In the 1920s oil was discovered in the ground beneath the land owned by individual Native Americans in Oklahoma. One by one various of the owners began to die off under suspicious circumstances. Several Native American women of the Osage Tribe who had been married by local white men were murdered – actually shot or poisoned – in order to inherit their land and all the rights to the oil underneath. These men became millionaires overnight.
Initially the members of the Osage tribe registered their land and when it became clear that they all were sitting on an oil “Gold Mine” they all became millionaires overnight, even though it took several years for the oil profits to materialize. In 1923 alone the tribe took in more than 30 million dollars, equivalent today of over 400 million. Many travelled around the world, built fancy mansions, and went to the best schools in Europe. But that’s when the systematic murders began.
It took the newly formed FBI and numerous private investigators years to uncover the whole plot and prosecute and convict the men who had stolen the rights to the oil riches from their wives by first marrying them and then killing them. These men, led by Ernest Burkhart, got away with this plot for many years before they were brought to justice, partly by the efforts of the FBI and mostly by those of several private detectives who had been hired by various Native Americans. There were numerous trials all around the state of Oklahoma.
Slowly the devious plot began to be uncovered and the guilty persons tracked down. Bye then many of the original swindlers and murderers had already died. A great deal of the credit eventually must go to author David Gramm for his continued sleuthing, as well as for his bringing this volume together. The book’s title is Killers of the Flower Moon. It seems impossible to believe that a plot so treacherous and evil could have been born, but in this book the author has dotted all the “i’s” and crossed all the “t’s”.
Ironically, the U.S. government has recently allowed electric companies to erect windmills all over the reservation land because they “do not impede or trespass’ on any Native American source of livelihood. Besides, oil as a means of power is hopefully fast receding into the sunset, leaving the Native Americans with their land and whatever oil rights they can peddle. Like the Cherokee “Trail of Tears” this white man bamboozle also has left Native Americans out in the cold.
I write about this book and its fiendish plot because I have for a long time been interested in and saddened by the plight of Native Americans ever since the coming of the “White Man.” We have taken their land, pushed them around, even eliminated them by the thousands, all in the name of “Manifest Destiny” and “progress.” In spite of this, thousands of native Americans have helped us fight our World Wars and continue to contribute to the enrichment of our cultural life.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” will also be a film available soon in theaters.