] The Mystery Pit of Oak Island

I first hear about the Oak Island Treasure after reading Douglas Preston Lincoln Child's "Riptide," a fiction work based on the it.

The Oak Island Mystery revolves around a 160'+ pit that appears to be man-made, on an island off the cost of Nova Scotia. It has a documented system of booby traps that have been tripped and flooded the original pit. Many people have died over the past 200 years trying to recover the "treasure."

"Riptide" itself is an excellent novel, involving priates, cryptography, and engineering. I highly recommend it.