The Osage Nation: A Brief History

This presentation traces the Osage from their earliest known existence to their removal into Oklahoma. This presentation focuses on history, but also provides information on Osage culture.

This program is part of the One Book One Community initiative,  whose 2019 selection is "Killers of the Flower Moon; The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI."  The book details a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, yet very few have heard about it. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off.  As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.