Osage Indian murders
Encyclopedia
The Osage Indian Murders were a series of murders of Osage Indians in Osage County, Oklahoma
, traced to a gang led by William "King of Osage Hills" Hale, with the aim of gaining access to the oil wealth of tribe members.
It was an early high-profile FBI success and dramatized as an episode in the 1959 film, The FBI Story
.
Hale, his nephews and some members of the Osage Nation
were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison.
was shaken by murders of eighteen Osage Indians in Osage County, Oklahoma
within a short period of time. Regional Colorado
newspapers reported the murders as the “Reign of Terror” on the Osage reservation.
In 1921, locals discovered the body of twenty-five-year-old Anna Brown. Unable to find the killer, local authorities put the case aside. In February 1923, Henry Roan, a cousin of Brown, was found shot in the head in his car. A month later, a nitroglycerin bomb demolished the house of Bill and Rita Smith, located in Fairfax, Oklahoma
. The blast instantly killed Rita and her servant Nettie Brookshire. A week later, Bill Smith died of massive injuries from the blast. Thirteen other deaths of full-blooded Osage men and women occurred between 1921 and 1923. Tribal elders of the Osage Nation
hired the assistance of the newly organized Federal Bureau of Investigation
- the (FBI).
to Osage County to find jobs in the oil fields. Once there, they discovered the immense wealth of the Osage Nation due to its having oil-rich lands.
To gain part of the wealth, Hale persuaded his nephew Ernest to marry the full-blooded Osage Mollie Kyle. She was the sister of Anna Brown and Rita Smith. As the evidence unfolded, Hale had organized the deaths of Mollie’s mother Lizzie Q Kyle; her cousin Henry Roan; Anna; and the Smiths, to cash in on the insurance policies and oil head rights of each family member. Hale, his Burkhart nephews, and the ranch hands they hired to murder the Osage were convicted in trials from 1926 to 1929 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
, traced to a gang led by William "King of Osage Hills" Hale, with the aim of gaining access to the oil wealth of tribe members.
It was an early high-profile FBI success and dramatized as an episode in the 1959 film, The FBI Story
The FBI Story
The FBI Story is a 1959 American drama film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.-Plot:...
.
Hale, his nephews and some members of the Osage Nation
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison.
Murder in Osage County
In the early 1920s the WestWest
West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the left side of a map is west....
was shaken by murders of eighteen Osage Indians in Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
within a short period of time. Regional Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
newspapers reported the murders as the “Reign of Terror” on the Osage reservation.
In 1921, locals discovered the body of twenty-five-year-old Anna Brown. Unable to find the killer, local authorities put the case aside. In February 1923, Henry Roan, a cousin of Brown, was found shot in the head in his car. A month later, a nitroglycerin bomb demolished the house of Bill and Rita Smith, located in Fairfax, Oklahoma
Fairfax, Oklahoma
Fairfax is a town in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,380 at the 2010 census, down 11.3 percent from 1,555 at the 2000 census.-History:...
. The blast instantly killed Rita and her servant Nettie Brookshire. A week later, Bill Smith died of massive injuries from the blast. Thirteen other deaths of full-blooded Osage men and women occurred between 1921 and 1923. Tribal elders of the Osage Nation
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
hired the assistance of the newly organized Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
- the (FBI).
Oil wealth
In 1897 oil was first discovered in Osage County and by 1920 the market for oil had grown dramatically. In 1929 $27 million dollars was reported being held by the Guardian System, an organization set up to protect the financial interests of 883 Osage families in Osage County.Investigation of the murders
Four agents were sent by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which had federal jurisdiction over the reservation. Working undercover for two years, the agents discovered a crime ring of petty criminals led by Bill Hale, a wealthy rancher, known in Osage County as the "King of the Osage Hills". He and his nephews, Ernest and Roy Burkhart, had migrated from TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to Osage County to find jobs in the oil fields. Once there, they discovered the immense wealth of the Osage Nation due to its having oil-rich lands.
To gain part of the wealth, Hale persuaded his nephew Ernest to marry the full-blooded Osage Mollie Kyle. She was the sister of Anna Brown and Rita Smith. As the evidence unfolded, Hale had organized the deaths of Mollie’s mother Lizzie Q Kyle; her cousin Henry Roan; Anna; and the Smiths, to cash in on the insurance policies and oil head rights of each family member. Hale, his Burkhart nephews, and the ranch hands they hired to murder the Osage were convicted in trials from 1926 to 1929 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Books on the subject
- Bloodland: A Family Story of Oil, Greed and Murder on the Osage Reservation, ISBN 978-1571780836
- The Osage Indian Murders: The True Story of a 21-Murder Plot to Inherit the Headrights of Wealthy Osage Tribe Members, ISBN 978-0965917414
External links
- Osage Murders, Oklahoma Historical Society
- "Osage Indian Murders", 3,274 pages of original casenotes, FBI