01x01 - Pirate Treasures

[bunniefuu]

Pirate treasures
are the cleanest treasure

- you can go after.
- Indeed.

Narrator:
On the exciting series premiee

- of beyond oak island...
- Jacobs: There are so many legends

about where blackbeard's
treasure is buried.

It's out there somewhere.

Rick: Levasseur left
a cryptic message.

How much was his treasure
supposedly worth?

A billion dollars.

Rick: In terms of your search,

what do you intend to do next?

I'm looking for lafitte's
treasure in texas.

Matty:
And you're fully convinced

there is silver at the bottom
of this lake?

Of course treasure exists there.

- Found it.
- Calvin: Diver's up.

- He's got something in his hands.
- Copy that.

- Wow, that could be your silver.
- Silver bars.

- That's what we're looking for.
- All right.

All the while
we were growing up,

my brother and I were fascinated

with finding treasure.

Rick: Pirate treasure,

cursed treasure.

Civil w*r gold.

- (laughter) -Since then,
our work on oak island

has shown us there's
a world of mysteries...

- Whoa.
- ...Waiting to be explored.

Rick: So, we like to reach
out to other treasure hunters.

X marks the spot,
right there. Brilliant.

- Marty: We want to hear their stories...
- That's right.

- ...And share our insights.
- "ill-gotten gains."

- rick: And who knows...
- Gary: I got it.

...Maybe we can help
them with their search.

Marty: Not only in america.

Wow. That is gold.

- Rick: But all over the worl.
- Yeah!

Marty: Beyond oak island.

Rick: So, christian,
I have to ask one question

- that marty knows I ask to everybody.
- Everybody.

Do you believe there's
something on oak island?

Absolutely. I think
you and your team

have unearthed so much
information and new evidence,

I think there is absolutely
something on the island.

As to what that is,
I don't know.

- Matty: Gentlemen!
- (chuckles): Hey, matty blake.

- How you doing, guys?
- How are you?

Ah, it's good to be here.

Marty: Matty,
this is christian roper.

And christian is an authority

on pirate treasure stories
from around the world, basically.

- Cool.
- Rick: He's here to get our advice

about a treasure
he's searching for.

My hope is that we
can help in some way.

Well, you got two guys
here with a lot of experience

in that type of thing.

- (chuckles): Yeah.
- Absolutely.

Christian,
great to meet you. I love to meet a fellow,

- uh, searcher. - Absolutely.

- Good to meet you, as well.
- Where are you from?

- I'm from texas.
- Texas. Whereabouts?

- East texas. - East texas.

So, christian,
you kind of know our story.

When we were kids,
a reader's digest article

enthralled us and
that really started

this search of oak island.

So,
what was the impetus for your search?

I am the son of two divers,

and I was immersed
in that world.

When I was seven years old,
I followed my father

on one of his dives.

It was to a place called
athens scuba park.

The owner of that park is
a seasoned treasure hunter

named calvin wilcher.

And he told me the story
about pirate treasure in texas.

That was when the
seed was planted,

and for the rest of my lif,
I would think about this stor.

That was my reader's
digest moment.

Matty: Tell me, christian,

what's the specific treasure
that you're looking for?

Looking for the
treasure of jean lafitte.

- Wow. - Matty: Wow.

That's really cool.

Okay,
so jean lafitte's a fearsome pirate.

But I just want to know...
I-I'm having a disconnect here,

from east texas and pirates.

Lafitte was very
well-connected with smugglers.

Even as far north
as the texas border,

as far north as arkansas.

I thought he was in
louisiana. Help me out here.

He was, originally,
but after attacking

an american ship,
he was forced west to the texas coast.

So he has treasure
legends all across

the-the southern
portion of the u.S.

Marty: So christian,
give me just a very brief summary

of this jean lafitte.

You must know all about him,
right?

That's difficult to do,

because there's so
little known about lafitte.

He is so mysterious.
It's only our best guesses.

Most people believe he was
born in France in the 1780s.

He eventually got into piracy

and into smuggling
in new orleans.

Narrator: Jean lafitte, pirate,

privateer, smuggler,
soldier and spy.

By the year 1810, he,
along with his older brother pierr,

was running a lucrative and
powerful smuggling operation

in the city of new orleans.

Frazier: They start by operating
a warehouse in new orleans

and being kind
of brazen about it.

New orleans in the
early 19th century

is kind of a wide-open city.

I mean, it's barely american
territory at that time.

Morgan: The lafittes had
legitimate business enterprises

in the city of new orleans,
but those enterprises

functioned as a storefront

for a piratical operation
that was based

on grand terre island

on barataria bay in
southern louisiana.

Frazier: And it's
a strategic location

that makes a lot of sense,
because you can get

to major trading
ports like new orleans,

but you can get down
to major raiding ports

along the spanish main and
along the coast of mexico.

Narrator: During
the w*r of 1812,

the british considered
the city of new orleans

a strategic military
target in their attempt

to reclaim the
american colonies.

Because they
knew that jean lafitte

controlled a large number

of ships and
manpower in the area,

they offered him a large fee

and a full pardon

if he would agree
to help them in battle.

They offer a cash sum of money,
$30,000.

And lafitte tells them he nees
two weeks to think about I.

And during that two weeks' time,
he behaves

as if he is going to
accept the cash award,

accept the british offer

and side with them.

But he actually is
not going to do that.

Narrator: Distrustful
of the british offer

and philosophically supportive

of the americans'
fight for independence,

lafitte went to general
andrew jackson

and pledged his support

on condition that he and his
men could be granted a full pardon.

Jackson accepted.

Frazier: Andrew
jackson understands

that these guys
will come in handy

as kind of an a*tillery militia,

and that's how he uses them

at the very important
battle of new orleans

in January of 1815.

Fire!

Narrator: During
what became known

as the battle of new orleans,

lafitte and his men
fought with distinction.

Jackson personally
commended his pirate ally

as "one of the ablest
men" of the battle,

and president james madison

issued a public proclamation
of pardon for the group.

But that didn't mean that
the pirate-turned-patrit

had given up his
desire for plunder.

Not wanting to offend
his new american friends,

when the w*r ended,

lafitte relocated his
base of criminal operatios

to the then-spanish
territory of texas,

where he continued
to amass a fortune.

Lafitte establishes a
settlement on galveston island

in what is today texas
that he calls campeche.

It functions almost as
a colony in and of itself.

And based there,
he returned to the behaviors

that had sort of gotten him
in hot water prior to 1814.

Narrator: In 1821, lafitte's men

mistakenly attacked
an american ship.

The as*ault
brought the full force

of the u.S. Naval fleet

upon the pirate and his men.

Frazier: So,
they dispatch a warship,

the uss enterprise.

And the enterprise pulls
up at campeche and say,

"you guys got to go."

and lafitte surprisingly says,

"okay. We'll go."

and he moves his
operation one more time.

Now,
can he take everything that he's

accumulated on
that island with him?

Hard to say. Did
he stash it? Maybe.

But he does disappear
from the record.

Morgan: There are theories
that lafitte staged his own death

and escaped off
to somewhere else.

And back then,
people could do that.

Narrator: Although
historians are unsue

what became of jean lafitte,

one thing is certain:

The elusive pirate
left galveston

a very wealthy man.

So,
lafitte was everywhere and had millions

- to bury here and there. - Yes.

Marty: Whenever somebody talks

about so-and-so's treasure,
why did he bury a treasure?

Why didn't he spend it,
you know?

So,
what-what's your conjecture on that?

Why did he leave
behind treasure?

At the time,
at that point of texas,

there was nowhere to spend it.

And so they would
stockpile all these goods

and treasure,
and there are reports of them bringing in

over $30 million in goods

every single year and
then having so much

that they don't know
what to do with it.

And so this is
where you get stories

of him sending out men
and burying coinage.

And there are multiple reports

of swamps and inlets

and every single
waterway in texas

being associated
with him saying,

"just put it there, mark it,

- and, uh, we'll go get it later."
- yeah.

How about the treasure
that you're seeking?

How much would that be worth?

The most popular telling
talks about $2 million

in 1816 value.

- Whoa.
- That's, of course, close to $50 million today.

Tty: You know,
jean lafitte's a fascinating character,

but I just want to back up
for a second if I could, guys.

Guys, what is it about
pirates that fascinates people?

What is it about pirates
that appeals to us?

I think... I think I know
the answer to this one.

Pirate treasure

is sort of the cleanest treasure

you can go after,
if you think about it.

(laughs): It's already been stolen,
right?

- (matty chuckles) -so,
if you find it, it seems like

the finders keepers
rule should really apply

to pirate treasure,
maybe more so

than other treasures, you know?

- Yeah.
- Rick: The other thing is,

I-I wonder if there's
a generational thing.

We grew up with treasure island,

kidnapped.

I think it's just a romantic

ideal of how one
lives one's life.

Right? It's outside of
the norm. I don't know.

There's-there's just
some type of allure.

Yeah, I think it's the allure,

and pirates are some

of the most multicultural
people in the world.

They were this huge mix-up

of cultures. They
would wear jewelry

belonging to different
people groups.

They would wear clothing

belonging to different
people groups.

The languages they
spoke... It was a mix

of three to four different
broken languages.

They were well-traveled,

and their only
loyalty is to the ocean.

I guess there's the allure
of the pirates themselves,

and then there's the allure
of trying to solve the mystery,

find what they left behind...
And they didn't leave

a lot of tangible clues,
obvious clues that we can grab onto.

No,
there was one pirate in particular,

a fellow by the name
of olivier levasseur.

He actually left a
very cryptic message.

In fact,
I think we have a copy of it

right here in front of us.

And to this date,
I don't believe

that anyone has
deciphered it or decoded it.

How much was his
treasure supposedly worth?

Well,
if you can solve this 17-line code,

you might be landing
in the seychelles,

where searches are going on now

for approximately
a billion dollars,

estimated value,
that he collected.

Got your attention, matty?

Got my attention.

Narrator: Many pirates
plied their murderous trade

in the 17th and 18th centuries.

William kidd, jean lafitte,

blackbeard, francis drake,
henry morgan.

It's impossible to determine
who stole the most loot.

But when it comes

to pure speed and daring,
no one could touch

the notorious french pirate,
olivier levasseur.

Robbing sl*ve ships and other
vessels of their precious caro

- on the west african coast,
- (man yells)

levasseur quickly
built a reputation

as a cruel and ruthless pirate.

Simon: It was like

he was flying in and
picking these ships to death

and then going away faster

than anybody could
possibly arrest him.

Narrator: Nicknamed "la buse,"
or "the buzzard,"

due to his style of attack,

levasseur was a
target for the authorities.

After a six-year hunt,

he was eventually captured
near fort dauphin, madagasca.

Mattera: The punishment for a pirate is a,
uh,

long drop and a short stop.

You know,
so they were gonna hang him.

Jacob: He stood on the gallos
with a rope around his neck.

Then he threw a necklace

into the crowd with a
piece of paper tied to it,

and he said, "find my treasure,

the one who may understand it."

now, that piece of paper
had an inscription on it

that has been the subject
of a lot of mystery ever since.

Narrator: A cryptogram
of just 17 line,

the document
consists of a series

of what looks to be letters...
L's and upside-down t's,

and all kinds of strange,
angular-shaped characters.

Jacob: Some people
believe it was a templar code.

There's a lot of
other explanations.

Certainly, la buse studied,
was very well educated,

and may have been aware of
some of these ancient codes.

But every treasure hunter
comes up with a new idea

on how to interpret the message.

Mattera: People
have been looking

since the day he hanged,
you know, for his treasure,

because the treasure
is vast and expansive.

It's the stuff legends
are made out of.

Who's the number one guy,
you think,

that comes to mind
when you talk about just

the quintessential fearsome pirate,
the legend?

Without a doubt,
I would say edward teach,

- or blackbeard himself.
- Blackbeard.

- Yup.
- Everybody loves blackbeard.

He's... It's hard not to.

Just a fascinating life.

Marty: Didn't he
make some speech

where he said,
"I've buried my treasure so deep

that only me and the devil can get it,"
or something?

He died pretty young,
too, didn't he?

He did. He was only
active for about two years,

- hmm.
- And so piracy was very short-lived.

But in those two years,
he was involved in so much piracy

and had such an
evil image to him

that he would be
remembered throughout history.

Narrator: Frequently
depicted with a sword in hand

and a belt loaded with pistos
strapped around his waist,

blackbeard owed much
of his fearsome reputation

to his rather unique appearance.

Jacob: Tall, imposing.

Big black beard. Fierce eyes.

He would actually tie lit
matches or fuses to his beard

to give him kind
of this ominous look

with smoke all about his head,
which was quite intimidating.

Simon: Blackbeard
was born edward teach

in bristol,
in the southwest coast of England,

sometime around 1690.

Jacob: At some point after the
w*r between England and France,

he decided to turn to piracy
and pirated in the caribbean.

Simon: So,
blackbeard became a really legendary figure

during this time period,
because he became known

as one of the...

Fiercest fighters,
and also the commander

of some of the largest
fleets in the caribbean.

Narrator: In 1717,

blackbeard captured what
would become his flagship...

Hoist her up!

...A french ship that he renamed

- the queen anne's revenge.
- Full sail!

Jacob: That was
his biggest prize.

Queen anne's revenge
was a sl*ve ship

named la concorde that
was on its way to martinique.

sl*ve ships were big,
and they were also very fast.

Blackbeard had a crew
of up to 700 people.

He'd need places
for them to sleep,

and a sl*ve ship offers that.

Narrator: In November of 1718,

blackbeard's
forces were attacked

by a british naval force

off north carolina's
ocracoke island.

In the ensuing battle,
the fearsome pirate...

- (sword stabs) - (yells)

...Was decapitated.

Blackbeard was dead; the
rest of his crew surrendered.

And his head was taken to hampton,
virginia,

where it was put on a pole

in the entrance to the
harbor for a couple of years.

Narrator: As a consequence
of blackbeard's untimely death,

no one knows, to this day,

where he buried
his vast treasure.

It's a mystery that has
baffled treasure hunters

for three centuries,

fueled by a search
for a secret location

known only to edward teach...

And the devil himself.

They actually found blackbeard's ship,
right?

The queen anne's revenge?

That's been found.
Is that correct?

It has been found,
but nothing was found aboard.

The sister ship,
the whyda, was found

with a treasure of $400 million.

- Not his, though. - No. But...

Blackbeard's could be
worth that or much more.

And so that's one
of the key things

that treasure hunters
point to that say,

since these things were found,

why can't their legend
that they're looking into

- be true as well?
- Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Rick: So in terms of your
search for jean lafitte's treasure,

are you following
a very specific trail?

Yes. I brought something
that I want to show you guys.

It's from 1957.

True west magazine.

This article was the
interest-piquing moment

for a lot of people,
including myself.

And I'd love for you
to see the article.

Rick: You know,
this is like January '65

- reader's digest.
- Really close, yeah.

- For christian. - This is

the story of hendricks lake.

The story talks
about a smuggling trail

and a ship named the santa rosa

that lafitte supposedly stole

two million dollars
in silver ingots from,

and gave it to a
smuggler further inland

and told him to
take it to st. Louis.

And along the smuggling trai,
when the state of texas

still belonged to the spanish,

- the spanish set a trap.
- (c*ck r*fle)

- (g*nsh*t booms) - And
these wagonloads of silvr

were pushed into the lake.

There were many searches...
Even as early as the 1880s,

people were searching
hendricks lake for treasure.

And so this... This lake,

- where is it, exactly?
- East texas.

It's part of the sabine river

that has shifted
and created a lake.

Rick: How big is it?

Christian: It's
three-quarters of a mile long

and not very wide.

How certain are
you that this treasure

- is under there? - 100%.

I believe there is something
that could be found.

♪ ♪

rick: Christian,
what do you intend to do next?

Well, I'd love to search
certain parts of the lake.

There were multiple searches
that occurred in the 1950s

and 1960s, however,
these were not with modern technology,

and so seeing as the lake has
not been searched in 50 years,

I want to see what we can
do with modern equipment

that can add to the story.

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

Rick: There's a lot of tech

- yeah.
- That we've come to understand.

You should try some
side-scan sonar work.

- Mm-hmm. - Gpr or,

uh, magnetometer.

Yes. In doing the research

in the last two years,

I've discovered a lot
of detection techniques,

like sonar,
to see what we can cross off,

or see what we
should pursue further.

Has there ever been a verifiable,
certified find

associated with jean
lafitte's activities?

There's never been
anything attributed

to lafitte specifically,

and so this could
be the first big find.

- Wow, that's pretty cool.
- Oh. That is remarkable.

- Exactly right. - Yeah.

Rick: Christian, I have to ask,

do you chase the story every
bit as much as the treasure?

Absolutely. The
story is where you find

most of the fun along the way.

It's the... The personal
impact of people

that have searched in the past.

It's myself getting to
fulfill my childhood dream,

and it... That has meant so much more than,
I think,

even if we found something.

Well,
you and him can connect real well, then.

- There's a lot of parallels here.
- I was interested

- in the ingots. - (laughter)

one thing I would say,

it's really cool to see a
young man going after this,

and I applaud you
for it... 'cause it's fun.

You know? Particularly if,
you know,

if you hit some real clues.

Why don't you come out sometime?

I'll come out for the
unveiling of the treasure.

- (laughter) -
but I was thinking

that mr. Always
ever-ready over here,

maybe you'd like
to accompany him.

- You're swamp-ready.
- Matty: I would love to.

I ain't afraid of getting dirty,
we know that. I would love

to come see it,
and maybe some of the stuff I've learned

from watching them,
which I've learned a lot,

hopefully, maybe I could bring
some of that to bear with you.

If you're up for it, matty,
I think you should.

You could be our eyes and ears,

and we'd be keenly
interested in what happens.

Yeah,
we'll report back to whatever we find

and-and, uh, see what we can do.

Rick: You know, christian,

I will reiterate
what marty told you.

You know, we applaud you.

You're a young man.

You stayed focused,
true to your goal.

Uh, you followed your passion.

I mean, it's-it's applaudable.

And I have every wish that you
are successful in your endeavor.

Whether you achieve it or not,
I-I get the sense

that you won't give up.

And I thank you for coming,
and I applaud

your grit and determination.

Figure out what happened
to jean lafitte and his treasure.

That's what we're saying.

- Let's do it.
- Mission accomplished.

Mission-mission accepted.

- Mission accepted.
- There you go.

Matty: So, christian,

where are we and
where are we headed?

So, we're in east texas,

headed to hendricks
lake that I told you about.

It's been home to treasure
searches for over a century,

and today we add
our names to that list.

Narrator: One week
after their meeting

in the oak island w*r room,

oak island
researcher matty blake

joins treasure
hunter christian roper,

along with christian's
colleague gary pinkerton,

at hendricks lake,

located four miles outside of tatum,
texas.

Matty: Rick had mentioned

some of the things we've
brought to bear on oak island,

maybe using them here.

Uh,
are we gonna do anything like that today?

Yeah,
sonar scans of the bottom of the lake.

We have technology
that could give us

such a good picture
of the bottom of the lake

that we can tell exactly
what's down there.

And you are, uh... you're
fully convinced that it's here?

There's silver at the
bottom of this lake?

With what we're doing,

I'm hoping to be 100% convinced

or 100% convinced
to keep searching.

So, christian,
this place is-is dangerous, yeah,

if-if you're in the water,
right?

Well, just about anything
that you find at the lake

could be dangerous.

There's always the
potential of alligators.

There are four types of snakes
that you need to watch out for.

There's coral snakes,

water moccasins, rattlesnakes

- and copperheads. - Great.

It's the snakes you don't see
that you have to worry about.

Oh, boy.

♪ ♪

- matty: Fellas.
- Alex w.: Hi, guys. How are y'all?

I want you to meet some
people. This is matty.

Narrator: At the lake,
christian, matty and gary

meet with professional divers
alex wilcher and steve erwin,

along with alex's father,
calvin.

- You look like a man in charge. Cal. All
right, cal, -yeah. Nice to meet you, cal.

- Nice to meet you, buddy.
- Nice to meet ya.

Narrator: It was calvin wilcher

who first piqued
christian's interest in hunting

for lafitte's treasure.

Christian: Cal wilcher is a local
diving legend here in east texas.

I met cal when I was
about seven years old.

And he told me the story
about the six wagonloads

of silver ingots ending
up in hendricks lake.

I can't wait. I got goosebumps.

Christian: Eventually came back,

got cal involved,

and we're at the point

where we're ready to search.

What do we have here?

This is our smallest
sonar that we own.

And this will be a sonar scan?

We have a 3d image afterwards?

- We have a side-scan. - Yeah.

And we have
downscan capabilities.

Okay.

Narrator: Today,

the team will be scanning
the bottom of the lake

using a humminbird
side imaging sonar,

a technology that
provides a forward

as well as a 180-degree
side-to-side perspective.

Man-made objects will
appear as anomalies,

standing out from
the tree limbs,

plants and other
natural phenomena.

If we see something that
looks like a good anomaly,

then we've got some drop buoys

and we can just pop the cord,

chunk it out there and-and
it'll float right over the target.

And then we'll
send in the divers

- to bring stuff up.
- Yeah. Well, I'm hoping

to use one of those right there,
we get some "x marks the spots"

and I hope to get
you in the water.

You used to diving
with zero visibility?

- Oh, yeah. - Great.

- I say we go.
- Calvin: All right.

- Let's do it. All right.
- All right, guys.

Calvin: We're gonna
turn around and back up.

Let them guys get on.

- All right, you ready?
- There you go.

Narrator: As christian
roper and his tem

head out into hendricks lake

in search of
pirate jean lafitte's

legendary lost treasure...

Calvin: Now we're cookin'.

...Gary pinkerton rides
alongside them in a kayak,

acting as a spotter

just in case there
are any alligators

or deadly water snakes nearby.

(birds calling,
insects trilling)

the team travels slowly,

their top speed between
one and two miles per hour.

This allows the scanner
to provide crisper,

more detailed images.

(insects trilling)

matty: Untouched land.

Wow.

Feels like we're...
In another time.

- Doesn't it? - Yeah.

- Oh, yeah. - Yeah.

Christian: Hendricks lake is
almost something out of a dream.

And for us to be
the first people

to see the bottom
of it was really cool.

And, obviously, you want to find

that big hit and-and
something that says

we need to get in
the water right now.

And you're getting a good image
right now? You're happy, sir?

I like the image we're getting.

Christian: What
we were looking for

on the side-scan sonar is

anomalies that look
man-made or look out of place.

We are coming up on a...

We got a pretty nice little
old log on the right up here,

just a little short distance.

Christian: At the bottom of a lake,
there's a lot of logs

and a number of other
hazardous things that could

potentially be dangerous.

So, when we were able

to see different anomalies,

you know,
that makes our job so much easier

and makes it a lot
safer for our divers.

Calvin: That little blank,

uh,
smooth area there on the right

is a great setup spot for
our divers for in and out.

- As if lafitte left it there for you.
- Yeah, you think

he left us a ramp to
easy load the silver.

- Well...
- You know, get it in easy.

Christian: There
are a number of clues

that we would
look for at the lake

that could attach
this to jean lafitte.

Uh, the top clue that we
would obviously want to find

is-is one of these wagons

that was loaded
with silver ingots.

Matty: You know
what's interesting,

christian has
some artist imagery,

according to legend,
of what it might've looked like

when they dumped those wagons.

And it seemed to show,
like, a little bit of a hill

that they're pushing 'em over.

And that-that side
of the shoreline

has that kind
of curvature to it.

Calvin: It really does.

Matty: You could imagine them
rolling it right over the side there

- and having it all spill down.
- And it's deep enough

it would definitely
hide a wagon.

Gary p.: We should
be expecting to see

some bottom features

or maybe even some metal

in this particular area.

Calvin: You can see these logs

laying right in here.

These... those
are trees and logs.

What we're hoping to happen
is we-we'll see something

that is not mother nature.

Right angles, circles,

maybe a wheel
laying off to the side

from an old wagon that
hopefully would still be visible.

Christian: To find something,
what are the conditions on the bottom?

- Soft. - Would it be sunk

- into the mud? - Oh, yeah.

That, uh...

Matty: You see something?

I do see something.

It's just a little interesting.

You see that shadow right there?

Christian: What is that?

Calvin: I'm not sure,
but it's got a-a...

It's really high off the bottom,
and it's got some size to it.

It's right in here.

We can drop a buoy on that.

There's actually a
couple of targets there

that are interesting.
You see that right there

- and that there?
- Christian: Yeah.

That definitely looks man-made.

Drop that buoy.

Okay.

Well, I'm looking at something here,
see, that's popping up.

- You see that right there?
- Yeah.

Drop a buoy right there, son.

Okay.

- All right. - Set.

Calvin: All right.

Now,
this looks like a good target right here.

Get the buoy ready.
We're gonna drop it in...

Now.

Matty: All right,
so you see something you like

- right here.
- Calvin: Now, that...

That there is a great target.

You see that...
All that right there,

- that shadow? - Oh, yeah, yeah.

And, see,
right straight across right here

- looks like a debris field.
- Wow.

- That could be your silver.
- So that could be...

- That could be... yeah, could be.
- Really, right?

- Calvin: Yeah. Could be.
- Christian: Yeah, you can tell

this is a lot of stuff

- crammed into a small space.
- Matty: Huh.

So it's either,

um, potentially a wagon,
potentially an old cart.

Um, it's something man-made.

- And it's-it's all within a few feet of each other.
- Wow.

And I'm sorry,
but I-I got to say it...

- those kind of look like wheels.
- Calvin: They-they do look like wheels.

- Matty: Right? Am I right?
- I know. They really do.

- I-I wasn't gonna say that.
- (laughs)

- (laughs) - you can say it,
brother.

Christian: When calvin first got
those hits, I was really excited.

You know,
we were the first people in decades

to be able to search,

but we were the
first people in history

to be able to really see
the bottom of this lake.

It's definitely
worth... Going down

and putting our hands on it.

- Mr. Diver. (chuckles) - whew.

Get ready. Suit up. (chuckles)

I'm definitely suiting up.

- All right.
- Calvin: Absolutely.

I think this is what we
came for. It looks good.

It's a promising anomaly,
target, with the right shapes.

Matty: I love it.

Calvin: Let's do it.

Narrator: One day
after treasure hunter

christian roper and his team

found a number of
unusual anomalies

on the bottom of hendricks lake,

they return in a dive
boat and support vessel.

Matty: Cal,
talk to me about this first target.

What are you thinking
about it? What's it look like?

This anomaly shows

two wheels, possibly.

We also see some

man-made boards.

Now, it could be some old cart.

With silver bars
under it! (laughs)

I love your spirit, brother.

You just got to have faith,
right? (chuckles)

that's why we're here, man.

Diver is in.

Steve is gonna throw
a-a weighted line out

and slowly drag it across
our dive area to make sure

there's no trotlines
that will snag our divers.

How you feeling, alex?

Feeling good! Excited!

I'm gonna keep an eye
out for critters there for you.

I appreciate that.

Christian, walk me through
what-what's gonna happen next.

We'll be getting two
divers in the water

with a communication system.

We'll be able to
talk to them up here,

see exactly what they're
seeing and feeling.

In terms of visibility,

there's absolutely
nothing down here,

- so it's all feel.
- Yeah, we know all about zero visibility dives on oak island,

I can tell you
that. It's no joke.

So you guys be careful,
all right?

We're right here for ya.

Yeah, we want to be safe today.

There's a lot of things
that can go wrong,

but everyone
here is well-trained.

It's treasure that tends to,
uh, keep its secrets.

Ten-four.

(air hissing)

- (beep) - diver one,

when you get to the bottom,
find what that anomaly is

that we're snagged on
and let me know. Over.

- Steve, you're diver two.
- Two?

Yup. Diver one,
you got to copy. Over.

(beep)

christian: In a lake like that,
which is black water conditions,

it's always dangerous
to get divers down.

The water's zero visibility,
so you're feeling around,

stuck in mud,
stuck in all these fishing lines,

and you're constantly
on the lookout for

venomous snakes
and things like alligators

and things like alligator
gar that could be in the lake.

Christian,
you've got a wet suit on.

You ready to go
if they need you?

If they need any help,
I'm more than ready.

Ten-four. What does it feel like,
diver one?

Calvin: Copy that. You
have a round target.

Christian, did I hear "round target,"
he hit a round target?

Christian: Yes,
diver one has seen

- a round target.
- That's what we're looking fo.

We're looking for four,
actually.

When I first heard alex say

that he had put his hands around something,
I just knew

that he had found the wheel,
and I thought,

"oh, my goodness,
we just found the wagon,

"and we're about to find out

what it went down with."

diver's up. He's got
something in his hands.

Calvin: How big of a
round target did it feel like?

Really? Huh.

- Do you see the grain in it?
- Yeah.

See the grain there
and all the wormholes?

- Mm-hmm.
- Uh, that is definitely wood.

It's... And it's really,
really old wood.

Narrator: A piece of old wood?

Is it possible the team
has found evidence

of one of the wagons that,
according to legend,

transported
treasure to this spot

more than 200 years ago?

Matty: We'll get the metal
detector in the water, cal?

Yes, we are.

All right,
so sar-1's going in the water.

Hopefully, we'll get a hit.

Narrator: Diver steve
erwin will investigate

with a sar-1 metal detector,

while alex wilcher spots
him from the surface.

Calvin: He's going to do a
couple of circle search patterns,

uh, and see if there's
any iron around that object.

Hey, steve, diver two,
how we doing, buddy?

Ten-four.

- Got a hit.
- Calvin: Okay, ten-four.

- It's exciting. - Matty: Yeah!

Narrator: A metal hit?

Could it indicate the presene
of jean lafitte's wagons?

Or possible evidence of the
pirate's incredible treasure?

All right. Great. Awesome.

See if you can find
out what it is. Over.

Calvin: I would
love for it to be

- silver bricks. Yes.
- Silver bricks.

Copy that. You're deep digging.

Christian: Steve dug
through several fet

of mud and clay and found out

that the sar-1 detector was
still getting very heavy hits,

so whatever is down there has
been down there for a long tie

and just been sinking
beneath this clay.

(soft, rolling thunder)

christian: Hey, cal, looks like

a storm's coming in. You
should probably get the divers out.

- Calvin: I got ya. - (beep)

okay. Come on to
the surface. Over.

- (beep) - calvin: Okay,
there's our buoy.

Matty: "x" marks the spot.

This is treasure hunting, guys.

- This is what you're in it for.
- Absolutely.

Christian: Texas weather
is very unpredictable.

Just as things are heating up,

of course,
bad weather starts to show up.

We have to get the divers out

and, uh, call off the search.

Calvin: Two divers
on the surface.

- Always a good thing.
- Matty: All right.

- (matty whoops) - all right.

- Great work. - Welcome aboard.

All right, so,
successful dive. We got targets.

We got two big targets,

and they're all in
historically old hard ground.

They're three foot
below the soft silt.

- Okay.
- So, they're in hard ground.

They've been there a long time.

- All right.
- So, they're worth digging up.

Now, we're gonna break

- for this particular dive.
- Okay.

And we are going to come
back with the right digging tools...

- All right.
- ...With less weight and clutter on the boat.

And we're just gonna
drop divers in the water

- and do some digging.
- I mean, christian,

I'd imagine that on one hand,
you're exhilarated

because we've
got incredible hits.

But on the other hand,

we can't go get it
right now. Frustrated?

Yeah,
treasure has a way of keeping its secrets.

Hendricks lake,
in particular. It's unlikely,

even with modern equipment,
that anything will be easy.

All right, why don't we head in?

And, uh,
there's weather coming, too,

so, let's beat the weather.

- Mission half accomplished.
- Mission half accomplished.

- I'm ready.
- All right. Let's go.

(thunder rolling)

christian: We've got plans to
come back and search. It will take

probably several days and
may dives to figure out exactly

what's on the
bottom of this lake.

I am obsessed with the legend

of hendricks lake
and jean lafitte.

The lagina brothers told
me exactly what it meant

to search for a
treasure like this.

I don't think I will
ever give it up.

Marty: So, big brother,
progress report time.

- And I've got 'em teed up.
- Narrator: One day

after the exciting discoveries

on the bottom of
hendricks lake...

- How you doing, fellas?
- Hello.

- Good. How are you?
- Matty: Good. We're, uh...

- Hot in texas, you know?
- Narrator: ...Matty blake,

treasure hunter christian roper,

and dive trainer
calvin wilcher...

It's a real pleasure
to meet you guys.

Narrator: ...Place a call
to fellow treasure hunters

marty and rick lagina.

Thanks so much for
sending matty down.

- Sure. - Rick, you told me

that side-scan
sonar could be great

at telling us what could
be at the bottom of this lake.

So, I got cal involved.

He's kind of an expert in
sonr and what it can be used fo,

and we're looking for wagons
on the bottom of this lake,

and we got a really
interesting photo.

Do we get to see that?

Let me see if I can't find
that picture here, and... Now.

What we were looking
for was an object

that would resemble
some ancient wagon part.

And if you'll notice
where my cursor is,

that looks like a little
round wheel right there.

And that looks
like a round wheel.

And these targets right
here look like planks

from possibly, hopefully, a...

An old wagon.

Is there any scale to it so that

you'd know that's
about the right size?

Yes, that's a good question,

and it's 20 foot

from this line to this line.

And from this point to
about where that wheel is,

is about ten foot.

That's about how far that
wagon would've rolled off

of a bank that's real steep,

and then it would've just
submerged in that soft silt.

- Oh, I see, yeah.
- Matty: And that fits the story

where they took these wagons

and rolled them over
the side of this bank,

which was a slight hill,
and into the water.

So that image right
there fits that story.

- Yeah, it damn sure does. Yup.
- Yup.

That's really cool.
So who's going in?

Calvin: Funny you should ask.

- (laughing) funny. - We, uh...

- Uh, we had some storms blowing in.
- Okay.

And our window of
opportunity was really shrinking.

So we opted to go
ahead and throw the divers

in the water with some handheld,
pulse induction detectors.

And we got two

really good hits
about ten foot apart.

- Right. - But the storm

blowed in,
and that was pretty much it.

But one more dive,
and we can say

this is a old wagon. Or not.

On a scale of one to ten,
how excited are you?

I'd say a ten. There's
200 or more years

of history at this lake.

Uh,
there's no telling what this could be.

If it's not holding
pirate silver,

then it's holding something

that's been down
there untouched for 150

or 200, maybe,
years. Any sort of history

that can be pulled out of this
lake is a really cool story, so,

whether it's related to lafitte or not,
we've yet to find out.

Hoping to find out soon,
but if it's not,

then we've got the entire
texas coast to explore.

- There you go.
- Calvin: Course,

I love treasure hunting,

and I can be on a "ten" looking
for somebody's lost watch.

- (laughter) - that's
the optimism. That's it.

We're-we're excited for you. Uh,
carry on,

and we'll be eager
to hear what happens.

- Thanks, guys. - All right.

- We'll see you guys.
- Take care. Stay safe.

See you soon.

So, what did you think?

Hey, let me sum it up this
way. I feel good about it.

For christian,
he's getting to live his dream.

Uh,
and we're playing some small role in that.

- I like that, too.
- Yeah, I-I do, too.

That-that pretty much sums
it... Sums it up for me, too.

I mean,
it's nice to be able to give back.

- Yeah.
- I mean, in a variety of ways.

And this way, we're giving
back to an active treasure hunt.

I mean, just think how we would
have taken any type of insight

- when we first... - Still will.

- And we... And we still will.
- Still will.

Well, speaking of that,

let's not let that
opportunity go to waste.

- Yeah, let's not let moss grow under our feet.
- Yup.

Mom would say, "sempre avanti."

always forward.

- Narrator: This season...
- I got it. It's an oldie.

Narrator: ...On
beyond oak island.

We grew up on wild west stories.

Butch cassidy was one
of the last of his kind.

They would have stashed
some loot at the hideout,

and you're gonna go find it?

Warren getler: Jesse james,
the field commander

the knights of the golden
circle buried tons of gold.

That is the ultimate
jesse james signature.

We're talking about
the lost dutchman mine.

Isn't there a curse
associated with it?

People have gone looking
for this and not come back.

Bobby pritchett: We found shipwrecks,
artifacts.

The state of florida
went behind our back.

- There's something fundamentally unfair about this.
- Yeah.

Marty: You find something,
we're gonna not let you have it.

And it happens with
these other treasure hunts.

My theory is it's
right over here.

Gary: Everybody thinks

they know where it is.

There is gold
still in that mine.

You really have put
an "x" on the map.

This would be the oldest
shipwreck in the americas.

Ooh! It's 22 and a
half karat inca gold.

Man: Whoa, baby!

- Are you kidding me, man? Is that gold?!
- Yeah.