Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

book and movie review

Killers of the Flower Moon is a non-fiction book by David Grann that chronicles the famous American Osage murders and the founding of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I first watched the Martin Scorsese movie on Apple TV and wanted to learn more so I decided to read the book that it was based on.

The Osage people originally resided in the Ohio Valley but were forced to move multiple times due to European and American westward expansionism in the form of Manifest Destiny. The Osage moved to Missouri before relocating to Kansas because of the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s. Later, the Osage sold their Kansas land for $1.25 per acre and relocated to Oklahoma in the 1870s. Thus the Osage finally found their home in Oklahoma.

In 1906, each Osage member was allotted land and was given headrights which are basically shares that meant that they had ownership in the profits gleaned from minerals underneath their land. The land and the minerals underneath that the Osage were allotted was not particularly notable until oil was discovered at the start of the 20th century. As one would expect, everything changed.

The Osage suddenly became incredibly wealthy from their oil profits. The United States Congress decided to pass a bunch of laws that intended to ‘protect’ the Osage and their wealth by requiring "minors and incompetents" to have a white male guardian who would manage their wealth. The 'incompetence' of the Osage was determined based on blood. Full-blooded Osage were assigned guardians while mixed Osage rarely were. This guardian had the final say in all purchases big or small. While some guardians were honest, most just used this power to exploit the Osage and embezzle their newfound wealth. This also led to many Osage women marrying white men so that they could be their guardian.

In the 1920s alone, the Osage received $200 million in oil proceeds. Adjusted for inflation that is $3.6 billion today. Adjusted for GDP growth, that is $7 billion today. Keep in mind that the Osage reservation covers 1.47 million acres of land and there were 2229 registered Osage in 1906 during the allotment. Thus, each Osage member was allotted 657 acres of land. Thus assuming that oil was found equally across the land, each member received anywhere from $1.5 to $3 million annually. This coupled with the Roaring 20s and all the extravagance of that time period helped as well.

Due to these riches, the white population had no qualms with doing whatever it takes to exploit the Osage for their money. It also helped that they didn't see them as equal because of race. Whether it was through being a guardian who stole their money, charging exorbitant Osage rates for goods, or even marrying and murdering them to inherit their headrights.

As mentioned previously, headrights are shares that allow the Osage to profit off of minerals and most importantly oil underneath their land. Headrights could not be sold and the only way that they could be transferred was by inheritance. The main characters in the book are Bill Hale (self proclaimed King of Osage Hills) and his nephew Ernest Burkhart. Hale had been in Osage land for decades and become a cattle ranch owner and a political boss who was popular with both the Whites and the Osages in Osage county. When his nephew returned from World War I with no future prospects, he invites him to Osage and tells him of his scheme to get Osage headrights by marrying and killing them.

Burkhart would marry an Osage, Mollie, and then proceeded to be involved in plots with his brother, uncle and other white county criminals to take out all three of her sisters and her mother. Finally they would kill Mollie herself and Burkhart would inherit the headrights of the entire family. Then he would transfer it to his uncle and reap the rewards. This whole plan is quite surreal as it required Burkhart to share a bed with Mollie, raise children with her all while killing off her entire family one by one and eventually her.

Moreover, David Grann also focused on the early days of the FBI and how their investigations led to the capture of Hale and Burkhart. In trying to solve the dozen or even hundreds of murder cases, local chiefs failed, private investigators failed, state legislature failed, even the federal government failed in trying to assist the Osage in early stages until finally the Bureau of Investigation (later called FBI) was sent in to assist.

This case was the FBI's first major case and it was a pivotal moment for the institution. They used modern forensic techniques and undercover operations to gather evidence that that led to the conviction of several perpetrators.

While I'm barely scratching the surface on this Osage story, the whole thing is surreal. It's a classic tale of rags to sudden riches to rags again. Moreover, this case helped define the modern FBI and it was just the beginning of the reign of J. Edgar Hoover and his agency. As Director of the FBI, Hoover ruled for 48 years under eight different U.S. Presidents. He transformed the Bureau from a modest troubled agency into a powerful, highly respected institution that changed U.S. law enforcement.

I found that the movie was engaging with its visuals and aesthetics but didn’t really convey the story fully. This is expected of movies compared to books but it left out a lot of details regarding the FBI and the present state of the Osage. While the ending scenes were great, it could have been longer. Moreover, while the book itself is non-fiction and does not go into the details of Ernest and Mollie’s relationship, the movie could have done so much more in building these characters and their relationship. While it showed Ernest in distress over what he was doing in some scenes, the relationship and its effects on both of them when the murders unfolded could have been expressed better. Also, the movie was quite long but I didn’t mind since I found the aesthetics of a wealthy American county during the Roaring 20s fascinating.

In conclusion, while I could spend this whole post discussing the murders and the story of what happened to the Osage during their reign of terror and how it still haunts their descendants to this day, I highly suggest you either read the book or watch the movie as it is a riveting tale.