Osage Indian murders

The Osage Indian Murders occurred between 1910 and 1931 in Osage County, Oklahoma, with the majority occurring during what was dubbed a “Reign of Terror” between 1921 and 1926. More than sixty members of the Osage tribe were reported killed, though other deaths that took place during those years may also be added to that number. In the end, modern historians may never know exactly how many people were killed.

William Hale was eventually arrested for at least some of the murders in 1926. John Ramsey and his nephew Ernest Burkhart were also charged as co-conspirators. Burkhart was married to an Osage woman and several of the victims had been members of her family. He originally pleaded not guilty, then changed his plea to guilty. He testified that Hale had designed the entire conspiracy in order to get rich from oil deposits found on Osage land. However, it is unknown whether Hale was involved in all of the murders and if he was truly the originator of the conspiracy .

The Osage murders have been the subject of a number of investigative reports, literature, and films. John Joseph Matthews, an Osage writer, used the murders in his novel Sundown in 1934. More recently, an American journalist named David Grann wrote an investigative book about the murders, called Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI in 2017. The book was turned into a 2023 film by director Martin Scorsese.

Background

The traditional home of the Osage Nation included parts of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. When they were relocated to Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma), they were the only Native American nation to purchase its own land. In the 1870s, the tribe chose to purchase the land of their exile collectively, so that it was owned on the tribal level and not by individuals.

In 1897, the Osage land was determined to contain oil, which quickly made the tribal members the richest people, per capita, in the world. However, there were questions about how to distribute the profits from the oil.

As part of the process of giving Oklahoma statehood in 1907, the government assigned each member of the tribe who was currently listed on its books an equal plot of land. This was called the Osage Allotment Act. Since every member of the tribe had an equal plot, all income from minerals and oil were to be equally distributed among the 2,200 tribal members.

One share of this income was called a headright. These could be inherited by the next of kin if the original member died, with the ability to inherit extended to kin who were not Osage.

In the 1920s, oil production on the land had reached its peak. The federal government claimed to be concerned that the Osage would not know what to do with so much wealth, so they set up a guardian program. As of March 3, 1921, members of the tribe had to prove their competence or be assigned someone who would oversee their spending. The tests were difficult and covered material that many Osage had never learned, so a large number ended up as wards of guardians. Wealthy White citizens of Oklahoma began to oversee any expenditures the Osage made, up to and including giving approval for buying items like toothpaste.

This created a culture where these citizens could take advantage of Osage wealth. Some members of the tribe signed away their rights or were swindled in other ways, occasionally without ever knowing the true value of their headright. In some cases, wealthy White people married into Osage families with the goal of inheriting the headrights. Some White men married Osage women so, as the male and the husband, they could control the headright even if they did not possess it. Additionally, if one of the wards died while they were still under the wardship, the guardian could ask to inherit their estate.

In 1921, an Osage woman named Anna Brown’s body was found. She had been shot in the back of the head and left in a ravine. No one knew who had killed her and she was not known to have any enemies. Because she was known to drink alcohol heavily, her death was deemed to be alcohol-related and remained unsolved.

Over the next two years, other members of Anna’s family died under mysterious circumstances. Her mother, Lizzy Kyle, one of the last traditional Osage elders, became mysteriously ill and eventually died. A cousin, Henry Roan, was shot to death, and her sister and brother-in-law were the victims of an unsolved home bombing.

Some of the victims looked for help from private investigators, but no one was able to turn up anything conclusive. Finally, the federal government got wind of what was going on. They notified J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Bureau of Investigation (later the Federal Bureau of Investigation), to send someone to find out what was going on.

Overview

Hoover sent out a seasoned Texas lawman named Tom White along with a team made up of both police detectives and private investigators. Since previous open investigations by private detectives had not turned anything up, White and his team decided to infiltrate the White culture near Osage land. Team members were given new identities, moved to the area, and took up trades there. White also recruited a Native American agent. While not Osage, they believed that this man might be able to get information where others could not.

As the men became part of the local economy and became trusted there, they began to hear things. Many of the White men in the area, including those who were very prominent in the society of the time, like businessmen, bankers, and men of the law, were involved in trying to get money away from the Osage people. As they learned more and more about this criminal enterprise, they realized that, beyond those who were actively involved, many people were complicit in their silence. It became hard for the team of investigators to maneuver easily or know who to trust because it seemed like so many people were involved.

Over and over, White and his men heard people referring to William Hale when it came to conspiring to take Osage money. He was wealthy, both a rancher and businessman, and some called him the “King of the Osage Hills.” He had a lot of power and influence in the area. When they got close to him, he would pay off authorities or witnesses so that none of his misdeeds came to light.

He made a mistake when he forged a life insurance policy for a wealthy Native American man named Henry Roan. When Roan was discovered dead, White and his men found out about the forged policy. They used this to arrest Hale and several co-conspirators. On January 9, 1926, Hale and co-conspirator John Ramsey were indicted for the murder of Roan, after Ramsey confessed to it and implicated Hale. Over the course of the trial, the extent of the conspiracy to take Osage money came to light, including the hiring of gangsters and even family members to kill wealthy Osage people.

One of the best witnesses for the case against Hale came from his nephew, Ernest Burkhart. Hale had convinced Burkhart to marry Mollie, an Osage woman with a headright. Many of the dead Osage, including Anna Brown, Lizzie Kyle, and Henry Roan, among others, were related to Mollie. Burkhart testified that Hale was the originator of the conspiracy and that he had convinced many more people than Burkhart himself to take part in it, up to and including murdering Osage they had access to.

Hale was finally found guilty of federal charges and sent to Leavenworth Prison for life. Ramsey and Burkhart were also sentenced to life in prison. However, despite protests from the Osage people, all were eventually let out on parole.

Even though so many of the people in the area were involved in the conspiracy, no one else was ever sentenced in conjunction with it. Power, prestige, and privilege allowed the participation of some to go unnoticed, as long as they kept their mouths shut. Others are believed to have paid off those who knew of their involvement so their stories never came out.

In 1925, the federal government addressed the problem that created the Osage murders. They determined that headrights could no longer be inherited by people who were not of Osage descent. This meant that the White people in the area no longer had any reason to try to inherit them which took away the motivation behind the murders. In 2000, the federal government settled with the Osage over allegations that the tribe had lost money due to federal mismanagement of their oil contracts and money.

Bibliography

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Kratz, Jessie. “Terror on the Osage Reservation.” Pieces of History: A Blog of the US National Archives, 24 Nov. 2021, prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2021/11/24/terror-on-the-osage-reservation/. Accessed 12 July 2023.

“Largely Forgotten Osage Murders Reveal A Conspiracy Against Wealthy Native Americans.” NPR, 6 Apr. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/04/06/600136534/largely-forgotten-osage-murders-reveal-a-conspiracy-against-wealthy-native-ameri. Accessed 12 July 2023.

May, Jon D. “Osage Murders.” Oklahoma Historical Society, www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS005. Accessed 12 July 2023.

McDonnell, Brandy. “Martin Scorsese Movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Delves Into Tragic Osage Tribal History.” The Oklahoman, 9 May 2021, www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/2021/05/09/martin-scorsese-killers-flower-moon-film-revisits-osage-tribal-history/4972107001/. Accessed 12 July 2023.

“Murder and Mayhem in the Osage Hills.” FBI History, www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/murder-and-mayhem-in-the-osage-hills. Accessed 12 July 2023.

“Osage Murders.” PBS Short Film Festival, 2023, www.pbs.org/filmfestival/films/osage-murders. Accessed 12 July 2023.

Pierce-Bohen, Kayllena. “Killers Of The Flower Moon True Story: The Osage Murders Explained.” ScreenRant, 18 May 2023, screenrant.com/killers-flower-moon-true-story-osage-murders-explained/. Accessed 12 July 2023.