Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann Published by Doubleday on April 18, 2017
Source: Library
Genres: True Crime, History
Pages: 359
Format: eBook
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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.
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.
In the 1870s the Osage were forced from their lands in Kansas to Oklahoma, a seemingly useless land. The Osage were in a better position than most tribes. The sold their land in Kansas to the government for a decent price, and so were one of the few nations to actually buy their reservation land. And then oil was discovered on that land and the Osage became some of the richest people in the world. Grann does an excellent job telling us what happened next. The Osage started dying. They were shot, poisoned, left to die after “accidents,” blown up. At least 24, probably closer to three times that number, of the Osage were killed for their oil money. Killed by people they thought loved them. Killed by people who were supposed to be protecting them. Killed by friends. And the doctors, coroners, lawmen, all contributing to covering up the crimes. It wasn’t just a couple mean, greedy people. It was a true conspiracy.
The local lawmen and private detectives were having no luck solving the crimes, probably because at least some of them were actively working against justice. Even a couple of the white men who were truly trying to help the Osage were killed. In comes the FBI. It’s the first big case they’ve handled and J. Edgar Hoover is still a young man, new at the job. He sends Tom White out to take charge of the investigation. White is a good guy and determined to get to the truth. We’ve kind of have two stories here. The devastating, unbelievable Reign of Terror the Osage were living under, and the early development of the FBI, including how the agents felt about Hoover’s dictates. White does eventually get a couple of prosecutions, but Grann contends that that should not have been the end of the investigation. Several of the murders could not be traced back to the convicted men, but he does come up with a couple of theories.
I’ve just started reading non-fiction consistently in the last couple of years. It’s probably no surprise that true crime tends to draw me in. Add the historical background and I’m sold. Grann’s research clearly shows through but it’s not a difficult read. We all know that our country’s treatment of Nations like the Osage was terrible, but a book like this really brings it home—their relative powerlessness, how the system contributed to the deaths described in the book. I can’t imagine.
And the book has lots of photos, which I enjoyed. Reading non-fiction, you know the people are real, but seeing photos of them definitely adds to the experience. I almost wish I had picked this up in paperback instead of borrowing the ebook.
About David Grann
David Grann is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. His upcoming book, The White Darkness, which will be published in October, is a true story of adventure and obsession in the Antarctic.
His previous book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, documented one of the most sinister crimes and racial injustices in American history. Killers of the Flower Moon was a finalist for the National Book Award and a winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best true crime book, a Spur Award for best work of historical nonfiction, and an Indies Choice Award for best adult nonfiction book of the year. A #1 New York Times bestseller, Killers of the Flower Moon was named one of the best books of the year by the Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, PBS, Bloomberg, GQ, Slate, Buzzfeed, Vogue, and other publications.
Grann’s first book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, was also #1 New York Times bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, the book was chosen as one of the best books of 2009 by the New York Times, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Bloomberg, Publishers Weekly, Christian Science Monitor,and other publications.
Grann’s other book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, contains many of his New Yorker stories, and was named by Men’s Journal one of the best true crime books ever written. The stories in the collection focus on everything from the mysterious death of the world’s greatest Sherlock Holmes expert to a Polish writer who might have left clues to a real murder in his postmodern novel.
Over the years, Grann’s stories have appeared in The Best American Crime Writing; The Best American Sports Writing; and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. His stories have also appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Atlantic, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Wall Street Journal.
Before joining The New Yorker in 2003, Grann was a senior editor at The New Republic, and, from 1995 until 1996, the executive editor of the newspaper The Hill. He holds master’s degrees in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy as well as in creative writing from Boston University. After graduating from Connecticut College in 1989, he received a Thomas Watson Fellowship and did research in Mexico, where he began his career in journalism. He currently lives in New York with his wife and two children.
I’ve grown to really enjoy nonfiction and have had more than one person recommend this to me. I need to grab a copy of it.
I thought it was really good. Easy to read but well-researched.
Given that I recently read/reviewed an account of law enforcement and the bootleggers during the advent of the temperance movement (link below) I think I’d find this book a fascinating read.
https://pettywitter.blogspot.com/2018/11/whiskey-and-blood.html
It’s really interesting. Actually, if I remember right, one of the ways they killed people was poisoned moonshine.