The Osage Indian Murders

Between 1921 and 1925, members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma became targets of a deadly conspiracy after oil made them the richest people per capita in the world. A federal law required court-appointed white "guardians" to control the Osage's wealth, giving them access to their wards' money and land. More than 60 Osage were murdered through shootings, poisonings, and staged accidents so their lucrative headrights could be inherited. The Osage Indian Murders exposed deep corruption and sparked one of the FBI's first major homicide investigations.

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