Book Review | Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a work of nonfiction about the investigation of the Osage Murders in the early 1900s-30s and how that played into the founding of the FBI.

This was a heavy, heart wrenching read. Grann writes about the murdered bodies of several Osage tribe members being discovered in gruesome detail and how these cases were left unsolved for years before outside authorities were brought in to do something. The Osage were some of the wealthiest people at the time because they owned huge tracts of land with liquid gold - oil. But because they were American Indians, much of the Osage's money was only accessible to them through their "guardians" - white members of society who would give the Osage allowances from these trusts to fund their every day expenses. An odd arrangement to be sure, the Osage couldn't access their own fortunes without the permission of people outside of their traditional culture. This was the law of the land.

The Osage tribe wanted the murders of their people to be solved and the perpetrators held accountable, so they pled their case to federal authorities who sent a team of investigators to Osage County to settle it once and for all. The tribe lived in fear, and and little did the investigators know how deep and dangerous the plot against the Osage really was.

Grann recounts this Oklahoman history with skill and kept me reading through every chapter. His research was detailed and thorough, and it made me feel like I was experiencing the Wild West. Learning this history was terrible. It is incomprehensible how the indigenous people of this country were treated by our ancestors. The guardianship system shows how far racism is willing to go to achieve the disenfranchisement and extermination of people who are not white. The Osage feel the effects from the murders and extortion their great grandparents experienced even now, 100 years removed.

I loved this book and came away with new knowledge and compassion for a group of people I didn't know anything about before. If you're looking for an excellent historical account of the history of the American west, this book is for you.