This sordid episode has been revived recently by Killers of the Flower Moon, which as of June 2021 is being made into a movie on location in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. And for someone like Mollie Burkhart to have to reckon when she begins to discover that the very people she knew enough and trusted were the very people who were targeting her family. His body was eventually found 24 hours later lying along the tracks. What was he looking for? 7. And if you're just joining us, we're speaking with David Grann. Killers of the Flower Moon STUDENT PREP DOCUMENT(1).pdf The FBI's First Big Case: The Osage Murders - HISTORY And then within about 30 years because of oil deposits under her land becomes one of the wealthier people in the United States and is living in a mansion and married to a white husband, has a couple children. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? And they took him out of jail, and he was supposed to work for them. Unlock with LitCharts A+ Active Themes The house has been reduced to ash, and as dawn arrives, the justice of the peace, Mathis, and the Shoun brothers search alongside neighbors of the Smiths for bodies. He died there in 1942. GRANN: And the tragedy and shocking to Tom White was that it ended in a hung jury, and evidence later revealed that there had been a elaborate conspiracy to obstruct justice including buying a juror. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? I met with a descendant of Mollie Burkhart. She had two children with him, and she learned that he was one of the many willing executioners. In 1926, Ernest pleaded guilty to being part of the conspiracy. Between 1921 and 1926, at least 24 members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma were brutally murdered. Some murders seemed associated with several members of one family. They were also often susceptible to corruption. The bureau - the Bureau Investigation, the FBI had been formed in 1906 under Theodore Roosevelt. Shortly before his death, Bill gave a statement implicating his suspected murderers and appointed his wife's estate. It was a very fledgling period with federal law enforcement. On February 6, 1923, Henry Roan, another cousin of Brown's (also known as Henry Roan Horse), was found in his car on the Osage Reservation, dead from a shot in the head. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? GRANN: Certainly. You know, it's fascinating because you spoke with grandchildren of this era, and they would bring you documents and in some cases stories that they had heard of crimes that we didn't know about. His new book about the murders on the Osage American-Indian reservation in Oklahoma in the 1920s is called "Killers Of The Flower Moon." GRANN: He was found to be a part of the conspiracy. And they also had very limited jurisdictions over crimes, the FBI back then. Hale and his associates were convicted in state and federal trials from 1926 to 1929, which had changes of venue, hung juries, appeals, and overturned verdicts. And because of that, justice was often privatized, that if you had money and resources, you had to turn to private investigators. And questions arise about him. In his new book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, David Grann tells the riveting story of the murders of the world's richest people per capita in the 1920s. "[1] Some Osage used their royalties to send their children to private schools; others bought fancy cars, clothes and jewelry, and traveled in Europe; and newspapers across the country covered their activities. history.[4]. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, Osage Nation#Natural resources and headrights, MARGO JEFFERSON, "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Digging Up a Tale of Terror Among the Osages", "A Historic Settlement with the Osage Tribe of Oklahoma". It was clearly a warning. (Credit: David Grann). GRANN: Well, early on when - in the early 20th century, there was just a little bit of oil. GRANN: You know, Tom White is in many ways like Mollie Burkhart in that he is a transitional figure in this country. William Hale | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers There is no way to tell how many of more than 1, 500 people executed in the U.S. since 1976 may have been innocent. The second chronicle is told from the perspective of one of the investigators. Tell us about his history. She's one of the Osage elders, and I got to her house. Bloodhounds ran through the prairie. And he said I'm very ashamed - this was a descendant of Ernest Burkhart - and said I'm very ashamed of what my ancestors did. Then local whites began targeting the tribe. Like many tribes, the Osage had been forced to allow their lands to be allotted to individual tribal members. He watched his father when he was just a little kid hang a man, a convict. Accuracy and availability may vary. So this was just one of the many means of targeting the Osage in these very systematic and brutal ways. Combine these these terms with the event or person you are researching. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? Following the shooting of a cousin less than two years later, Mollies sister Rita and her husband were killed when an explosion reduced their house to kindling. In the 1990 U.S. Census, 10,430 people identified themselves as . June 21, 2022 how many osage murders might there possibly have been? Osage Indian Murders - Primary Sources: Native Americans - American It flips our conventional thoughts on their heads.. He realizes given the danger, given the fear in the area, given the corruption the team will have to go in undercover. Pyle presented his evidence of murder and conspiracy and requested an investigation. We'll continue our conversation after a break. What happened there? And you realize when you speak to someone like Margie Burkhart how much these crimes still reverberate in the present, how much this history is still living in the present. As best-selling author David Grann details in his new book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, the Osage reservation was soaked in blood because it was awash in oil. [1] In 1995, the writer Robert Allen Warrior wrote about walking through an Osage cemetery and seeing "the inordinate number of young people who died during that time. In order to maintain tribal control, shares of the oil money could not be sold by the Osage to white settlers, but they could be inherited. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. His accomplice, Bryan Burkhart, another nephew, had turned state's evidence. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? That night, when he arrived at his boarding house, he received a telegram, and it said be careful. DAVIES: Mollie Burkhart and relatives of the other victims would turn to private investigators. Its a system rooted in racism, done under the pretense of enlightenment that the Osage needed protection, Grann says. In his investigation, McAuliffe found that the BOI believed that the murders of several Osage women "had been committed or ordered by their husbands. The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I. Thought that involved a certain level of forgiveness and understanding. There were at least 24 Osage who had been murdered. He was a master bureaucrat. In 2015, why couldn't the Osage prevent wind turbines being erected on allotted land that had been sold? GRANN: Yeah. It's called "Killers Of The Flower Moon." The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. 6. As was the case with murders, drug overdoses increased sharply in 2020. The bureau had had in the early 1920s - one of the worst con men in the history of the United States was working for the FBI. He went to Oklahoma City to meet with an Osage who was dying of suspected poisoning. The U.S. Department of the Interior managed leases for oil exploration and production on land owned by the Osage Nation through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and later managed royalties, paying individual allottees. Walton assigned Herman Fox Davis to the investigation. Why formerly Black/Mongol Indians are now White - Realhistoryww.com Burkhart was eventually pardoned by Oklahoma Governor Henry Bellmon in 1965. There are some real characters among them. The Osage "Reign of Terror" Murder Trials - Famous Trials Many Osage moved to California. It's hard to even put a number on it. Osage Nation's 'Reign of Terror' gains renewed attention with - Indianz They once controlled much of the Midwest of the country. A week later, Anna Brown's body is found in a ravine. Hale's goal was to gain the headrights and wealth of several tribe members, including his nephew's Osage wife, the last survivor of her family. This really was about a clash of two civilizations, the emergence of modern law enforcement and how important it is to be a country of laws. If you were a full-blooded Osage, you were deemed, quote, unquote, "incompetent" and given a guardian who oversaw your wealth. tom white is also a remarkable man. [5] His book about his investigation, Bloodland: A Family Story of Oil, Greed and Murder on the Osage Reservation (1994), presents an account of the corruption and murders during this period.[1]. But this is a case where there's a great deal of intrigue and mystery early on. Although Walton later pardoned Davis, the investigation of Bigheart and Vaughan was never completed. Ramsey met Roan on a road outside of Fairfax, and they drank whiskey together. One descendant of a murderer I spoke with sent me a note at one point. [3] The law firm representing the Osage said it was the largest trust settlement with one tribe in U.S. Appointed the director of the FBI in 1924, Hoover set about cleaning up and streamlining the department. DAVIES: Right. He was sometimes called "Will". One by one, Mollie Burkharts family turned up dead. GRANN: Exactly. But there was also a great deal of corruption. And by 1923, just to give you. The systematic embezzlementreferred to as the Indian business by some white settlers on the Osage reservationwasnt lucrative enough for some, however. In the early 1900s death was all too common in the . Lewis: Drummond family has place in Pawhuska history It features songs about getting older, a love letter to their 20s. But with the arrest of William K. Hale it all stopped. Hes very insecure in his career at the time, Grann says. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness.