GRANN: Yeah. The violence befalling the Osage tribe is escalating in a show of force and dominance. We'll continue our conversation after a short break. She's in her 80s now. He was a master bureaucrat. It should be noted though that number of homicides increased slightly from 2014 to 2017, although figures. 8. David Grann, author of the New York Times Bestselling "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI", is my guest on this week's episode of Most Notorious. Mollie Burkhart (right) with sisters Anna (center) and Minnie (left). KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior sent four agents to act as undercover investigators. In 1923 alone, the Osage received what today would be worth more than $400 million. Follow the Osage Nation on Facebook Follow the Osage Nation on Instagram Follow the Osage Nation on LinkedInFollow the Osage Nation on Twitter Subscribe to the Osage Nation on Youtube, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. GRANN: This had now become a national story. [5] The headrights could be inherited by legal heirs, including non-Osage. We'll talk about how J. Edgar Hoover's FBI handled the murders after we take a short break. DAVIES: Two white men were arrested and brought to trial, people with access to resources and money. By . There was a great deal of both envy and prejudice and eventually outrage. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. Best-selling author David Grann talks about his new book that details one of the most chilling murder conspiracies in American history and the FBIs first major homicide case. In the 1920s an oil boom brought millions in profits to the Osage Nation, but white guardians assigned to guard the Native Americans' wealth brought abuse, theft and murder instead. Hale, his nephews, and one of the ranch hands they hired were charged with the murder of Mollie Kyle's family. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,, When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Irelands Freedom, Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan. But at least early on, there is no evidence or witnesses connecting him to the crime other than the fact that he had dropped her off at her house earlier in that evening. And the people who were being charged had enough power to buy jurors, to buy witnesses, to murder witnesses, to make witnesses disappear. They had a deed to it. And she's really somebody who is straddling not only two centuries, but in many ways two civilizations. [3] The law firm representing the Osage said it was the largest trust settlement with one tribe in U.S. "Killers Quotes" Written Portion Below are 9 thematic threads. So the Osage purchased this land. The FBI's First Big Case: The Osage Murders - HISTORY National Museum of the American Indian. The Osage, who'd been pushed west for more than a hundred years, lived north in what eventually became Kansas. He went out of his house. But with the arrest of William K. Hale it all stopped. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? He had a particular profile of the kind of man he wanted to be an agent for the Bureau of Investigation. GRANN: Yeah. DAVIES: David Grann, thank you so much for speaking with us. . Obviously, a lot was stolen in these crimes. By the early 20th century, because of this kind of clash of cultural forces, so many whites were coming into the area because of the well, so many oil workers and oil men. DAVIES: And, you know, when you speak to these surviving members of the Osage Nation and you see the pain that they still feel generations later from this - the series of crimes, and when you think about how many white people were complicit in it, it makes me think there's another book to be done about descendants of white people and what stories their grandparents might have told them because surely some told stories and surely some felt some guilt about it. You want to pick one, tell us about it? Because of the large number of leads and the perception that the police were corrupt, White decided he would be the public face of the investigation while most of the agents would work undercover. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? And the white man won't be able to farm there, and they'll finally leave us alone. Mollie recovered from the poison she had already consumed and (after the trials) divorced Ernest. He can be found online at www.christopherklein.com or on Twitter @historyauthor. Many Osage moved to California. And then the Great Depression came and a good deal of the money was lost. At the turn of the 20th century, the 2,229 members of the Osage Nation were some of the wealthiest people in America.Despite being forcibly removed from their tribal homeland decades earlier, the Osage managed to strike it rich in the rocky hills of Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) when oil was discovered on their land.. We're now over 20 victims at this point. [17][h], In the case of the Smith murders, Ernest was soon convinced that even his wife's money and his uncle's political influence could not save him. How did whites in Oklahoma react to seeing Native Americans with all that money? how many osage murders might there possibly have been?homelux mosaic tiles By In eberhardt reisen insolvenzverfahren Posted June 11, 2022 facts about aries woman But then, he never arrived. An Indian Affairs agent said, "The question will suggest itself, which of these people are the savages?" "'Reign of Terror Kills Osage Family". One by one, Mollie Burkharts family turned up dead. Rita's husband, Bill Smith, sustained massive injuries from the blast and died four days later. Colorado newspapers reported the murders as the "Reign of Terror" on the Osage reservation. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? And evidence later surfaced that she had been poisoned. David Grann: Killers of the Flower Moon | National Archives He came back and suddenly collapsed, frothing, his whole body shaking. A man standing 5 feet 8 inches, weighing 165 pounds . Randy Krehbiel paints him as a "shady character involved in blackmail and possibly embezzlement, armed robbery, and even murder." After securing Tulsa's top law enforcement spot in April 1920, Gustafson still moonlit as a private detective, working "cases that might have been more properly handled by the police." In some instances, white settlers even married their marks to legally become the next of kin before murdering their spouses. She was born in the 1880s, growing up in a lodge, practicing Osage tradition, speaking Osage. Driven from their lands in Kansas, the Osage had bought a swath of northeast Oklahoma in the early 1870s. And she had spent years doing her own investigation, gathering evidence trying to pinpoint the killers. Vaughan complied, and the two men met that night. Burkhart and Ramsey also received life sentences, and both were also paroled in 1947. They had become the wealthiest people per capita in the world. These invariably brutal killings eventually fell under the jurisdiction of J. Edgar Hoover's nascent Bureau of Investigation. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? As was the case with murders, drug overdoses increased sharply in 2020. And they imposed restrictions. Anna was known to be a heavy drinker. Needless to say were generally white. It could also explain why 77 percent of all killings last year involved a gun more than in any previous year. In 1815 there were twelve thousand. 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. Largely Forgotten Osage Murders Reveal A Conspiracy Against - NPR Seeking a high-profile success to erase the bureaus stained reputation for its role in another oil corruption scheme, the Teapot Dome scandal, newly appointed director J. Edgar Hoover sent investigators to Oklahoma. It does not seem the kingpin was connected to all the murders. How Native American Discrimination Led to Murder - Shortform Ernest said that he had used a person named Henry Grammer as a go-between to hire a professional criminal named Asa "Ace" Kirby to perform the killings. Here they were able to track and follow a man all the way to Washington, D.C., had enough information to know he was going and had the power to follow him and to kill him, you know, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from Oklahoma. Hale and his nephews, Ernest and Bryan Burkhart, had migrated from Texas to Osage County to find jobs in the oil fields. He was sometimes called "Will". I mean, what is amazing is that - and this was an open question. Members of the Osage Indian Nation became very wealthy in the 1920s after oil deposits were found on their land. 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. The same problems that infected local enforcement were still plaguing the bureau where you had criminals who were often investigators. So in this case, there was a bunch of kind of wild or frontier lawmen who were very experienced including a man named Tom White. See. 25. The oil murders took place against the Osage Native American population, and were orchestrated to steal the wealth from the Osage that the white residents of Osage, Oklahoma . The press referred to them as, quote, unquote, "the red millionaires and the plutocratic Osage." Lawmakers appointed local white guardians to approve every expenditure by the full-blooded Osage down to the toothpaste they purchased at the corner store, Grann writes. Who appears to have killed Vaughn? This week I'm bringing you another story about a family that now has many members, but back in 1887 there was only one in Pawhuska and his name was Fred Drummond. Grann spoke to FRESH AIR's Dave Davies about his new book, "Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI.". [16][g] Bigheart died at the hospital that same morning. 9. He came to believe that Woodward was responsible for her death. [1] However, newer investigations indicate that other suspicious deaths during this time could have been misreported or covered up murders, including people who were heirs to future fortunes.[2]. An oil well in Osage County, Oklahoma, home to the Osage Nation. Thirteen other deaths of full-blooded Osage men and women, who had guardians appointed by the courts, were reported between 1921 and 1923. White was able to crack the murders of Mollie Burkharts family members, but many of the Osage killings remained unsolved. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? These guardians were believed to have swindled their charges out of millions of dollars. There were so many people who were either directly profiting from these crimes or were silently complicit in them. 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". Often they had criminal backgrounds. And there was a certain kind of unmooredness to the society. The tribe appealed for help directly to the relatively new Bureau of Investigation (which would be renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935). His real name was William Hale, and by all accounts he had no scruples when it came to his desire to acquire riches and power. 5. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI In his investigation, McAuliffe found that the BOI believed that the murders of several Osage women "had been committed or ordered by their husbands. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? GRANN: Yeah. Between 1920 and 1925 there were more than 60 mysterious or unsolved murders in Osage County, all dealing with Osage headright holders. They have to suddenly file paperwork and wear suits, things that none of them were accustomed to, but they were very experienced lawmen including a man like Tom White. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? What we know about the increase in U.S. murders in 2020 They once controlled much of the Midwest of the country. DAVIES: So each of the Osage families that owned a plot of land had what was called a headright, which means what? how many osage murders might there possibly have been? GRANN: Well, by now, this was known as the Osage reign of terror. Some sixty or more wealthy, full-blood Osage Native Americans were reported killed from 1918 to 1931. how many osage murders might there possibly have been? how many osage murders might there possibly have been?splash cafe clam chowder recipe. It was a real time of terror. By the early 1900s, the Osage - these 2,000 or so on the tribal roll - began to receive quarterly checks for the money that was used to pay for leases and royalties. In 1990, the murder rate per 100,000 people stood at 9.4; and stood at 6.5 in 2020. GRANN: What they begin to discover is that there is a enormous criminal enterprise to swindle Osage money and that the system of guardians, for example, these white men - they were always men, usually men, often prominent members of society, they were lawmen, prosecutors, businessmen, bankers - were systematically stealing and skimming from the Osage money.