Summary
In the 1920s, the Osage Nation in Oklahoma became the wealthiest people per capita in the world after oil was discovered on their land. However, this newfound prosperity attracted criminals who preyed on the Osage, leading to a string of murders, known as the Reign of Terror. Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman, witnessed the systematic targeting of her family, losing her sisters Anna and Rita, her mother Lizzie, and her brother-in-law Bill Smith to suspicious deaths. These deaths were initially dismissed or attributed to various causes, but Mollie's brother-in-law, Bill, suspected a connection to the Osage's oil wealth.
As the body count rose, including the murder of Anna, the Osage turned to William Hale, a powerful cattleman and philanthropist in Osage County, for help. Hale, revered as the "King of the Osage Hills," vowed to bring the killers to justice. Meanwhile, the FBI, a fledgling agency under J. Edgar Hoover, struggled to solve the case, facing corruption and obstruction at every turn. Eventually, Tom White, a former Texas Ranger, was assigned to lead the investigation. He and his team of undercover agents uncovered a web of conspiracies involving Hale, his nephews Ernest (Mollie's husband) and Bryan Burkhart, and various accomplices.
Hale had orchestrated a complex scheme to inherit the Osage's headrights, their shares in the oil trust, by marrying his nephew Ernest to Mollie and systematically eliminating her family. He used various methods, including poison, bullets, and even a bombing that killed Rita and Bill Smith. Ernest himself was complicit in the plot, delivering messages for Hale and participating in the murder of Anna Brown. The investigation faced numerous obstacles, with witnesses disappearing or being killed, evidence being tampered with, and Hale using his influence to manipulate local officials.
White and his team eventually secured confessions from Ernest Burkhart and other accomplices, implicating Hale as the mastermind. Despite Hale's influence and attempts to bribe jurors, he and Ramsey were convicted of Roan's murder but sentenced to life imprisonment and not put to death as the prosecutors had asked. The trials exposed the deep corruption within the "Indian business," the system of guardianships imposed upon the Osage, which allowed white officials to exploit and steal from their wards. However, the true extent of the Reign of Terror remained hidden, with many suspicious Osage deaths never investigated, suggesting a broader culture of killing during this period.
The Osage murder investigation became a pivotal case for the FBI, helping to establish the agency's reputation and cement Hoover's power. However, the true scale of the tragedy remained largely unknown, as many murders went uninvestigated and unpunished. Decades later, the story continues to haunt the Osage Nation, a reminder of the darkness that lurked beneath the surface of the oil boom and the devastating consequences of greed and prejudice.