From the Bookshelf of On The Same Page …

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

David Grann

Start date: January 1, 2024

Finish date: March 31, 2024

Discussion: 2024 Nonfiction Challenges

Why we're reading this: Poll winner for the nonfiction quarterly read for 1Q24.
[close] Poll winner for the nonfiction quarterly read for 1Q24.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 10 topics — 124 comments total

2024 Nonfiction Challenges

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* 1Q25 Nonfiction Group Read Nominations
By Jennifer , Moderator · 5 posts · 12 views

last updated Dec 01, 2024 05:03PM

2024 Non Fiction Reader Challenge
By Bill , Moderator · 70 posts · 69 views

last updated Dec 29, 2024 03:12AM

What Members Thought

Apr 11, 2020 Missy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2020, favorites

I don't think I have ever heard of The Osage Murders, if I have it was very quickly and something that obviously didn't stick with me. I knew of course there was oil in Texas and Oklahoma, but never about the Osage area and the wealth that came from it. Working in the legal field I of course know of mineral rights and it is very hard to buy land with those rights, owners/families tend to keep those close.

When the Osage were forced out of Kansas by the US Government the area they were forced to ...more

61 likes · Like · see review

Aug 17, 2022 Kristine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-and-thrillers, non-fiction-political, countries-usa, audio-books, award-nominated, pub-aug, challenges-books-tome-500, challenge-2013-2022-books, non-fiction-crime

Excellent Book that is True, but reads better then the best fiction. This is a riveting tale of the Wild West in Oklahoma and the Osage Indians that were very wealthy because they owned the rights to the oil beneath their land. Then several Osage Indians start becoming ill. Next, Anna Brown goes missing, but her sister Mollie Burkhart is sure something terrible has happened. She has already lost her young sister to a mysterious illness just three years ago. She is right about Anna, too as her de Excellent Book that is True, but reads better then the best fiction. This is a riveting tale of the Wild West in Oklahoma and the Osage Indians that were very wealthy because they owned the rights to the oil beneath their land. Then several Osage Indians start becoming ill. Next, Anna Brown goes missing, but her sister Mollie Burkhart is sure something terrible has happened. She has already lost her young sister to a mysterious illness just three years ago. She is right about Anna, too as her dead body is found and she was shot. Than Mollie’s mother becomes ill and dies. Are these deaths a coincidence or is something much more sinister going on?

Several in the area are loosely Law Enforcement, as people of power basically control the area. Still, one man, a deputy sheriff, Willliam Hale is disturbed by Anna’s death and promises Mollie and her white husband, Ernest Burkhart that he is going to find out who killed Anna. Nothing comes of it though. After this Private Investigators are hired to try to find evidence about Anna’s killing and many possible poisoning to the Osage People. The problem is no one really sees the Indians as having any value except for the millions they make off of oil. They are viewed as Savages and Ignorant. The Indians don’t believe any justice will ever come to murdered Osage Indians when the White Man is in charge. They are frightened constantly about who will die next.

This is when the just emerging FBI, that Edgar Hoover assigns a new agent, Tom White to solve these murders. Tom White is professional, hard working, and dedicated to finally finding out who is killing the Osage, almost certainly due to the money they are making. He and his team must push through a lot of corruption, bribery, and lying to figure this case out. It is amazing that they did and a just trial takes place. Reading this book was just riveting because this is a murder mystery and also it is not considered serious because it is being done to Indians.

I rated it 4* since after the crime was finally solved, there was more with different families and many people possibly involved with their murders. It became too many people to keep track of at that point. Also, there were updates on the current family members and how they were doing. This was interesting, but was too extended and thought these additions were too much of the book.

Overall, highly recommend this book. There is so much factual information to learn and also was fascinating the scene at the time. The difference was this time the Indians actually were the very wealthy people and others became interested in seeing them gone due to greed.

Thank you Debbie and Ann Marie for both suggesting this book to me. I finally got to it and had the Audio, too, making it that much better. ...more

48 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2018 Kim Kaso rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: life-of-a-book-addict, bound-together, reading-for-pleasure-group, perks-of-being-a-book-addict-finish, 5000-books-lor2018, on-the-same-page-finished

It took me a while to get through this book, as I kept experiencing “outrage fatigue”. I had to read it a chapter or two at a time, then read something else to cleanse my psyche. Outrage in general at what this country did to the people who first lived here. Outrage at the federal government deciding full-blooded Osage could not be trusted with their own money, and must have white guardians appointed to handle their affairs, who then proceeded to embezzle from them. The higher % of Native Americ ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Jul 14, 2018 Tawallah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-actually-owe, award-book, audiobook, true-crime

This story made me so angry. Nothing at all to do with the writing. How this tribe was abused was awful. And because of prevailing attitude at the time, the Reign of Terror has affected generations to this day. When you think you have reached the bottom, Grann unearths details that leave you gobsmacked and speechless. Often you have to remind yourself that this is a true crime. Just as engaging as In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. A definite must read.

I listened on Audible and enjoyed all the nar ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 05, 2019 Nanci rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

This is such an important story and one I had no idea happened to this group of Native Americans. It is a sad, horrific account that normally would have evoked all types of emotions in me, but the writing just didn't get me there. It was annoyingly repetitive and I had to drag myself to finish it. Just way too much telling and not enough showing. It is an important story and I learned a lot, but I would have preferred a different format. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 17, 2018 Natalie [genreneutralreader] rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This non-fiction book was really interesting. While no one is surprised to hear that the US government treated Native Americans badly from the start, the situation with the Osage was so different and unique that I had literally never heard anything like it. So the US drives the Osage from their homeland in Kansas, gives them what was thought to be a worthless piece of land in Oklahoma, then when it turned out to be rich with oil, the government decided the Osage were too wealthy for their own co ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2018 Liz T rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Definitely one of the many stains on the history of this country that is never mentioned. I had to put this book down a couple of times, especially during the court scenes, because if not for the time period this could be any court room today when crimes are committed against persons of color. This book should be required reading for HS history classes.

Like · see review