Mean Spirit

The Osage murders were a series of connected killings of members of the Osage community that occurred in Oklahoma during the 1920s. The book’s depiction of these murders is relatively historically accurate, although it is set in the fictional town of Watona rather than the real-life community of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The murders began after oil was discovered on lands that had been made available to the Osage after they were forced out of neighboring Kansas. This land was only offered to the Osage because the government thought it to be of little value for agriculture. Both local and national law enforcement agents and government officials were shown to be involved in the crimes.

The Osage Nation is an Indigenous American group that developed communities in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys as long ago as 700 BCE. By the 19th century, the Osage were dominant throughout the region bordered by the Missouri and Red Rivers, the Ozark Mountains, and the Wichita Hills, but were forced out of the area by the United States government and resettled into what was then known as “Indian Territory,” present-day Oklahoma. Land that had been deemed unfit for agriculture and ranching was made available to the Osage by the US government, but the discovery of oil on that land changed the economic outlook for the Osage and created a development boom in the region. Many Osage became wealthy overnight by leasing the rights to their land and its oil to various prospectors, companies, and conglomerates. The oil was not, however, a straightforward boon for the community: The government, regretting the sale of the oil-rich land, instituted a system of financial guardianship that limited the access that the Osage had to their money: The prevailing belief was that the Osage were not capable of complex financial management, and the oppressive system was sold as a protective measure with the best interests of the Osage at heart. Often, the Osage had to pay legal and other fees, so in addition to not being able to withdraw their own money, they were forced to sacrifice much of their profit to white outsiders. Additionally, the only way that white individuals could gain direct access to the land and its oil rights was to marry an Osage property owner, and many white men sought Osage wives solely for their money.

It was against the backdrop of this oil boom and its resulting climate of corruption and greed that various members of the Osage nation, many of whom had access to oil-rich land, began to die under mysterious circumstances. Although the deaths began in the 1910s, they increased sharply in the 1920s, and fear began to spread within the community with various individuals petitioning the federal government for help investigating the deaths. Local investigations had not been successful, and many Osage believed local law enforcement and government to be involved in their coverups, if not in the deaths themselves. Eventually, the US Bureau of Investigation (the precursor to the FBI) took the case, and although many of the murders were never prosecuted, several local figures including rancher William Hale (the basis for the character of John Hale) and a few other men were convicted of murder. In 1925, Congress changed the law to prevent white people from inheriting oil rights from the Osage, although they continued to manage land, leases, and money for members of the Osage Nation. In 2000, the Osage filed a suit against the Department of the Interior, alleging that it had mismanaged Osage assets. The suit was settled in 2008 for $380 million.