Customer Reviews

The Osage Indian Murders: The True Story of a 21-Murder Plot to Inherit the Headrights of Wealthy Osage Tribe Members

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The arid Oklahoma acres turned over to the Osage Indians back when whites were taking over other parts of the so-called Indian Territory, proved in the 1920's to be floating on oil. The income was split into 2,229 headrights; some of these instant millionaires found wealth hard to handle. But a far sadder consequence, as Lawrence J. Hogan reconstructs in [this book] was the arrival of white men bent on seizing the money for themselves. A favorite method was to marry an Indian widow; she and her relatives then conveniently died and the interloper inherited everything. When the tribe cried out to Washington for help, the case was assigned to... the very new Federal Bureau of Invesitigation. It took from 1923 to 1929 but bypassing the corruption and futility of local lawmen, the FBI obtained four convictions and four life sentences. The reign of terror abated and the FBI heard its first national applause. Hogan...was a three-term Congressman and then County Executive of Prince Geoges County [MD]. But first he worked 10 years for the FBI where he learned of the Oklahoma outrage. After reviewing what is known today of Osage life and beliefs, he tells a powerful story. The great open spaces have been home to people as depraved as any city folk.

White men marry Indian women and then kill their relatives to acquire their share in the Ossage Tribe's oil wealth. There were about two dozen murders. This was the FBI's first big case. A fascinating true crime story.

The reader from Edmond, OK did not like this book, but apparently he is a minority of one among Osage Tribe members. The Osage Tribal museum as well as commerical establishments owned by Osages have sold thousands of copies of "The Osage Indian Murders."

He claims the book is inaccurate historically, but the book was written with access to all of the FBI's files about the case as well as historical material available at the White Hair Memorial near Fairfax, OK, the Osage Tribal museum in Pawhuska, OK, the Tulsa Public Library, the Tulsa world and other sources. The reader objected to the book stating that Baconrind "bellowed," but that is a verbatim quote from a magazine writer who personally interviewed Baconrind. Baconrind's grandson and namesake, incidentally, has bought several copies of the book. If this reader from Edmond, OK has some specifics to back up his objections about inaccuracies, the author and publisher would be pleased to have this information as is stated in the introduction to the book.

Many Osages have purchased multiple copies for relatives and friends without ever objecting to anything in the book.

The author would be pleased to personally hear from this reader if he has any specifics to back up his objections.

Amlex, Inc.

The book was typical of the exploitation that was experienced by the Osages in the early 20's. The author's treatment of the history of the Osage in Osage county was highly inaccurate; especially his simulated dialogue. As a member of the osage tribe I can assure the reader that this dialogue would have never occured. The author's use of stereotypical language in describing comments attributed to the Osage leaders and in describing the lifestyles of the Osages is offensive, e.g. Baconrind bellowed, the feast raged, osage squaws. The author makes unsubstantiated statements and does not cite sources. Given the author's background I had hoped for an accurate account of the Osage Indian murders, yet it was another inaccurate account by an uninformed non-Indian writing about Indians.

A pretty good book. The author had a great story to begin with....it would make an excellent motion picture. However, I thought it had a few shortcomings. The absence of an Osage perspective on the whole ordeal was a major flaw. Surely, Hogan could have found some documents from tribal members who experienced the "Reign of Terror" or interviewed the few remaining Osage members who lived through this period. Also, as a Native American, I thought the use of "Squaw" and "Squaw Man" was gratuitous and offensive. Furthermore, the jumping around from case to case was confusing at times. Nonetheless, I have recommended the book to many friends. As a person who works with the Osage Tribe, I found his account consistent with my knowledge of the "Reign of Terror" that I have accumulated through many meetings with tribal leaders and elders in Pawhuska. I was also pleased that he included an accurate, though brief, tribal history section at the beginning of the book. Furthermore, the author was successful in giving the reader a adequate sense of the setting in Osage County during the 1920s- a place replete with scoundrels, bootleggers and con men. Additionally, I was very pleased with his writing style. Often times when a "true crime" story is being told, the book is bogged down with picayune details of court proceedings. However, Hogan was able to offer a succinct, yet comprehensive account of the trial involving the Osage Indian Murders.

I half expected ghosts to step out of "The Osage Indian Murders." The book is that dry, that dusty. Yet from the author's chapter-and-verse narrative and bare-bones prose comes a haunting look back at a lawless time and place.

In 1870 Congress forced the Osages to sell their lands in Kansas and buy lands from the Cherokees in what was then Oklahoma Territory. The price quoted was 25 cents an acre. When the Osages hove into sight, of course, the Cherokees upped the price to 70 cents an acre. It was a seller's market.

Who could know that the "poor grave" (as the Osages called the new reservation) would start gushing oil in 1897? The real tragedy of things to come was these once-proud Plains warriors had never wanted money. They wanted to hunt buffalo, plant a few field crops and steal horses -- a special passion of the Plains Indians.

But the oil flowed, the Osages spent money with both hands and the vultures circled. One way for a white thief to get his hands on Osage money was to marry an Osage woman, have her killed and inherit her headrights.There was always someone willing to pull the trigger -- a shiftless hanger-on or an outlaw hiding in the woods of Osage County.

This, then, was the setting for a string of Osage Indian murders that terrorized both Indians and whites. In 1923, the FBI was called in. Agents worked undercover for three years, turning over one rock at a time to put their case together. Trials began in 1926 and eventually several life sentences were handed down.

Author Lawrence J. Hogan -- a former FBI agent and former U.S. congressman -- did voluminous research for this book. He quotes from original documents, interviews and confessions, and organized an interesting bibliography.

Old black and white photos of Indians and outlaws, murder scenes and city streets evoke the time and place in ways that words never can. The people in the photos bring the story to life. They look straight out of the page and their eyes speak volumes.

After a while it sinks in: They were real people, and they really did those things.

Note: This review is excerpted, with permission, from a review I wrote for The Hanford Sentinel newspaper.

How can the author claim to write the "true story" of the Osage murders without citing ANY research documentation whatsoever? Obviously, Hogan did not interview any Real Osages, nor has he visited the Osage Museum or the Whitehair Memorial. This book is yet another attempt by a white person to recreate Osage history from his own perspective and call it factual. And, as far as selling "thousands of copies" of the book, well, that does not establish its veracity. As an academician, I cannot endorse this book. No research, no interviews, no inclusion of Real Osage accounts = no true story. Finally, I take exception to the publisher's attack on the only other person who wrote a review similar to mine. A review should be just that--an opinion of a text's quality (or in this case, failure). This book does nothing but perpetuate negative stereotypes of Osage Indians. In any case, the subtitle should instead read "One White Man's Fictionalized Account..."

The only value in Laurence J. Hogans book the Osage Indian Murders is in giving some dates and settings in an otherwise forgotten or ignored chapter in America's history. As an Osage, the book also keeps grandma's stories of how thing actually happened fresh and in mind, other than that it is of little or no value. Mr. Hogan in his, almost jubilant, heralding of the F.B.I. fails to mention that they had to be begged numerous times to investigate the murders that where in their jurisdiction or that the tribe finally had to pay them $3,000,000.00 to do a "shoddy" investigation or furthermore how the F.B.I. records contain page after page of blacked out sheets that protected many criminals and murders from public scrutiny for the crimes they committed against the Osages. In short the book seems to be more of a white wash of the F.B.I.'s handling of the case than anything else. Moreover the book is simply poorly written, you learn nothing about the victims other than stereotypes and cliches of dumb & drunk indians. The book zooms way past racially offensive right out of the gate. The book seems to be nothing more than a simple work of fiction, based on dusty F.B.I. files, to make a buck. The book most certainly has little historical value but does, however, serve as handy reference tool if you know the truth. Had Mr. Hogan done any real research he would have found, rather than the "small gang" of "desperate men" responsible for a few murders and swindles, the murders & swindles were far more wide spread, common, accepted, intriguing & darker, than his work of fiction could ever create.