, my wife and myself, but we are going to begin this morning tore-dig the money pit we filled in last month. We’ve learned a lot, we know we can dig the hole if the men and equipment hold out.” The Dunfield crew are still attempting to cut off the water channels which continue to the flood the pits. But with the equipment running as it is Dunfield believes he can control the water to a degree. The new proposed money pit would be 100 FT in diameter, and will go to a depth of more than 100 FT before narrowing to dig into the treasured chamber. Asked and if he will call it quits, Dunfield said three or four weeks should decide.” The total cost for the past six months is now over $120,000. A bulldozer labored on the beach in preparatory to block off seepage of ocean water. Dunfield hopes to shut off the leakage with clay plugs by the first of next week and get down to the business of excavation. Disappointed about past failures, the drilling over the past few weeks located an underground chamber containing wood and gypsum. He thinks the gypsum was used as a primitive cement by whoever buried this. He is still convinced “with some reservations that there is something there.” The new hole will be his last try, he said. After that he will go back to drilling oil wells and “try to recover some of my losses.”
Feb 16 – Mild weather hindrance – The warm spring weather may
feel balmy to most residence but it’s a headache to treasure hunters
on Oak Island. “This mild weather turns this clay into a soft soup.
If it were colder the clay would freeze and our clam shovels would
be able to work much faster.” Water seepage is still a problem. With
freezing weather now or a real dry summer it could be better because it
would be easier to work in the clay. So he is hoping the weather man
will co-operate. On the large cavern – “It may be a fault in the rock formation, I don’t know. But I want to find out if there is anything in it”, he says.
At the moment there are two bulldozers and two big cranes with
clam shovels at work, and there is a guard on duty, day and night [Marshall Hiltz, father of Cyril Hiltz]. To pay a visit, one has to have special permission. [Badges were used also used on the island by this time to combat suspected sabotage of equipment over the months, as the locals and fisherman were not happy about the construction of the causeway. Mel Chappell stated that some of the Cranes broken cables “had the appearance of being previously cut with a hacksaw or some other tool.” ]
Feb 22 – Treasure Hunt Again Discovers Hard Luck – Once again Oak Island has slowed to a crawl. Dunfield said that work on the cave-in pit has been
hindered by one of the digging crane’s buckets being lodged at 68 Feet, where old timbers were found, which may be been placed there in an effort to stop the water. They were investigating this pit to check if any water was reaching The Money Pit from that point. At 68 feet there has not been any signs of water. Dunfield said that soon another bucket would be brought to the island to try to fish the other one out of the pit. Drilling over the Money pit in January indicated a hollow chamber, but where this is a natural formation of the earth’s structure of a man-made compartment remains a mystery.
MARCH 1966
Mar 11 – Dunfield Not Ready To Give up. By this point Dunfield was in his ninth month. “I’m Running out of nerve, but I’ll be damned if I’ll quit.” The Dunfield operation had almost reached their objective a few days before Christmas of last year, but the men decided to take the festive holiday off from the search for treasure. The result was sludge and silt had slipped back into the hole, and it continued to fill even after the digging was resumed. Water oozed into the Money Pit and Dunfield was forced to fill in the pit and dig another hole to cut off the water. Digging on the new shaft to
cut off the water had reached a depth of 108 feet when a bucket of the huge
crane fell. It took the past 10 days to recover it. When he has reached the 120 foot depth, Dunfield will attempt to re-dig the money pit. “If anyone wanted to quit anything, this is the best excuse in the world… but anyone can do that. If we can shut the water off within the present shaft, I think we
can have this thing whipped before too long.” The present pit to cut off the flooding is 70 feet deep and 80 feet in diameter. Two cranes are working around the clock on the project. One is a 100-foot boom with a two and half yard bite, and the smaller machine has a 45-foot boom with a three quarter
yard bite. Mrs. Dunfield is with her husband on the location, and his son, Robert age 8, is attending school in Chester. His daughter Sharon has returned to their home in Canoga Park, L.A.
Mar 16 – Dunfield’s Nerves, Money feel Strain. Dunfield says both his money and nerves are feeling the strain. “And my nerves show it. There’s a limit to everything and I’ve gone about as far as I can go.” He said he expects to begin digging again today on a hold he has sunk to a depth of 108 feet.
He plans on going as deep as 120 feet in this hole to shut off the water that floods into the Money Pit. Before his digging machine broke down a few days ago he had found wooden pilings driven at a depth of 100 feet (In the Cave in Pit) in 1866 by the Halifax Group. They apparently failed to stop the water flow. Dunfield is still confident there is something deep beneath the island’s surface, if it’s only some weird rock formations. Earlier this year he drilled to a depth of 140FT and the drill dropped into a chamber with a two foot thick wooden roof. The floor of the chamber was hit at 184 FT and the drill brought up a piece of cast iron. “But that doesn’t mean too much” said Dunfield.
Mar 22 – Dunfield calls Halt. The current search has halted, but may not be finished completely. Dunfield leaves for home. Yet, he emphasizes his search is not finished. He said that all of his efforts have not been in vain. He is now fully convinced that the area of the Money Pit he dug to 140FT is the site of the Windsor Rock formations. Which is a natural rock structure of carbonates (such as Limestone) runs under ground about 130 feet. This material is believed porous and in a broken fractured state. This many possibly explain why drilling operations have encountered what appears to be chambers or compartments beneath the surface. As to whether the treasure is there still deep in the Windsor formation or not there at all, Dunfield is non-committal. But he is coming back again, “when the weather is better” to give further investigation to one of the beach sites.
Mar 25 – Dunfield says “I’ll Never Rest” – Dunfield in a final press interview states there is very little evidence of a treasure on the island, but there is sufficient evidence of original work to continue the program. He estimates this has cost him and his investors $130,000. And says he will return to finish the job. The reason he is leaving is that he has quite a few affairs to straighten out in California. And with the inclement weather and rain it’s too muddy. He wants to have a more workable state before he continues. He thinks that he has sufficient evidence of where the Windsor formation is and that is the answer to the water problem. He doesn’t think there are flood tunnels, but he knows where the water comes from, and some of these are natural formations. He excludes all other areas for the flooding, except for Smith’s Cove. They tried digging in the Cove before with a Crane and found 13 ft down an original hole ringed with rocks. Dunfield says he will investigate every possibility and all original work must be explored. There is just no two ways about this – we intend to do it. I could never rest unless I did. I don’t know how it will come out, but I’ll go as far as I can. He flew back to California on this day. Dunfield filed his last two reports on the project.
APRIL 1966
April 3rd – Dunfield sent a report to investors about drilling the Windsor formation and various sketches from April showing the Drumlin from the Money Pit and drill hole locations. Also, a “Subsidence Hole” on the Western side of the island as Dunfield describes it, as a water filled pit also part of the Windsor formation.
MAY 1966
May 3 – Dunfields Report – “Since the last report concerning drilling activities and proving the existence of the Windsor formation, we have
diverted our attention to other areas. However, inclement weather, thawing and mud conditions have prevented activities this past three weeks. After drilling, we excavated the Cave-In shaft o a depth of 110 feet plus or minus.
We were unable to measure the hole owing to serious sloughing conditions. It is interesting to note that the Truro group had tunnelled through the Cave in Shaft at a depth of 100 feet and within this area they had driven wood pilings 8 to 10 feet in length into the Windsor formation in an attempt to block the Atlantic ocean. Following the excavation of the cave in shaft, we excavated a pit 162 feet north of the Money Pit and to a depth of 50 feet.
It was commonly thought by many that a tunnel would be located in this area originating from the money-pit and leading to a chamber above sea level yet concealed from the surfaces. We had previously drilled in this area and learned air from the tunnel (?) came to the surface in a north-south line. The excavation revealed nothing except natural slippage and movement within
the clay section. Blankenship continued excavation of the south shore are and at a depth of 83 feet salt water broke in through a 2 to 3 inch stream from the east side of the pit. He also recovered an old nail at a depth of 75 feet (60 feet quoting Dan Blankenship) which apparently had been hand hammered. During the night the hole was filled with 35 feet of salt water. Dan intends to continue exploration of this area when weather permits.
The hole filled with rocks, located at Smith’s Cove must be re-excavated.
This hole is located about 30 feet landward from the junction of the drains and it would seem most rational to me that any depositor should go no further to achieve his purpose. We attempted to excavate this hole with the Lorain, and the small bucket could not handle the rocks without enlarging the hole. It will be necessary to refill the cave-in shaft and dose away about 20,000 yards of saturated clay before we get into this hole. We can excavate this hole fast and inexpensively with the Orton. To eliminate any doubt of buried treasure in the money pit, possibly wedged on top of the Windsor formation, we will core-drill the area with a core-barrel if finances permit. During the drying-up period on the Island, my family and I returned to Los Angeles and I am taking advantage of the hiatus to resolve tax problems and other personal matters. I spoke with our foreman yesterday at Chester and he advises me it would be one or two weeks before he can employ his dozers on the island to get the area of interest in a workable state. – Respectfully Submitted – Robert R. Dunfield.
May 12 – Dunfield sent a letter to an acquaintance in Halifax, and is quoted In the press that he expects the mystery “will be solved one way or another” within several weeks, and he wanted to dig one more hole, and that he would return to the island when the mud is in “a workable state”.
Dunfield hoped to return, but before proceeding any further, he wanted to purchase the island from M.R. Chappell. The undisclosed asking price was about $100,000, which was more than Dunfield could raise or wanted to pay, and he gradually lost interest.
AUGUST 1966
August 12 – “Treasure Hunt aid from chilled brine”
Hamilton, Ontario – Brine chilled to sub-zero temperatures could be the solution to finding the Oak Island Treasure. Murray Killman of nearby Caledonia a shareholder in the Oak Island project learned of the new idea this week after a telephone call to Robert Dunfield. Dunfield suspended the search in March because of bad weather and flooding in the excavation shaft. The freezing process is useful when the water and mud inhibit excavations. First pipes are driven deep into the ground. Then super cold brine is circulated until the whole area is frozen. The salt water solution makes this possible because it can be cooled far below the freezing point of water while remaining in a liquid state. Mr. Killman said the brine technique is not new. It has often been used successfully, he said, mentioning a potash mine in Saskatchewan. Mr. Killman expects Dunfield will soon return to Oak Island to try the freezing method.
August 31 – “Dunfield To Try New Plan.” Dunfield announced a new plan which he will use to try to unlock the fabled treasure trove on Oak Island. Dunfield is reported to have received new backing from a group of share-holders in Hamilton, Ontario. His plan, when he resumes operations this fall,
will be to use salt water, chilled to sub-zero temperatures to freeze the water and mud in the excavation shaft in order to prevent the washouts and cave-ins that have frustrated his attempts so far. – The Rights and Contract for Dunfield legally expired at midnight on August 31st between Melbourne Chappell and Robert Dunfield. Chappell lets Dunfield know that if he wishes to continue, he would have to renegotiate.
OCT 1966 – Dan Blankenship wrote a letter explaining his findings from the Dunfield expedition, and he wanted to take a more careful measured approach, as he explained in his proposal to continue of exploration to M.R. Chappell. He was going to have the help of Daniel C. Webster, and the backing of David Tobias (who had previously invested in Restalls operation). This would form the basis for forming the Triton Alliance, for the next chapter the islands history from 1967 onward.
Dunfield only returned briefly to the island in the Spring of 1966 following his leave on March 25. During this time 20,000 cubic yards of wet clay and dirt were plowed down from his excavation of the Cave In Pit over the beach, covering the once exposed Shafts 4 and 5. Sometime over the duration of his expedition, The Chappell Pond, and a water logged Pit near 10X, known as Pit “J” were reburied and filled in. Dunfield also excavated a small pond near the Western side of the Swamp. After his rights expired, Dunfield became and investor in the Triton Alliance project, and always maintained an interest and share in the search until his death on September 5th 1980. The shares and interest later passed to his son Robert Jr, who continued an interest in the island and worked with Rick Lagina and others until his passing in April 24th of 2010.
ROBERT ROY DUNFIELD – A Short Bio
Robert Roy Dunfield was born on Dec 31st, 1925 in Denver, Colorado. His personal interest in Oak Island started when he was Age 11, when he read an article on Oak Island in the Denver Post (in 1936). From that moment forward, he was interested in solving the mystery which had plagued so many people, and kept up his interest over the years and he read everything about it he could get his hands on. At age 19, he enlisted for the duration of World War II on July 14 1944, and became a US Army Air Forces Cadet with a rank of Private, based at Fort Macarthur in San Pedro, California. In 1945 he married Frances Alene Hodgson, who was recently divorced and pregnant. Their daughter Sharon was born on 1946. Dunfield attended the Colorado School of Mines, and in 1956 he Graduated UCLA with a degree in Geology. Since he was fluent in Spanish, he started to work as a Geologist in South America in 1957 andDrilled wells in Bogota, Columbia, Lake Maracaibo, and in Caracas for Standard Oil in Venezuela. Because of the dangerous guerrilla conflict, corruption, and harsh conditions, he lobbied to work state side for the oil company, and left as Frances was pregnant with their second child. On January 2nd 1958 Robert Roy Dunfield Jr was born in Van Nuys, CA.
By this time in 1965, Dunfield had established himself as a Geologist, and had done pretty well for himself with investments in the Oil Business and was fairly well off, and he wanted to pursue some his own personal interests, like Oak Island. He reached out to Oak Island owner Mel Chappell, in hopes of starting a search on the island. Since Restall still had the lease, he opted to invest in his operation, and Restall called him in California to talk about a deal. They met in July of 1965 on the island, and a deal was signed where Dunfield invested $5,000 in Restalls operation. After the Restall accident, Dunfield bought a controlling interest, and was put in charge by the family and investors, for the remainder of Restalls contract. It was then extended to August of 1966. From July 1965 to May of 1966 Dunfield was involved with Oak Island. He brought his wife and his father Robert George Dunfield who’s engineering experience might help, along with his son Robert Jr, who was enrolled in the local Chester school. His daughter Sharon would visit on occasion. He offered to buy the island from M.R. Chappell. The price was high for what Dunfield could raise, and he let his rights expire on August 31st of 1966 with M.R. Chappell. After Oak Island, Dunfield had tax issues, and other personal things to deal with. One of which was a Divorce from his wife Frances in September of 1968. In February of 1970 he accepted a job working for Mobile Oil based in Fairbanks Alaska, and started working on the North Slope doing petroleum drilling. Eventually, he made amends with Frances, and they remarried on Oct 28th of 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1972 he started working with Hope Bay Mines in the Vancouver, B.C. for Silver Mining. In 1974 Dunfields father, Robert George Dunfield died at the age of 80 in San Diego. Robert Dunfield was also diagnosed with Cancer. His son Robert Jr, took care of him during this period of time. Robert Dunfield died on September 5th 1980 in Grass Valley, California at the age of 54. For all of the controversy surrounding his involvement with the island, and the decisions made, had also certainly taken a personal toll on him.
ROBERT ROY DUNFIELD, JR
Dunfields son, Robert Roy Dunfield, Jr (or Robert Dunfield II) had received a presidential scholarship award, and a scholar athlete award, as well as several academic honors. He was one of the top 1% of distinguished high school students to attend American Legion Boy’s State. He was given an opportunity to attend West Point Academy in 1974. He was offered the appointment by Senator Alan Cranston (Democrat, California) and had the pleasure of meeting then California Governor, Ronald Regan. Robert didn’t not accept this appointment after his father had been diagnosed with cancer, and his mother Frances needed his support. He stated later that he wouldn’t have traded this time for anything with his father. He married his wife Christine in 1997, they had met while they were both working at a store, and they moved from California to New York, and started a business collecting rare books, coins and antiques. He was a lover of history, and interested in HAM Radio and Electronics. He became a supporter of disabled American Veterans and worked with General Norman Schwarzkopf in the Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, which was built in Washington, D.C. Robert Dunfield Jr was there during a the history for Oak Island with his father, and was always interested in his fathers work, and wanted to tell his story. He had been involved in an auto-accident a few years after moving to New York which left him with chronic pain in his back and other health issues from an injury. In Early 2003, Robert started interacting on an Oak Island messaging forum, and met several other people to talk about the island. He would later go on to design a coin for The Oak Island Society. He started to work with Rick Lagina in 2008 on sharing his fathers story and information and building that legacy of his father which he wanted to tell, before he passed suddenly on April 24th 2010 at the age of 52.
SHARON LEE DUNFIELD
Sharon Dunfield would visit Oak Island on occasion during the expedition. She later attended Pierce College, and eventually had three kids of her own Doug, Amy, and Adam. Her husband Donald died in 2013 of Lou Gehrig’s.
FRANCES ALENE DUNFIELD
Frances Alene Hodgson was born on November 15th 1927. She was always supportive of everything her husband did and stuck by him and was with him during the expedition. She had the support of her son and his wife after her husband’s death. Just like her husband, she was very fond of Lobster and seafood. She was diagnosed with Cancer, and moved from California to New York shortly after her son moved in 1999. She died on March 18 2000, at the age of 72.
ROBERT GEORGE DUNFIELD
Dunfield’s father was born on Feb 6, 1894 in Renfrew, Ontario. He moved to the U.S., and enlisted in 1918 in World War I in Riverside California. He met his wife Mable Perry who was born on November 9th 1903 in Colorado. They in married on Oct 1923 in Denver, Colorado, and had two children. His son Born Dec 31st 1925 Robert Roy Dunfield, and a daughter named Frances Louise Dunfield (Born on June 13th 1923 and died Oct 13 1997 in Jackson, Missouri). They lived Blackhawk Colorado, where he worked in mining engineering. He was also a Mason. He again enlisted in 1942 in San Diego for World War II, and he went to Oak Island to help his son on the expedition. He died on July 30th 1974 in San Diego, California. His wife Mable Dunfield died on March 18th 1992 at age 89, also in San Diego.
