Editing Osage Indian murders (section)

{{Short description|1910s–1930s murders in Oklahoma, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = Osage Indian murders
| location         = [[Osage County, Oklahoma]], US
| image            = Osage murders 9.jpg
| caption          = This document in the "Hale–Ramsey Murder Case" is from the Oklahoman Collection at the [[Oklahoma Historical Society]] photo archives.
| coordinates      = 
| target           = Osage people
| date             = 1918–1931
| type             = Shootings, poisonings
| fatalities       = 60+ (possibly hundreds)
| motive           = Inheritance of oil rights
| convicted        = [[William King Hale|William Hale]]<br/>[[Ernest Burkhart]]<br/>John Ramsey<br/>Kelsie Morrison
| perps            = William Hale and others
| weapons          = knives, guns, poison 
}}
The '''Osage Indian murders''' was a serial killing event that took place in [[Osage County, Oklahoma]], United States, during the 1910s–1930s. Newspapers described the increasing number of unsolved murders and deaths among young adults of the [[Osage Nation]] as the "Reign of Terror".{{sfn|Fixico|2012|p=41}}{{sfn|Brignell|2022|p=6}} Most took place between 1921 to 1926. At least 60 wealthy, full-blood Osage persons were reported killed from 1918 to 1931.<ref name="Jefferson" /> Newer investigations indicate that other suspicious deaths during this time could have been misreported or covered-up murders, including those of individuals who were heirs to future fortunes. Further research has shown that the death toll may have been in the hundreds.{{sfn|Grann|2017|pp=307–308|ref=Grann2017a}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 1, 2018 |title=The FBI's First Big Case: The Osage Murders |url=https://www.history.com/news/the-fbis-first-big-case-the-osage-murders |access-date=July 16, 2023 |website=HISTORY |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210111532/https://www.history.com/news/the-fbis-first-big-case-the-osage-murders |archive-date=February 10, 2024}}</ref>

The tribe had retained mineral rights to its reservation.{{sfn|Fixico|2012|pp=24–25}} Each tribal member had what were known as [[Osage headright|headrights]] to the mineral rights on communal land.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Osage Oil |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OS006 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Oklahoma Historical Society |language=en-us |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 3, 2016 |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/minerals-council/frequently-asked-questions |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Osage Nation |language=en |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref> When valuable [[Petroleum|oil]] was found on their land and leases were sold for oil production, each member with headrights was paid a share of the lucrative annual [[Royalty payment|royalties]] for leases by oil companies. In 1906 and subsequent years, [[United States Congress|US Congress]] passed a series of laws, ostensibly intended to help the Osage retain wealth, that created a system of guardianship for "minors and incompetents", as determined by and under the jurisdiction of Oklahoma's local county probate courts.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rarick |first1=Joseph F. |title=Lands Allotted Among the Osage Indians, Part IV |url=https://thorpe.law.ou.edu/treatises/partiv.html |access-date=January 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122003805/https://thorpe.law.ou.edu/treatises/partiv.html |archive-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1921 |url=https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/T-21953.pdf |publisher=Department of the Interior |access-date=January 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025025548/https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/T-21953.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2022 |pages=25–26 |date=1921 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Oklahoma courts routinely found Native Americans to be incompetent without considering mental capacity. For example, a guardian was appointed for one Indian woman on the basis that her savings suggested a lack of spending which was evidence that she did not understand the value of money. Many guardians used their appointment to gain control over the ward's wealth for their own personal benefit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Administration of Indian Affairs In The State of Oklahoma: Hearing Before the Comm...on H.J. Res.181 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdI78xdT7ncC |access-date=January 9, 2024 |language=en |date=February 21, 1924}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Seielstad |first1=Andrea |title=The disturbing history of how conservatorships were used to exploit, swindle Native Americans |url=https://theconversation.com/the-disturbing-history-of-how-conservatorships-were-used-to-exploit-swindle-native-americans-165140 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |access-date=January 9, 2024 |date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305103358/https://theconversation.com/the-disturbing-history-of-how-conservatorships-were-used-to-exploit-swindle-native-americans-165140 |archive-date=March 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kesler |first1=Sam Yellowhorse |last2=Aronczyk |first2=Amanda |last3=Romer |first3=Keith |last4=Rubin |first4=Willa |title=Blood, oil, and the Osage Nation: The battle over headrights |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/1165619070/osage-headrights-killers-of-the-flower-moon-fletcher-lawsuit |work=[[NPR]] |access-date=January 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219175945/https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/1165619070/osage-headrights-killers-of-the-flower-moon-fletcher-lawsuit |archive-date=February 19, 2024}}</ref> During this period, numerous white men married Osage women to become guardians of their estate.

Some of the murders were committed to enable whites to take over the headrights of Osage members when inheriting property after deaths. The Osage found minimal assistance from local law enforcement to investigate the deaths, as it was dominated by powerful whites working in their own interests. Later investigation, including that of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI, the precursor to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]), revealed extensive corruption among local officials involved in the Osage guardian program, including lawyers and judges. Most of the murders were never prosecuted. Nevertheless, several perpetrators were convicted of murder, including [[William Hale (cattleman)|William Hale]], a powerful rancher who ordered the murders of his nephew's wife and other members of her family to gain control of their headrights and oil wealth. Two other perpetrators implicated with Hale, [[Henry Grammer]] and Asa Kirby, died under suspicious circumstances during the BOI investigation. Several others involved were convicted of lesser charges, such as perjury, witness tampering, and contempt of court, for attempting to impede the investigation.

In 1925, the US Congress changed the law to prohibit non-Osage from inheriting headrights from Osage with half or more Native American ancestry, in an effort to protect the Osage. The US government continued to manage the leases and royalties from oil-producing lands. Over decades, the tribe became increasingly concerned about these assets. In 2000, the Osage Nation filed a suit against the [[United States Department of the Interior|US Department of the Interior]], alleging that it had not adequately managed the assets and paid people the royalties they were due. The suit was settled in 2011 for $380 million and commitments to improve program management.<ref name="doj">{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/historic-settlement-osage-tribe-oklahoma |title=A Historic Settlement with the Osage Tribe of Oklahoma |publisher=Department of Justice |date=October 21, 2011 |access-date=March 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114073443/https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/historic-settlement-osage-tribe-oklahoma |archive-date=January 14, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Howell" />