This book tells the story of one of the most notorious cases of the 20th century. Unfortunately it was buried by the egotism of J. Edgar Hoover who hogged the limelight and deprived the true story of Texas Ranger Tom White, who, first as a Texas Ranger, and then as an Agent of what was shortly to become the FBI, led an almost 5 year investigation into the multiple murders of several dozen Osage Indians in Oklahoma during the 1920's. Oil had been discovered on the Osage Reservation, making millionaires of the the tribe's members. But it didn't take long for the white man to devise a way of scamming them of at least part of their wealth.
By reasoning that Indians didn't understand money, or how to handle it, they concocted laws which made it mandatory for each Indian to have a white trustee. Soon white men and women descended upon the Reservation and started marrying the Osage. After that the Judges began to award trusteeships to whites in exchange for securing their votes at election time.
Suddenly, in 1921, there were murders, poisonings and all manners of schemes afoot to gain hold of the "headrights" to the Osage parcels of land. Each parcel was 160 acres and oil companies came to bid under what became known as the "Million Dollar Elm" for leases to these "headrights".
The book begins in May 1921, with the disappearance of an Osage woman named Mollie Burkhart. When found she had been shot in the head and dumped in a ravine. Local authorities couldn't/wouldn't solve the case. Soon more deaths followed, all with the same lack of prosecution. It seemed that no white jury would convict a white man of murdering an Indian.
When the investigation was finally handed over to the Texas Rangers things looked as if there would be convictions. But, due to the influence of one man, William Hale, nothing changed at all. Hale controlled everything that happened; on and off the Reservation.
This is also the story of the time when the Bureau of Investigation was under the leadership of William Burns. He was just as bad as the State when it came to results. But by 1925 the Bureau became the FBI and J.Edgar Hoover took over. At the same time Texas Ranger Tom White became an FBI agent and Hoover assigned him to the case.
For another 3 years there were investigations and trials, and even more murders. But no convictions. Finally, through Jurisdictional wrangling, the case wound up in Federal Court. State verdicts were overturned as witnesses recanted and juries were proven to have been bribed.
Too complicated for a simple review, take my advice and read this book before the movie is released. Martin Scorsese is directing the film version which will be starring Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio as the two leaders of the criminals responsible for the murders. Some of these murders even involved their own family members.
In the 1930's Lucky Strike tried a radio show based on the case but struck out. Later on, Agent and former Texas Ranger Tom White tried his hand at a book which became a fictional screenplay. Again, it didn't make it. By that time the FBI had moved on and J. Edgar Hoover became a national hero due to the John Dillinger case and the birth of the "G-Man." Unwilling to share the truth of this shameful story of exploitation, and dilute his own place in the spotlight, there was no way he was going to share any glory with the real hero of the earlier case, former Texas Ranger Tom White.
The book is all encompassing, covering the history of the Osage, the discovery of oil and the history of the oil barons it created. No movie will ever be able to fully tell the story as well as David Gram does in the book. He lived with it and researched it for 6 years before it was released in 2017. I'll say it again; read the book first. It will enrich you.
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