KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann

David Grann may not be my favorite non-fiction writer, but he does manage to unearth some little known but fascinating historical episodes, and he goes beyond just immersing himself in his subject matter.  He becomes an active participant.  Here he addresses a period in the 1920s when Osage tribe members in Oklahoma were being gunned down and poisoned by white men.  The Osage had shrewdly held on to the mineral rights for property that the U.S. government took from them, and oil leases made the Osage ridiculously wealthy.  In many cases, however, white men were appointed as “guardians” for Osage tribe members who were deemed incompetent for no particular reason.  Mollie Burkhart became reclusive in order to avoid the same fate as her mother and three sisters, all of whom perished during this time, including one sister who was shot in the back of the head.  Corruption was also rampant throughout law enforcement, until Hoover became the FBI director and hired former Texas Ranger Tom White to investigate the Osage murders.  White hired some trustworthy men to work undercover, as the Osage had lost all faith in achieving justice, especially through a U.S. government agency.  White does eventually get his man, but the author conducts a much later investigation of his own, based on archived documents and conversations with the grandchildren of other victims.  His discoveries are mind-blowing, bringing the number of murdered Osage tribe members well into the hundreds, with dozens of murderers going unpunished.  This book just reminded me that a portion of humanity will always be ruled by greed and will go to any lengths to attain the power and money they crave.  I applaud David Grann for bringing this sad piece of history to our attention, but sometimes this book dragged.  The photographs, however, were a welcome distraction.