Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

For our November Mystery Book Club (MBC), we read Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

It is a nonfiction book. It is a mystery.

About:

"In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Inthe1920s,therichestpeoplepercapitaintheworldweremembersoftheOsageIndianNationinOklahoma.Afteroilwasdiscoveredbeneaththeirland,theOsagerodeinchauffeuredautomobiles,builtmansions,andsenttheirchildrentostudyinEurope.

Then,onebyone,theybegantobekilledoff.OneOsagewoman,MollieBurkhart,watchedasherfamilywasmurdered.Heroldersisterwasshot.Hermotherwasthenslowlypoisoned.Anditwasjustthebeginning,asmoreOsagebegantodieundermysteriouscircumstances.

InthislastremnantoftheWildWest—whereoilmenlikeJ.P.GettymadetheirfortunesandwheredesperadoessuchasAlSpencer,“thePhantomTerror,”roamed–virtuallyanyonewhodaredtoinvestigatethekillingswerethemselvesmurdered.Asthedeathtollsurpassedmorethantwenty-fourOsage,thenewlycreatedF.B.I.tookupthecase,inwhatbecameoneoftheorganization’sfirstmajorhomicideinvestigations.Butthebureauwasthennotoriouslycorruptandinitiallybungledthecase.Eventuallytheyoungdirector,J.EdgarHoover,turnedtoaformerTexasRangernamedTomWhitetotrytounravelthemystery.Whiteputtogetheranundercoverteam,includingoneoftheonlyNativeAmericanagentsinthebureau.Theyinfiltratedtheregion,strugglingtoadoptthelatestmoderntechniquesofdetection.TogetherwiththeOsagetheybegantoexposeoneofthemostsinisterconspiraciesinAmericanhistory.

Atrue-lifemurdermysteryaboutoneofthemostmonstrouscrimesinAmericanhistory.

Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances.

In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes such as Al Spencer, “the Phantom Terror,” roamed – virtually anyone who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll surpassed more than twenty-four Osage, the newly created F.B.I. took up the case, in what became one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations. But the bureau was then notoriously corrupt and initially bungled the case. Eventually the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only Native American agents in the bureau. They infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest modern techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most sinister conspiracies in American history.
 

A true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history."

 

I was not aware of this story. I attributed it to not being from the area. But members of the MBC that are from Oklahoma, were not aware of this story either. Everyone agreed it was shameful what happened to not only the people that were murdered, but the members of the Osage tribe as a whole.

 

I can't say "it was a good book", because there isn't anything good about this true story. Well, maybe it was good they developed new investigative processes, good they founded the FBI but....

 

Martin Scorsese is directing a movie based on this book. It will star Leonardo DeCaprio and Robert Di Nero. It will be filmed in Osage County. They recently held a casting call in Osage County for people with the knowledge of i.e. customs, hair styling, cooking, etc. I think it is good that Scorsese wants to bring this story even more out in front by making a movie. Let's hope they stay true to the facts.

 

The author of the book is David Grann. He is a journalist currently for the New Yorker and has written several true crime books. They all look very interesting.

 

You can read more about the author and his books here: https://www.davidgrann.com/

 

You can read more about the Osage Indian murders here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage_Indian_murders