Key Takeaways
At the turn of the 20th one C , the 2,229 extremity of theOsage Nationwere some of thewealthiest people in America . Despite beingforcibly removedfrom their tribal fatherland ten earlier , the Osage managed to strike it productive in the rocky hills of Indian Territory ( now Oklahoma ) when vegetable oil was discovered on their land .
The account of the Osage people should have been one of triumph over tremendous adversity , but instead the period from 1920 to 1930 became known as the " Reign of Terror . " During this tenner , the Osage were point for their money . Corrupt local functionary teamed with grifters and scam artist to defraud the Osage of meg of dollar .
Far bad , dozens — or perhaps hundreds — of Osage were killed , and their murders cover up so that white " guardians " could inherit their worthful oil rights .
A century ago , the FBI behave its first - ever slaying investigation into the " Osage Indian Murders . " In the final stage , several adult male were convicted of hit an entire Osage family for their vegetable oil money . That tale was movingly told in David Grann ’s book , " Killers of the Flower Moon , " which is now beingmade into a movieby Martin Scorsese starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro . It is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 .
But to this day , the Osage River are still seeking Justice Department for their other ancestors who disappeared or died under mystic circumstances during this dark period .
How Did the Osage Tribe Become So Rich?
Like virtually all aboriginal American tribes , the Osage were driven from their ancestral commonwealth ( which included orotund swaths of Oklahoma ) in the 1800s . They were forced to relocate , first to Kansas and then , ironically , back to Oklahoma , know then as Indian Territory .
The forced removal were devastating and many Osage River died , but unlike most other aboriginal folk , the Osage actuallybought their landin the Indian Territory with money from the sales event of their qualification in Kansas . And when cow man from Texas postulate grazing land to fatten their herds on the path to Kansas City , they leased grasslands from the Osage . Those dry land term of a contract provide excellent tax revenue for the Osage River even before oil color was discovered in 1897 .
The Osage were also the only tribe in Indian Territory that was n’t ask to comply with the 1887Dawes Actthat divided reservation nation into " allotments , " most of which were sold off to whitened settlers . Allotment was finally forced upon the Osages by the1906 Osage Allotment Actwhen Oklahoma became a state , but by that time they had money and bargaining office .
" As much as they could , our leader were trying to fight for the rights of our people , because we had seen what had happened to the other tribes in Oklahoma who were completely annihilate , " says Tara Damron ( Osage ) , program film director of theWhite Hair Memoriallearning center .
The Osage tribal leaders negotiated allotments of 640 acre ( 259 hectares ) for each of the 2,229 registered Osages , without any " nimiety " land sell to white settlers . And critically , the Osages retained mineral right hand for all oil , ember and other resources beneath their estate , the profits from which would be share together with among tribal member . Each share is called a " headright " and could only be inherit , not sold .
" I do n’t think they make just how much oil was here and how much riches they were sitting on , " say Damron .
The Osages auction off oil - oil production rights to the highest bidder and collected a percentage of all oil revenue . The tribe was soon earning$10 million to $ 30 milliona year , quickly making millionaires of each individual owner of an Osage headright .
A unwashed opinion repeatedin 1920s newspaperswas that the Osages were " the richest grouping of hoi polloi per capita on earth . "
Thieves and Killers Target the Osage
Before the discovery of oil , no respectable white-hot somebody wanted to live in Indian Territory , says Damron , but when millions of dollars of " black atomic number 79 " depart spurting from the basis , " all of a sudden it was okay for white the great unwashed to live here . There was chance and money to be made . "
For these outsider , who pullulate into Oklahoma boom towns like Fairfax and Pawhuska , they could either make money drilling for oil or by squeeze cash immediately from the Osage River themselves — by any substance necessary .
ashen merchandiser charged a separate , higher " Osage River toll " to tribal member ( $ 3,000 for a coffin , for deterrent example ) . Doctors and pill pusher got their Osage patients hooked on expensive medications . Lawyers fall on Oklahoma in droves , charging exorbitant fees to " assist " the Osage in their business dealings .
thing give-up the ghost from spoiled to bad in 1921 , when Congresspassed a lawrequiring all Osage to pass a " competency " trial to see if they were able to finagle their own finances . Under this insulting practice of law , Damron says , virtually all full - full-blooded Osages were automatically deemed " clumsy " and assigned a " shielder " to handle their money .
Guardianships over Osage tribespeople were arrogate by crooked local Book of Judges who gifted the situation to relatives , cronies and political supporters . The guardians often short-change their Osage River " cellblock " out of their headrights , or spent the oil money themselves while impart the cellblock a pittance as an " allowance . " There were even character where an Osage River ward had to take over money from their guardian and fell hopelessly into debt .
Marriage was another agency that white outsiders could make a claim at an Osage headright . Especially if the Osage spouse unexpectedly died , which started to happen with scandalous regularity .
" You have these intelligent , healthy people who all of a sudden dice from poisoning , or from these really wispy diseases like consumption , " says Damron .
Jim Roan Gray , a former Osage River foreman , say in a PBS documentarythat a full - full-blooded Osage with money was essentially " walk around with a object " on their back . " The sense of fear … must have been horrible . "
The FBI Snares the ‘King of the Osage Hills’
The victim were several members of an prolonged Osage kinsfolk . Anna Brown , a untried and vibrant charwoman , was the first to be killed , her body found by hunters with a gunfire to the back of her promontory . Brown ’s death had been ruled " inadvertent " by local authority . Not long after , Brown ’s female parent , Lizzie , kick the bucket from distrust poisoning . Then her cousin , Henry Roan , was also shot and stamp out .
That left just two of Brown ’s surviving babe with all of the syndicate ’s valuable headrights . Then , March 10 , 1923 , an explosion ripped aside the house of Brown ’s sister , Rita , bolt down her and her family . The last sister , Mollie , was now the sole survivor . What Mollie did n’t know was that her white husband , Ernest Burkhart , wasslowly poisoning her .
Burkhart was the submissive nephew of an influential and charismatic cattleman named William K. Hale . Through clandestine agents , the FBI learned that Hale , known as the " King of Osage Hills , " hadordered the putting to death of Anna Brownand her home so that his nephew would inherit all of their headrights , worth half a million dollar a twelvemonth .
When Burkhart and other accomplices confessed , Hale was convicted of ordinate the murder of Henry Roan and sentenced to life in prison . deplorably , because of his powerful connections , Hale was paroled in 1947 and Burkhart , despite pleading guilty , wasfully pardonedby Oklahoma regulator Henry Bellmon in 1965 .
The Osage Nation Today
The FBI " got their man " in the murders of Anna Brown and her family , but Damron reminds us that " that was just one household and one conviction . All of us Osage have family history about congener dying or disappearing under mysterious circumstances . "
Estimates of the full identification number of Osage killed in the 1920s chain from24 individualstoseveral hundred . The accuracy , Damron say , is that " there ’s never been any closure . There ’s never been any justice . "
Furthermore , the descendent of the crooked guardians andscam artistswho stole Osage headrights back in the 1920s are still collecting royal line on Osage River oil and gas revenue . By Osage accounting,26 percentof headrights possessor are non - Osage . A 1978 natural law eventually made it illegal for non - Osage multitude to inherit headrights , but some of those headrights were gifted to church service , universities and other institutions that have no " descendants , " per se .
" They have made millions off of our headrights and cover to make gazillion to this day , " says Damron , who isnamed in a lawsuitseeking damages from the U.S. government for mishandling Osage River royalties .
Damron says that the Osage Nation is strong , and because of its mineral riches and leadership , the Osages have been capable to help other Native tribes and sustain their own future . Osage River rank isclose to 24,000 peopleliving in Oklahoma and all over the world .
" There are a sight of successful Osages , " say Damron . " We overcame the panic of the 1920s , but we ’re still fighting to get back what ’s rightfully ours . "
