Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Paperback
"White people in Oklahoma thought no more of killing an Indian than they did in 1724."
-John Ramsey, murderer of Henry Roan Horse
Scarcely a hundred years ago, one of the most shameful episodes in American history occurred over a four-year period (at least officially), now known as the Reign of Terror (1921-1926). It also appears that, tragically, the phenomenon of missing indigenous women is nothing new. In short, oil-rich Osage tribal members were being mercilessly slaughtered for their oil rights, often by those charged with protecting them and their financial interests, which resulted in the deaths of untold hundreds of innocent victims: men, women and children.
And almost no one in the US, aside from the descendants of those affected, knows anything about it.
This thoroughly researched and shocking expose addresses the events known as the Osage Murders, when an acknowledged sixty or so full-blood Osage (but in reality, the total is likely far higher) were murdered by an assorted cast of characters, including spouses, step-children, longtime "friends" and acquaintances, associates, business partners, court-appointed "guardians," and even public officials, for the purpose of appropriating for their own gain their victims' oil rights and wealth. These events are yet another example of the appalling way in which native peoples have been treated since the "discovery" of the New World more than half a millennium ago.
Nothing new under the sun.
In 1897, oil was discovered on, or rather, beneath, the Osage Reservation, a backwater in the middle of nowhere, under land then considered useless, to which the Osage tribe had been relocated, to an area no one else then wanted. Subsequently, the federal government allotted 657 acres to each Osage on the tribal rolls in 1907, as Oklahoma was made a state. Each person was issued "headrights" to royalties from oil production based on their allotments of land, colloquially known as the Underground Reservation. Drilling contracts were auctioned off annually, under what was known as the Million Dollar Elm, to the likes of Getty, Philips and other barons, which often kicked off bidding wars which generated millions each year. The tribe also communally held the mineral rights to the property as well.
By 1920, with the advent of gas-powered vehicles and increasingly electric-powered homes, the oil market exploded, making the Osage some of the richest people in the world. Think on the level of Jean Paul Getty - who, incidentally, had his finger in this pie, too, as did many more oil barons who were once household names. In 1923 alone, in fact, oil contracts generated more than $30 million, today the equivalent of some $400 million. Alas, the wealth didn't last, as the wells were soon bled dry - but for a few decades, at least, the Osage were able to live a life of luxury: they bought cars on the order of modern-day Lamborghinis, McLarens or Ferarris, took whirlwind trips to Europe, and sent their children to the most prestigious private schools in the country.
Envious eyes took notice, however, and the unscrupulous soon made their move.
In one of the most outrageous actions in US history - and, when dealing with Native Americans, that's saying something - in 1921, the US Congress passed a law, seemingly more out of envy that Native Americans should enjoy wealth denied to white Americans than any desire to protect, that required courts to appoint "guardians" for each Osage of half-blood or more in ancestry, to manage their money until the owners of the headrights could demonstrate "competency," whatever that meant. What resulted was unbridled greed, rampant corruption, and the systematic and widespread looting of vulnerable Americans for their money... which included untold hundreds of murders.
In a system seemingly designed to fail, for the Osage, at least, the courts appointed typically white lawyers or "businessmen," most of whom were unscrupulous at best, but were sometimes even known criminals, who in turn manipulated the legal system to steal not only Osage land, their royalties, rights and money, but also their lives. The 24 "guardians"/crooks charged with corruption by the Department of the Interior in 1925, who had robbed their victims of untold millions, was just the tip of the iceberg.
As the author notes, on May 27, 1921, just over a century ago, now, local hunters discovered the badly decomposed body of Anna Brown, a wealthy, full-blood Osage woman, in a ravine. Initially ruled an accidental death due to alcohol poisoning, it was shortly discovered that Anna had been shot in the back of the head; what's more, multiple additional members of her family were also killed soon thereafter, including her mother, cousin, and her sister and brother-in-law, whose house was bombed. The murders continued unabated. By 1925, it was determined that some 60 Osage had died under suspicious circumstances, their land and rights granted to so-called "guardians."
Enter the Bureau of Investigation, an upstart alphabet agency which became the FBI in later years. Under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover, investigators over the course of a two-year inquiry determined that multiple deaths had resulted from contract killings, for the purpose of obtaining the victims' oil and mineral royalties, which could run into the millions. Through many twists and turns, it was determined that self-described "King of the Osage Hills," one William Hale, a wealthy local cattle baron, was behind many of the killings, including Anna Brown's and those of many of her relatives, in an attempt to wipe out her entire family for the purpose of inheriting the entire family fortune.
Well-connected and, seemingly untouchable, Hale persuaded one of his nephews to marry Mollie Kyle, and then conveniently arranged for the murders of all her sisters, brother-in-law, mother and cousin, to cash in life insurance policies and seize the headrights of all the family members. He also had multiple witnesses and accomplices murdered in the process, crimes which were then covered up by complicit police, judges, local investigators, and even doctors, who concealed or destroyed evidence.
In a somewhat surprising turn, Hale, his nephews, and one of his ranch hands were actually convinced of first-degree murder. All were sent to prison, serving typically a fraction of their life sentences. One silver lining was that in 1925, after seeing the light and the damage it had done, the US Congress passed a further law prohibiting non-Osage who were less than half-bloods from inheriting headrights from Osage lands. Surviving sister Mollie Burkhart, whose own husband killed her sister, was involved in or had knowledge of the deaths of her other family members... and who was slowly poisoning her as well, all for the purpose of obtaining her family's money, was instrumental in getting this unjust and racist law overturned. "At forty-four, Mollie could finally spend her money as she pleased, and was recognized as a full-fledged American citizen."
But only AFTER she proved "competency."
It was only in the year 2000, however, that the Osage tribe filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging mismanagement of the trust assets and historical losses. In 2011, the US government settled for $380 million, the largest trust settlement with a single tribe in US history. These efforts did nothing to bring back the people murdered as a result of this appalling, unjust law, which kept some of the wealthiest citizens in the world as perpetual children, placing them under the dominion of people who sought only their destruction.
The significance of these events cannot be overstated. It is unfathomable that the US government required adult men and women to have a "guardian" and to seek permission to spend their own money, even to pay for medical care, which, it turns out, was often denied or delayed, with the specific intent of bringing about their premature deaths, of even children, so that the overlords could inherit their wealth. The manner in which native peoples have been treated by the US government is unspeakably shameful, and continues to the present day, as demonstrated by the class-action lawsuit over these events which was settled more than a hundred years later.
And, the author notes, in the wake of more digging, which resulted from multiple inquiries of still-grieving extended family members who had long suspected that their ancestors had likewise been murdered: the killings of innocent native peoples didn't start with Anna Brown, and didn't conclude with the conviction of Hale and his ilk. The author estimates that some 600 or so documented deaths were likely murder, facilitated or committed directly by these so-called guardians, robber barons, for the specific intent of stealing the wealth of those they were legally responsible for.
And even the lawmen who admittedly did bring at least some of the killers to some type of justice got in on the action, using these events for their own purposes and self-aggrandizement. The title is a bit of a misnomer: this case didn't exactly result in the "Birth of the FBI," but Hoover was never one to let a good tragedy go to waste, and himself shamelessly exploited these events for his own gain, specifically power: "Recognizing that the new modes of public relations could expand his bureaucratic power and instill a cult of personality, Hoover asked White [the lead investigator into the Brown murder] to send him information he could share with the press," to further his own ends. This case probably did have some effect on the development of the FBI, but other events, especially the organized crime which exploded with Prohibition in the 1920s, was at least equally responsible.
This book, and those like it, should be required reading for all high school and college history students. I recommend it for all Americans as essential reading, to understand the plight of native people, who are still treated as non-citizens, and some would argue, non-humans. How pernicious and pervasive a problem is the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women? There's a national day for it: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day is held on May 5. That's actually the birthday of Hanna Harris, another young, indigenous woman who was only 21 when she was murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana. Indigenous people whose relatives have gone missing or have been killed wear red, a color synonymous with raising awareness about the disproportionate number of Indigenous victims. Another symbol is a red hand print worn across the mouth. Red dresses have also become a symbol of awareness of this issue.
There are few books I have read which absolutely make my blood boil... but this is one of them. It's utterly disheartening that so few Americans even know of these events, and those like them - the recent discovery of mass graves at internment-camp "boarding schools," which were nothing less than concentration camps for native children, illustrate the long and shameful history of failures in the way the US has treated First Nation peoples. Nothing will change until we learn of past events, and strive to do better.
-John Ramsey, murderer of Henry Roan Horse
Scarcely a hundred years ago, one of the most shameful episodes in American history occurred over a four-year period (at least officially), now known as the Reign of Terror (1921-1926). It also appears that, tragically, the phenomenon of missing indigenous women is nothing new. In short, oil-rich Osage tribal members were being mercilessly slaughtered for their oil rights, often by those charged with protecting them and their financial interests, which resulted in the deaths of untold hundreds of innocent victims: men, women and children.
And almost no one in the US, aside from the descendants of those affected, knows anything about it.
This thoroughly researched and shocking expose addresses the events known as the Osage Murders, when an acknowledged sixty or so full-blood Osage (but in reality, the total is likely far higher) were murdered by an assorted cast of characters, including spouses, step-children, longtime "friends" and acquaintances, associates, business partners, court-appointed "guardians," and even public officials, for the purpose of appropriating for their own gain their victims' oil rights and wealth. These events are yet another example of the appalling way in which native peoples have been treated since the "discovery" of the New World more than half a millennium ago.
Nothing new under the sun.
In 1897, oil was discovered on, or rather, beneath, the Osage Reservation, a backwater in the middle of nowhere, under land then considered useless, to which the Osage tribe had been relocated, to an area no one else then wanted. Subsequently, the federal government allotted 657 acres to each Osage on the tribal rolls in 1907, as Oklahoma was made a state. Each person was issued "headrights" to royalties from oil production based on their allotments of land, colloquially known as the Underground Reservation. Drilling contracts were auctioned off annually, under what was known as the Million Dollar Elm, to the likes of Getty, Philips and other barons, which often kicked off bidding wars which generated millions each year. The tribe also communally held the mineral rights to the property as well.
By 1920, with the advent of gas-powered vehicles and increasingly electric-powered homes, the oil market exploded, making the Osage some of the richest people in the world. Think on the level of Jean Paul Getty - who, incidentally, had his finger in this pie, too, as did many more oil barons who were once household names. In 1923 alone, in fact, oil contracts generated more than $30 million, today the equivalent of some $400 million. Alas, the wealth didn't last, as the wells were soon bled dry - but for a few decades, at least, the Osage were able to live a life of luxury: they bought cars on the order of modern-day Lamborghinis, McLarens or Ferarris, took whirlwind trips to Europe, and sent their children to the most prestigious private schools in the country.
Envious eyes took notice, however, and the unscrupulous soon made their move.
In one of the most outrageous actions in US history - and, when dealing with Native Americans, that's saying something - in 1921, the US Congress passed a law, seemingly more out of envy that Native Americans should enjoy wealth denied to white Americans than any desire to protect, that required courts to appoint "guardians" for each Osage of half-blood or more in ancestry, to manage their money until the owners of the headrights could demonstrate "competency," whatever that meant. What resulted was unbridled greed, rampant corruption, and the systematic and widespread looting of vulnerable Americans for their money... which included untold hundreds of murders.
In a system seemingly designed to fail, for the Osage, at least, the courts appointed typically white lawyers or "businessmen," most of whom were unscrupulous at best, but were sometimes even known criminals, who in turn manipulated the legal system to steal not only Osage land, their royalties, rights and money, but also their lives. The 24 "guardians"/crooks charged with corruption by the Department of the Interior in 1925, who had robbed their victims of untold millions, was just the tip of the iceberg.
As the author notes, on May 27, 1921, just over a century ago, now, local hunters discovered the badly decomposed body of Anna Brown, a wealthy, full-blood Osage woman, in a ravine. Initially ruled an accidental death due to alcohol poisoning, it was shortly discovered that Anna had been shot in the back of the head; what's more, multiple additional members of her family were also killed soon thereafter, including her mother, cousin, and her sister and brother-in-law, whose house was bombed. The murders continued unabated. By 1925, it was determined that some 60 Osage had died under suspicious circumstances, their land and rights granted to so-called "guardians."
Enter the Bureau of Investigation, an upstart alphabet agency which became the FBI in later years. Under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover, investigators over the course of a two-year inquiry determined that multiple deaths had resulted from contract killings, for the purpose of obtaining the victims' oil and mineral royalties, which could run into the millions. Through many twists and turns, it was determined that self-described "King of the Osage Hills," one William Hale, a wealthy local cattle baron, was behind many of the killings, including Anna Brown's and those of many of her relatives, in an attempt to wipe out her entire family for the purpose of inheriting the entire family fortune.
Well-connected and, seemingly untouchable, Hale persuaded one of his nephews to marry Mollie Kyle, and then conveniently arranged for the murders of all her sisters, brother-in-law, mother and cousin, to cash in life insurance policies and seize the headrights of all the family members. He also had multiple witnesses and accomplices murdered in the process, crimes which were then covered up by complicit police, judges, local investigators, and even doctors, who concealed or destroyed evidence.
In a somewhat surprising turn, Hale, his nephews, and one of his ranch hands were actually convinced of first-degree murder. All were sent to prison, serving typically a fraction of their life sentences. One silver lining was that in 1925, after seeing the light and the damage it had done, the US Congress passed a further law prohibiting non-Osage who were less than half-bloods from inheriting headrights from Osage lands. Surviving sister Mollie Burkhart, whose own husband killed her sister, was involved in or had knowledge of the deaths of her other family members... and who was slowly poisoning her as well, all for the purpose of obtaining her family's money, was instrumental in getting this unjust and racist law overturned. "At forty-four, Mollie could finally spend her money as she pleased, and was recognized as a full-fledged American citizen."
But only AFTER she proved "competency."
It was only in the year 2000, however, that the Osage tribe filed a lawsuit against the federal government, alleging mismanagement of the trust assets and historical losses. In 2011, the US government settled for $380 million, the largest trust settlement with a single tribe in US history. These efforts did nothing to bring back the people murdered as a result of this appalling, unjust law, which kept some of the wealthiest citizens in the world as perpetual children, placing them under the dominion of people who sought only their destruction.
The significance of these events cannot be overstated. It is unfathomable that the US government required adult men and women to have a "guardian" and to seek permission to spend their own money, even to pay for medical care, which, it turns out, was often denied or delayed, with the specific intent of bringing about their premature deaths, of even children, so that the overlords could inherit their wealth. The manner in which native peoples have been treated by the US government is unspeakably shameful, and continues to the present day, as demonstrated by the class-action lawsuit over these events which was settled more than a hundred years later.
And, the author notes, in the wake of more digging, which resulted from multiple inquiries of still-grieving extended family members who had long suspected that their ancestors had likewise been murdered: the killings of innocent native peoples didn't start with Anna Brown, and didn't conclude with the conviction of Hale and his ilk. The author estimates that some 600 or so documented deaths were likely murder, facilitated or committed directly by these so-called guardians, robber barons, for the specific intent of stealing the wealth of those they were legally responsible for.
And even the lawmen who admittedly did bring at least some of the killers to some type of justice got in on the action, using these events for their own purposes and self-aggrandizement. The title is a bit of a misnomer: this case didn't exactly result in the "Birth of the FBI," but Hoover was never one to let a good tragedy go to waste, and himself shamelessly exploited these events for his own gain, specifically power: "Recognizing that the new modes of public relations could expand his bureaucratic power and instill a cult of personality, Hoover asked White [the lead investigator into the Brown murder] to send him information he could share with the press," to further his own ends. This case probably did have some effect on the development of the FBI, but other events, especially the organized crime which exploded with Prohibition in the 1920s, was at least equally responsible.
This book, and those like it, should be required reading for all high school and college history students. I recommend it for all Americans as essential reading, to understand the plight of native people, who are still treated as non-citizens, and some would argue, non-humans. How pernicious and pervasive a problem is the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women? There's a national day for it: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day is held on May 5. That's actually the birthday of Hanna Harris, another young, indigenous woman who was only 21 when she was murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana. Indigenous people whose relatives have gone missing or have been killed wear red, a color synonymous with raising awareness about the disproportionate number of Indigenous victims. Another symbol is a red hand print worn across the mouth. Red dresses have also become a symbol of awareness of this issue.
There are few books I have read which absolutely make my blood boil... but this is one of them. It's utterly disheartening that so few Americans even know of these events, and those like them - the recent discovery of mass graves at internment-camp "boarding schools," which were nothing less than concentration camps for native children, illustrate the long and shameful history of failures in the way the US has treated First Nation peoples. Nothing will change until we learn of past events, and strive to do better.
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
