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

David Grann

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What Members Thought

Jun 25, 2017 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-heard

I was initially a little confused as to why there were three narrators...until it got clear to the start of part III and realized that Grann had set up the book so that "Mollie" started the saga, "Tom White" investigated the crimes, and "David Grann" pulled back the layers of history and exposed the story to light again. Very clever.

I was absolutely riveted (I had about 8 minutes left at one point and had to get out of the car to run an errand and was like, "UGH WHY"). I had known a little about ...more

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Oct 23, 2023 Deb rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookclub, nonfiction, history, bipoc

A horrifying piece of American history brought to light. I’m looking forward to seeing the film, and I’m glad it will bring even more attention to this story.

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May 03, 2018 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: american-history, non-fiction, true-crime

For members of the Osage Native American tribe, the Reign of Terror isn't just a historical footnote. It is a reminder that for over a decade their family members were systematically murdered, often by a non-Osage family member or friend, and the details were covered up by the white community including doctors, corners, law enforcement, courts, juries, and judges. When a conviction seemed imminent, many doubted that a conviction of a white man for an Osage murder was even possible. This didn't h For members of the Osage Native American tribe, the Reign of Terror isn't just a historical footnote. It is a reminder that for over a decade their family members were systematically murdered, often by a non-Osage family member or friend, and the details were covered up by the white community including doctors, corners, law enforcement, courts, juries, and judges. When a conviction seemed imminent, many doubted that a conviction of a white man for an Osage murder was even possible. This didn't happen in the 1800s, but in the 1920s. I shouldn't be, but I remain continually surprised at the comprehensive racism in not only the foundations, but of the ongoing building of our country.
This book primarily deals with the murders of several members of Mollie Burkhart's family, a predominant and wealthy Osage family. In the 20s, the Osages having been forced to a rocky and hilly land in Oklahoma became one of the wealthy counties in the country thanks to oil rights. One of Mollie's sisters is shot and the other killed in an explosion. Her mother is poisoned and Mollie inherits their headrights. In another horrifying example of straight up racism, Mollie doesn't have direct access to her original or inherited money but instead needs a white guardian to control her funds which isn't unusual but actually the law. Mollie's guardian is her white husband, Ernest so she is in good hands, right?
3/4 of the book follows the Burkhart case and a few others that happened at about the same time, a four year span. When local law enforcement can't/won't investigate, the Bureau of Investigation (the FBI precursor) gets involved with pressure from Hoover to have a squeaky clean case to show as an example of justice.
The last 1/4 of the book allow Gran, a journalist, to share some additional research he uncovered in his work. There are so many mysterious deaths where there wasn't any additional information to go on. The death rates of Osages at the time, for a much longer time than the official Reign of Terror even, is much higher than that of other ethnic groups despite having a high standard of living. Echoes of these murders or suspected murders continue to haunt Osage members even today.
I think this would make a great book club book, and would recommend it to a wide range of narrative non-fiction readers. It is a bit slow because there are a lot of characters and are important even if they have a small part. ...more

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Aug 05, 2017 Molly rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, kindle, borrowed, recommended, 4-stars, book-of-the-month, read-in-2017, summer-2017

My aunt was reading this book while we were on vacation and it sounded fascinating! I read Lost City of Z while I was waiting for my library hold to come trough on this and I have to say that Grann may have surpassed Erik Larsen in narrative nonfiction prowess. I kept explaining it to people and having to repeat "no, it's a true story, not a novel!" I do wish there had been more detail about the FBI (after all, it's part of the title), but this is both fascinating and horrifying...all the more s My aunt was reading this book while we were on vacation and it sounded fascinating! I read Lost City of Z while I was waiting for my library hold to come trough on this and I have to say that Grann may have surpassed Erik Larsen in narrative nonfiction prowess. I kept explaining it to people and having to repeat "no, it's a true story, not a novel!" I do wish there had been more detail about the FBI (after all, it's part of the title), but this is both fascinating and horrifying...all the more so because it's completely true.

The book focuses on the Osage Indian tribe, who in the early 20th century suddenly found themselves some of the wealthiest people in the country. The land in Oklahoma they were driven into was sitting on some of the largest oil deposits in the US. And because the tribe owned that land, oil prospectors had to pay leases and royalties to the Osage. The land was divided up and owned only by members of the tribe, and according to the terms of allotment, "the oil, gas, coal, or other minerals covered by the lands are hereby reserved to the Osage tribe." Sounds legit, right? Plus the headrights could ONLY be inherited, not bought, so the only way a non tribesman could get his hands on the valuable land would be to marry into an Osage family and hope for the best.

Well, never let it be said that white people aren't the worst, because we totally are. See, the government decided that the Osage couldn't handle their new found riches and required the office of Indian Affairs to determine which members of the tribe were capable of managing their headright trust funds. And wouldn't you know it, many were found lacking and appointed a "guardian", a local white (of course) who oversaw and authorized ALL of their spending. According to Grann's research, the appointment of a guardian seemed to be directly tied to how much Indian blood one had. A full-blooded Osage was guaranteed a guardian, while a mixed-blood person rarely was. And as Grann later discovered, the whole Hale conspiracy was really only the tip of the iceberg. It's appalling how many people were murdered, and how few of those murders are categorized as, well, murders. There was a much bigger, scarier cover up going on than just one rich white dude and a small crew of henchmen.

The other interesting aspect of this case is that it led to the restructuring of the FBI, and it seems like it kind of contributed to the legend of J Edgar Hoover (even though from what I can tell he had precious little to do with anything, that was all Tom White's doing). It's obvious that the whole operation became more efficient (the notion that entire case files were just lost is crazy!) I guess that proves that I too have a librarian's mind because Hoover's notions about filing make perfect sense to me! But again, I do wish there had been a little more focus on the FBI aspects as well (not at the expense of what's actually here, mind you, just in addition to it).

Overall, this is, like I said, a fascinating and profoundly sad story. I like learning about aspects of history I've never heard of, but I'm also sad that this isn't something that makes it into the history books. ...more

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Jun 13, 2021 Donna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, audio, twisted-sisters

Americans’ treatment of the Indigenous people of North America has been despicable from 1492 until the present. I’m grateful to have read this book as it shows just how terrible the Osage tribe was treated well into the 20th century.

J. Edgar Hoover doesn’t come off any better than in any other book I’ve read. He seems to be in it only for himself and so he could control others. No wonder the FBI has so many scandals in its past.

Really glad I read this book.

Read again for a book group meeting.

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Aug 20, 2017 Lisa Sweeney rated it it was amazing

Fantastic as an audio book!

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Apr 18, 2017 Wellington rated it really liked it

This was a very well written story of the systematic murder of hundreds of Osage Indians for their wealth and land. Along with slavery, this is a sad part of American history. The first part of the story focused on one Indian family and the way they targeted. This section provided a way to focus and feel for the Indians and what they were experiencing. The second part focused on a good FBI agent who tried to get justice for the family. This section showed provided more context to how whites view ...more

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Apr 25, 2017 Keturah rated it it was amazing

One of the best narrative nonfiction reads I've enjoyed in a long while. Fascinating, slightly obscure subject, excellent investigative research and human interest interviews. As easy to relate to today as when it happened so many decades ago. The story and the people in it brought together a wide-reaching web of real events and figures which made it a historical mystery. The extreme injustice and complete heartbreak of it made it a human tragedy which should not be overlooked or forgotten. ...more

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