1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here just a heads up. 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: This episode deals with an important story of crime and 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: violence against Indigenous people. We don't get supergraphic, but if 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: you're not up for that today, go on and skip 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: this one and take care of yourself. Okay. At the 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century, the sum two thousand members 8 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: of the O s Age Nation were some of the 9 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,279 Speaker 1: wealthiest people in America, after being forcibly removed from their 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: homeland decades earlier and resettled on land no one else wanted. Twice, 11 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: the O s Age had struck it rich in the 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: Rocky Hills of what's now Oklahoma when oil was discovered 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: on their land. But what should have been a triumph 14 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: became a tragedy in its own right. From in what's 15 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: now known as the Reign of Terror, corrupt local officials 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: teamed with grifters and scam artists defraud the O Sage 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: of millions of dollars, and they murdered dozens or perhaps 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 1: even hundreds of Native people in the process, in order 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: to exploit inheritance laws. The investigation was handled by the 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: relatively new Bureau of Investigation or b o I. Under 21 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: a young JEdgar Hoover, this department would become the FBI, 22 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: But to this day, the O Sage are still seeking 23 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: justice for their ancestors who disappeared or died under mysterious 24 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: circumstances during this dark period. Like virtually all Native American people's, 25 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: the Oh Sage were driven from their ancestral lands, which 26 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: included large swaths of what's now Oklahoma. In the eighteen hundreds, 27 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: they were forced to relocate first Kansas and then ironically 28 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: back to Oklahoma, known then as Indian Territory. The forced 29 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: removals were devastating and many people died, but the O 30 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: Sage managed to buy their land in the territory with 31 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: money from the sale of their reservation in Kansas, and 32 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: when cattlemen from Texas needed grazing land to fatten their 33 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: herds on the way to Kansas City, the O s 34 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: Age leased them grasslands, providing excellent revenue. The O Sage 35 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: were the only Native group in the territory that wasn't 36 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: required to comply with the eight seven DAWs Act. It 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: divided reservation lands into allotments, and most of which were 38 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: sold off to white colonists, but then oil was discovered 39 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: on O Sage land in when Oklahoma became a state 40 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: a decade later, allotment was forced upon the O Sage, 41 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: but by that time they had money and bargaining power. 42 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: For the article this episode is based on How Stuff Works. 43 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: Spoke with Tera Dameron, who is Osage herself and program 44 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: director of the White Hair Memorial Learning Center. As she said, 45 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: as much as they could, our leaders were trying to 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: fight for the rights of our people because we had 47 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: seen what had happened to the other tribes in Oklahoma 48 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: who were completely decimated. The leaders negotiated allotments of six 49 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: hundred and forty acres for each of the two thousand, 50 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty nine registered O Sage people, without 51 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: any surplus land sold to white settlers, and critically, they 52 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: retained mineral rights for all oil, coal, and other resources 53 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: beneath their land, the profits from which would be shared 54 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: collectively among tribal members. Each share was called a head 55 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: right and could only be inherited, not sold. The O 56 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: Sage auctioned off oil drilling rights to the highest bidder 57 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: and collected a percentage of all oil revenue. The tribe 58 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: was soon earning ten million to thirty million dollars a year, 59 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: which is nearly four hundred million in today's money, quickly 60 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: making millionaires of each individual owner of an O Sage 61 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: head right. A common sentiment reported in nineteen twenties newspapers 62 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: was that the O Sage were the richest group of 63 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: people per capita on Earth. All of this made land 64 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: that white Americans hadn't wanted look a lot more. Tempting 65 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: outsiders warmed into Oklahoma boom towns like Fairfax, where they 66 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: could either make money drilling for oil or by squeezing 67 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: cash directly from the O s Age themselves by any 68 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: means necessary. White merchants charged higher prices to OH Sage members. 69 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: Doctors and pharmacists got their O Sage patients hooked on 70 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: expensive medications. The lawyers descended on Oklahoma in droves, charging 71 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: exorbitant fees to assist the O Sage in their business dealings. 72 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: Things went from bad to worse in when Congress passed 73 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: a law requiring all O Sage to pass a competency 74 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: test to see if they were able to manage their 75 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: own finances. Under this insulting law, Dameron says Virtually all 76 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: full blooded oh Sage were automatically deemed incompetent and in 77 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: signed a guardian to handle their money. Guardianships over O 78 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: Sage people were assigned by corrupt local judges who gifted 79 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: the positions to relatives, cronies, end political supporters. These guardians 80 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: often swindled their wards out of their head rights or 81 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: spent the oil money themselves while giving the ward of 82 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: pittance as an allowance. There were even cases where an 83 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: O Sage ward had to borrow money from their guardian 84 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: and fell hopelessly into debt. Marriage was another way that 85 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: outsiders could make a claim at a head right, especially 86 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: if the O Sage spouse unexpectedly died, which started to 87 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: happen with shocking frequency. Dammon said, you have these intelligent, 88 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: healthy people who all of a sudden die from poisoning 89 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: or from these really vague diseases like consumption. Jim rone Gray, 90 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: a former OH Sage chief, set in a PPS documentary 91 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: that a full blooded Oh Sage with money was basically 92 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: walking around with a target on their back. A quote. 93 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: The sense of fear must have been horrible. Local police 94 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: and judges were often involved and thus no help. So 95 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: the leaders took their pleas to Washington, d C. Where 96 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: they were able to convince the Butting b o I, 97 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: led by twenty nine year old Jager Hoover, to take 98 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: on its first murder investigation. The victims in question were 99 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: several members of an extended o s age family. Anna Brown, 100 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: a young and vivacious woman, was the first to be killed, 101 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: her body found by hunters with a gunshot to the 102 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: back of her head. Brown's death had been ruled accidental 103 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: by local authorities. Not long after, Brown's mother died from 104 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: suspected poisoning. Then her cousin, Henry Rowan was also shot 105 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: and killed. That left just two of Brown's surviving sisters, 106 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: Rita and Molly, with all of the family's valuable head rights. Then, 107 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: on March tenth, an explosion ripped apart Rita's home, killing 108 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: her and her family. Molly was now the sole survivor. 109 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: What she didn't know was that her white husband, Ernest Burkhardt, 110 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: was slowly poisoning her. Burkhart was the submissive nephew of 111 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: an influential and charismatic cattleman named William K. Hale. Through 112 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: undercover agents, the b o I learned that Hale had 113 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: ordered the killings of Anna Brown and her family so 114 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: that his nephew would inherit all of their head rights 115 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: were worth half a million dollars a year. When Burkhart 116 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: and other accomplices confessed, Hale was convicted of ordering Henry 117 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: Rowan's murder and sentenced to life in prison, but due 118 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: to his powerful connections, Hale was paroled in ninety seven, 119 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: and Burkhart, despite pleading guilty, was fully pardoned by Oklahoma's 120 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: governor in n and Damren reminds us quote that was 121 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: just one family and one conviction. All of us O 122 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: Sage have family stories about relatives dying or disappearing under 123 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: mysterious circumstances. Estimates of the total number of O s 124 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: Age killed in the nineteen twenties ranges from twenty four 125 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: into jewels to several hundred. The truth Dammaron says is 126 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: that there's never been any closure, There's never been any justice. Furthermore, 127 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: the descendants of the corrupt guardians and scam artists who 128 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: stole O Sage head rights back in the nineteen twenties 129 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: are still collecting royalties on O Sage oil and gas 130 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: revenue by O Sage, accounting of the head rights owners 131 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: are non O Sage. In law finally made it illegal 132 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,679 Speaker 1: for non O Sage people to inherit head rights, but 133 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: some of those head rights were gifted to churches, universities, 134 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: and other institutions that have no descendants per se. Damaron 135 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 1: says that the O Sage Nation is strong and because 136 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: of its mineral wealth and leadership, the O s Age 137 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: have been able to help other Native peoples and sustain 138 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: their own future. She said, there are a lot of 139 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: successful O Sages. We overcame the terror of the nineteen twenties, 140 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: but we're still fighting to get back what's rightfully ours. 141 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: In the U. S Government agreed to a three hundred 142 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: and eighty million dollar settlement with the os Age Tribe 143 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: for a mismanagement of funds. Also in the Native American 144 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: Rights Fund donated twenty acres of ancestral land back to 145 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: the os Age Nation. And at the very least more 146 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: people know the story. Some of my colleagues at iHeart 147 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: Radio and Bloomberg published an eight episode podcast mini series 148 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: this fall diving deep into the history and present of 149 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: the O s Age Nation. The podcast is called in Trust, 150 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: and journalist David Graham published a book in eighteen about 151 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: the Brown family's plight called Killers of the Flower Moon. 152 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: It's now being made into a movie by Martin Scorsese. 153 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article Reign of Terror, 154 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: The Forgotten Story of the os Age Tribe Martyrs on 155 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: house toff works dot com, written by Dave Rooves. If 156 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,319 Speaker 1: you'd like to learn more, check at the podcast in Trust, 157 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: available wherever you get your podcasts. Brain Stuff is production 158 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: of ire Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works 159 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,719 Speaker 1: dot Com, and its produced by Tyler Klang. Four more 160 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 161 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.