Title: Killers of the Flower Moon
Author: David Grann
Published: April 18, 2017 by Doubleday
Hardcover:
338 pages
Awards: Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime
(2018); Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Nonfiction (2018); National Book
Award Finalist for Nonfiction (2017); Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for
History & Biography (2017); Brooklyn Public Library Prize Nominee for
Nonfiction (2017)
Summary: Killers
of the Flower Moon by David Grann explores the deaths of an incredible
number of Osage Indians in the early 1900’s, specifically the family of Mollie
Burkhart. The Osage were moved from their lands to a reservation on land that
was later discovered to be on top of a rich oil field. The Osage had headrights
to these lands and some of the white men, who were appointed their guardians, worked
out ways to eliminate the Osage so they could have the money earned from them.
David Grann tells the story of Mollie Burkhart’s family and how they were
systematically killed so their headrights would be passed on. He also tells the
story of how the U. S. Government was involved and the men who started the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, some of whom worked on this Osage case. Who was behind
all these murders? Was there only one man or were there many white men taking
advantage of the Osage?
Overview: I probably would never have picked this
book up on my own, but it was our library book club’s February selection. I was
surprised to find that I was very interested in what happened to the Osage
Indians at this period in time and I was saddened by the way the white men treated
them – as though they were not intelligent enough to handle their own affairs
and that they weren’t fully “human.” It was racist and disgusting to me. Even
though there were some passages that were heavy on investigation issues that
didn’t work out, I didn’t feel that the book dragged. I was more and more interested in the eventual
outcome as I read along. If you like true crime stories, this is the book for
you.
Until Tom White took
over, the investigation seemed to go several different ways. Mr. White too all
the possible leads and followed them to learn all he could and verify the facts
given. I don’t usually like crime novels, but this was true and I wanted to
find out if the criminals involved were brought to justice. There was nothing
offensive as far as sex or swearing involved, however, there was ample violence
due to the way several of the Osage were murdered. I am very interested in details and making
lists and checking off items when they are completed. This book was a great
demonstration of that being done. Tom White made a lists of all the evidence
that was gathered and set out to prove or disprove each item. He got
discouraged, but in the end his persistence paid off.
Mr. Grann goes beyond
Tom White’s investigation and communicates with descendants of the Osage to
discover even more families who were victimized by their white guardians. As I
said previously, it was disgusting to think that a nation of people could be
taken advantage of in such a way. Although, if you think about it a bit, there
were other nations who leaders attempted to destroy because they were deemed “undesirable”.
This brings to mind the Nazis and the Jews. How can man be so cruel?
I gave this selection 4 stars because it wasn't really a page-turner for me, although I did get more and more interested as i read on.
