The Osage Murders: The True Story Behind 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

Throughout the mid-1920s, the Osage Nation suffered a series of mysterious murders, and the body count kept piling up until the federal investigators got involved. But who was killing all of these people, and why?

0:00 Introduction & Background
3:25 The Murders
8:26 The Federal Investigation
16:33 The Trial
19:32 Epilogue
23:54 Conclusion

[ThesChannel]

CORRECTION: Bill Smith was not Osage, but white, and the photo I used for him was mislabeled online. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the photo is actually of William Stepson, another victim, who was Osage. I couldn't find any photos of Bill Smith.

There have been a number of comments about the line near the end of the video where I said, "If it hadn't been for the money and oil, perhaps none of this would have happened to the Osage." I just want to say that this was not intended to downplay the role that the perpetrators played. The truth is that I couldn't think of a good way to end the video, so I went for something generic. I think the video as a whole makes it clear that the victims deserve empathy and not blame. Please don't look too much into that last line.

There's also some misunderstanding about my reference at the end to getting rich "without doing any actual work." This was not a dig at the Osage, but a dig at the perpetrators, which is why the language is a bit strong. The last thing I want is for people to think I was disparaging the victims.

[nikkioshea]

Many indigenous women & girls are still going missing, some found murdered today, majority unsolved. It's a scandal happening in real time.

[mady]

As Native, I never knew about this until I asked my dad what movie he was watching because it woke me from my sleep. I also live in Oklahoma, and I had NO idea this happened. Tells you a lot about our country in terms of education. They don’t want us to know the bad things that have happened.

[hmcmordie]

Man’s greed and how we treat eachother is shameful rip poor souls

[alanar]

I just saw the movie and one of the lines that really stood out to me is a sentiment you echo here. The undertaker said The Osage don't work for a living and they got rich for nothing off oil. It made me realize that I have never ever once heard a white oil barrens or their families be accused of being rich for nothing without working. Even Paris Hilton gets accused of being famous for nothing more than rich for nothing. It really speaks to the assumption that it's natural for some white people to be ridiculously wealthy, but there is no other race in America whose wealth will go unquestioned. Or often like the Osage and Black Wall Street in Tulsa, it won't go unpunished.

[AmbivertsBeLike]

The disgusting way our Indigenous people have been treated in their our own country...there are no words.

[annehersey]

That was a great book and unlike many other Native American tribes, the lawyer who headed the talks with the US government was adamant that the Osage retain mineral rights. The US government to this day still owes this tribe millions in a settlement that took almost 100 years to resolve.

[elizabethcimino]

I saw the movie this past weekend with my son. He is a History teacher & I learned so much about our own History. I believe it is crucial to learn as much as we can about American books does not change a thing. (it only perpetuates ignorance, which is never good.)

[lorrainem]

A friend of mine invited me to see the movie last night. I rarely go to the movies because I don't find them to be worth the cost, but "Killers of the Flower Moon" was worth every penny - and your documentary here is also excellent! This was a heartbreaking story that I believe more people should know about.

[ftevids]

I watched this movie. Greed was behind all of those murders.
Hale was a wolf in sheep's clothing. What happened to Molly was really sad and maddening. Her own husband was slowly poisoning her with the guise of insulin do to her diabetes. How a man could claim to love his wife then conspire to kill her and her family is beyond reason.
I was so happy when the FBI moved in and save Molly.
My heart aches for Molly and her family. May they rest in peace.

[helanna]

I read the book several years ago. It was a great book but heartbreaking. I'm glad a movie is being made about it - it is time for us to accept our own history, the good and the bad.

[DouglasF]

My great-great Grandma was Ojibwe and had her own business in the 1880s. Hollyweird needs to pay attention to indigenous people's successes despite the genocide.😢

[lizcoleman]

Thank you so much for this very thorough summary of the Osage Indians and their history. I saw the movie and it was remarkable.

[Ganbarizer]

As a member of a federally recognized tribe, I can tell you that things like this are the reason why so many natives tend to keep to their own and learn from a young age that you do not disclose to non tribal members when you get per capita (if at all. depends on the tribe). Even then, we still get people who only show up around the time of year when it's distributed and try to aggressively sell us things. I have no idea how they know when we get it.

[meequon]

The original novel written about this history by a Native American woman Linda Hogan called Mean Spirit in 1990 was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in 1991, worth a read also from a native person's perspective.

[corikenya]

I just got out of the theater and was looking for a documentary. You did an excellent job covering it all!

[ronwynn]

Thanks! Well said! It is a necessity to bring these stories of truth to all.

[dawnsmith-wright]

I'm very close to this.. as my greatgrandfather was Osage .... and it is hard to continue to grasp the Evil Intentions of those men. I will always be proud to be part Osage

[jayelemm.]

I watch an unhealthy amount of videos from YouTubers, such as yourself, about crime, murder, forensics, etc. I have heard about a great many cases. This one was not one of them. Absolutely fascinating and your research was impeccable. Very nicely done!

[tonyblakemore]

I watched the film 2 nights ago.
While I loosely understood what had happened and more particularly why, this excellent video clears up anything I didn't understand. Thank you.
The fledgling FBI, I think, knew the motive very soon into their investigation and followed that with the likely guilty characters. As the video states it was the difficulty in linking all the complex financial payments back to the single source, Hale.
Robert De Niro is shown as a largely beneficial man (offers $1, 000 reward for information on 1 killing, opens a Ballet School) and that must have confused somewhat any Osage thoughts that he was the true evil amongst their people. In contrast, when behind closed doors, his ruthless character is revealed as he plots and pays to have his dirty work done for him.