, Martin Scorsese’s newest film, tells a story seemingly made for Hollywood—the tale of how white settlers used fatal means to seize the wealth of theof Oklahoma in the early 20th century. But the film, based on David Grann’s bestselling 2017 book of the same name, isn’t all fiction.
The Osage nation sidestepped this “allotment” system, since it had bought 1.5 million acres of Oklahoma land outright from the federal government when the group was driven out of itsin Kansas in 1872. The Osage nation gave all the land to members, each receiving 657 acres. The nation itself held on to the mineral rights of the land, granting each member an inheritable “headright” to the share of the nation’s mineral wealth.
historian Dennis McAuliffe, 600 guardians took $8 million in surplus funds alone with no oversight and no accountability over the course of just three years.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.: Anna Kyle Brown was murdered at age 35 in a series of more than 60 killings in her community.: William K. Hale plotted the deaths of the several wealthy members of the Osage Nation to gain control of their valuable oil holdings.
The Kyles weren’t the only Osage people who died around this time, all under suspicious circumstances that included suspected poisonings, supposed suicides, and even being thrown off a train. Between 1921 and 1925, at least 60 Osage people were murdered or disappeared. All possessed wealth due to their headrights—and the Osage Tribal Council suspected that a prominent local white cattleman, William K. Hale, might be to blame.