From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

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

David Grann

Start date: August 1, 2023

Finish date: August 31, 2023

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: August 2023 - Modern Selection
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What Members Thought

Jun 09, 2019 Christina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023-royalty-vs-commoner, 2023, 2019, dcvsmarvel-2019-dj, finished-may-23

"There never has been a country on this earth that has fallen except when that point was reached...where the citizens would say, 'We cannot get justice in our courts.'"

This was such a fascinating and oftentimes sad and frustrating read. The things that were done to the Osage people in the name of money and prejudice was just unbelievable and horrifying. Sadly, this seems to be something that continues to happen even to this day to certain sects of people. I highly recommend this though to people ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 21, 2022 Mike rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, crime

This one was part of two goals I've set for myself:

1) read some of the stuff that's been on my bookshelf forecer

2) use some of my reading time to learn things

This one works well for both, and it was a great read, to boot.

I've always been averse to reading books that get a ton of hype. Working at a library makes it even worse. Do you have any idea how many patrons got pissy with me because all out copies of Where the Crawdads Sing were checked out? Ugh.

Anyway, I put this one off for yesrs because ...more

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Aug 25, 2020 Laurel Bradshaw rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, audiobook, non-fiction, daytimers-book-club, native-americans, true-crime, color-rating-purple

Told in three parts by three different narrators. It is the shocking story of a relatively little-known part of American history, and yet it is a story that is all too familiar in the racial history of our country. It reads like a novel. First we are introduced to the Osage people, and in particular to one of the families being systematically murdered. The second part tells about the role of the FBI in putting together an undercover team to investigate and solve the mystery and bring the perpetr Told in three parts by three different narrators. It is the shocking story of a relatively little-known part of American history, and yet it is a story that is all too familiar in the racial history of our country. It reads like a novel. First we are introduced to the Osage people, and in particular to one of the families being systematically murdered. The second part tells about the role of the FBI in putting together an undercover team to investigate and solve the mystery and bring the perpetrators to justice. I thought this part was particularly well done. But then the third part revisits the murders admitting that many holes still exist in the case, and that the actual number of murders (most still unresolved) was staggering. I wish this part had been developed more, and that it ended with a sense of justice restored. Unfortunately, we are left with the grim reminder that evidence was systematically destroyed, and the killers largely got away with, well, murder. Most of America has never even heard of these murders, but for the Osage people, it is still vivid. An important story that needs to be more widely known. I wavered between a blue and a purple rating - 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. I wish it had been fleshed out a bit more.

Description: In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. ...more

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Oct 01, 2023 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, nonfiction, currently-owned, governerd-book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a well-researched, well-written, and heartbreaking book. The Osage owned rights to what lay underneath their land — oil, in this case — and they gained wealth by selling those rights. But whites took advantage of them at every turn, sometimes marrying them to gain their headrights, or even killing them to gain access to their money. Although the outlines of these events were known, Grann uncovered information that showed that many more Osage were killed than previously known, using prima This is a well-researched, well-written, and heartbreaking book. The Osage owned rights to what lay underneath their land — oil, in this case — and they gained wealth by selling those rights. But whites took advantage of them at every turn, sometimes marrying them to gain their headrights, or even killing them to gain access to their money. Although the outlines of these events were known, Grann uncovered information that showed that many more Osage were killed than previously known, using primary sources from many locations. It would be a thoroughly depressing story, except that some of those who were guilty of crimes were eventually prosecuted, and it took great bravery and tenacity to investigate them.

Quotes

“As White strove to be a modern evidence man, he had to learn many new techniques, but the most useful one was timeless: coldly, methodically separating hearsay from facts that he could prove. He didn’t want to hang a man simply because he had constructed a seductive tale. And after years of bumbling, potentially crooked investigations into the Osage murders, White needed to weed out half facts and build an indubitable narrative based on what he called an “unbroken chain of evidence.” (124)

“This so-called Indian business, as White discovered, was an elaborate criminal operation, in which various sectors of society were complicit. The crooked guardians and administrators of Osage estates were typically among the most prominent white citizens: businessmen and ranchers and lawyers and politicians. So were the lawmen and prosecutors and judges who facilitated and concealed the swindling (and, sometimes, acted as guardians and administrators themselves.) (165-166)

“These cases underscored that the murders of the Osage for their headrights were not the result of a single conspiracy orchestrated by Hale. He might have led the bloodiest and longest killing spree. But there were countless other killings — killings that were not included in official estimates and that, unlike the cases of Lewis or Millie Burkhart’s family members, were never investigated or even classified as homicides.” (302-303)

“This land is saturated with blood,” Webb said. For a moment, she fell silent, and we could hear the leaves of the blackjacks rattling restlessly in the wind. Then she repeated what God told Cain after he killed Abel: “The blood cries out from the ground.” (316) ...more

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