A depiction of the Osage by painter George Caitlin. This is not simply a storytelling flourish, but it is necessary in order to tell the story as it should be told. In March of 1922, Mollie’s sister Rita was killed alongside her husband and white servant by a bomb planted under their house. Book Club: Practical Philosophy — 4 — Private life and public culture, Review: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, What Happened The Day I Traded Social Media For Books, I Never Thought I’d Be Pregnant And Publishing A Memoir During A Pandemic, 5 must-read Haruki Murakami short stories, The Complicated And Painful Legacy Of Dr. Seuss. It exposes Zionism. Most of these government-appointed money managers sought only to siphon off what wealth they could for themselves. A Byte Out of History Murder and Mayhem in the Osage Hills. But many bigoted settlers conspired to usurp the tribe’s wealth through bureaucracy, marriage, and ultimately murder. So four of our agents got creative. In May of 1921, the bodies of two tribe members — Anna Brown and Charles Whitehorn — were found in the woods of Osage County. The tribe was relocated yet again to Oklahoma, where the Osage Nation is still today. Then others confessed. You Could Face Jail Time For Leaving Your Dog Out In The Cold, Per New Law, Jim Hutton: The Story Of Freddie Mercury's Longtime Partner, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. This investigation chiefly takes place at the National Archives branch in Fort Worth, TX, a building I have passed by many times on my commute and of which I’ve wondered out loud what it contains. In exchange for hunting animal pelts, they received guns and powder from the French, which in turn allowed the Osage to become the most powerful tribe in the region. The Osage tribe originally inhabited the area that is today Western Missouri along the Ohio River. The Osage Reign Of Terror: How A Bigoted Conspiracy Against The Native Americans Led To The FBI’s First Case. The American public became fascinated by the Osage whom they intolerantly labeled “red millionaires.” Indeed, all of the money in the world could not erase racist stereotypes, as one newspaper wryly stated: “That lament, ‘lo the poor Indian,’ might appropriately be revised to ‘Ho, the rich redskin.”. They finally sent in agents from the newly-created Bureau of Investigation. This is because he has already outlined the history of the Osage murders as it stood before he undertook this project, but now he is beginning to unravel that same history and reconfigure it all together. Found: In May 1921, the badly decomposed body of Anna Brown—an Osage Native American—in a remote ravine in northern Oklahoma. Almost overnight, the Osage became incredibly wealthy, earning royalties from oil sales through their federally mandated "head rights.". Library of CongressA pair of Osage women in 1921. History, because the Osage murders did not receive the coda deserved for the victims and their families and this was a failure of all those who recorded its history for over 80 years; humanity, because the depravity of the case is more complete than anyone else knew. The horrifying death of Rita Smith helped finally trigger a federal investigation into the Osage murders. The discovery of oil on their land had turned the Osage from being on the brink of starvation to “the wealthiest people per capita in the world.”. Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of the Osage by painter George Caitlin. These results unmistakably include the envy and distrust of white Americans in Oklahoma and elsewhere, and that is the heart of Killers of the Flower Moon. Osage County, Oklahoma Tourist Information Office. That might have been the end of it, but...just two months later, Anna's mother—Lizzie Q—suspiciously died. Getty / BettmannThree of the dozens of Osage tribe members who were killed in a vicious plot for oil wealth. Who was behind all the murders? 29-year-old William Stepson, who had been a healthy and athletic man, fell ill and died within a matter of mere hours. . Mollie Burkhart’s mother died two months later to a suspect poisoning. But even once brought to justice, many of the perpetrators were released by a corrupted jury. The undertaker later discovered a bullet hole in the back of her head. However, what happens next takes it to a higher level. Another of the murderers shrugged off his actions by offering the explanation “white people in Oklahoma thought no more of killing an Indian than they did in 1724.”. If it stopped here, it would be a terrific history book. A trial document connecting the various murders back to the ringleader of the murder spree. Many of the crimes were committed by the victims loved ones, especially amongst those in intermarriages. As a result, many Osage became very rich… very quickly. Hale had threatened or paid off many of them; the rest had grown distrustful of outsiders. Since the discovery of large oil deposits beneath the land of Osage Native Americans in Oklahoma, the tribe had become some of the wealthiest people in the world. “They lived in mansions and had chauffeured cars. If you are a reader of history or true crime and it’s not on your reading list, it should be. At the beginning of “Chronicle Three” (I listened to this on audiobook and each “chronicle” is read by a different narrator, a unique and well-employed tactic), Grann takes the reins of the narrative personally and talks about his research into the Osage murders. In May 1921, the badly decomposed body of Anna Brown—an Osage Native American—was found in a remote ravine in northern Oklahoma. The depth of reporting and characters in Killers of the Flower Moon is impressive, and its technical brilliance is astounding. Congress pressured the Osage to sell their Kansas lands with the 1870 Treaty of Drum Creek. A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies. ND-98: Case of the Long Island Double Agent, International Cyber Ring That Infected Millions of Computers Dismantled. We have blinders, biases. He grew even greedier in the late 1800s when oil was discovered on the Osage Indian Reservation. They could see many things, but they couldn’t always see everything. Two years later, her cousin Henry Roan was shot to death. A finalist for both the National Book Award and the Goodreads Choice Award for History & Biography, David Grann’s 2017 bestseller Killers of the Flower Moon has received much praise. Grann visited here and found many documents leading to his conclusions in the last third of Killers of the Flower Moon. Getty / BettmanThe horrifying death of Rita Smith helped finally trigger a federal investigation into the Osage murders. Not just Osage Indians, but a well known oilman and others. Despite attempts at negotiating treaties with the United States to preserve their property rights, the Osage were pushed farther and farther west as the Americans encroached deeper into their territory. The tribe decided to seek help from a higher authority and sent Barney McBride, one of the rare white oilmen who worked to help the Osage rather than to exploit them, as a representative to the capital. As one chief remarked in 1928, “Some day this oil will go and there will be no more fat checks every few months….then I know my people will be happier.”. The Osage murders hasn’t received any attention in the media because the Zionist Media is Illuminati control, and this story is against the Zionist government’s agenda. By 1923, the Osage were earning over $30 million dollars from leases and royalties a year, an amount equating to around $400 million dollars today. We can only see so much. His experience as a Texas lawman had hardened his nerves and he refused to be intimidated by the deaths of the previous investigators. A local cattleman, Hale had bribed, intimidated, lied, and stolen his way to wealth and power. They went undercover as an insurance salesman, cattle buyer, oil prospector, and herbal doctor to turn up evidence. His weak-willed nephew, Ernest Burkhart, was married to Anna's sister. Chief Big Heart ensured that the wealth of the Osage would stay only among tribe members. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. government, U.S. Department of Justice. The structure hopefully allowed the reader to experience it as the FBI and the Osage did, as history unfolded, and as they struggled to make sense of events. Bureau Director J. Edgar Hoover, meanwhile, wanted to reinvent the FBI. Desperate, the Osage appealed to a new federal agency who may be able to save them — the FBI. One by one, at least two dozen people in the area inexplicably turned up dead. Borrow it, request it, or consider donating to your library today. The tribe first encountered Europeans in the form of French fur traders in the late 17th century and initial relations proved beneficial to the Osage. For instance, Mollie’s husband Ernest was involved in a large conspiracy of murdering the Osage headed by self-titled “King of Osage Hills” William Hale. The prize? In 1906, thanks to the clever negotiation skills of Chief Big Heart, Congress ratified the Osage Allotment Act that guaranteed mineral rights of Osage territory to tribe members only, meaning that the now-valuable reservation land could only be inherited, not bought, thus keeping the fortune within the tribe entirely. The agents were able to prove that Hale ordered the murders of Anna and her family to inherit their oil rights...cousin Roan for the insurance...and others who had threatened to expose him.

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