Oil and Blood: The Osage Murders
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Mysterious Deaths, Incriminating Evidence, and the Resource Curse
The deaths of influential Osage people in the 1920s and 1930s, including George Bighart and his lawyer WWVorn, occurred under suspicious circumstances, with vital incriminating documents disappearing alongside the deaths. Corrupt officials deliberately destroyed evidence tied to the murders, and some deaths of Osage wards were never recognized as murder at all. The resource curse led to a wave of trouble for the Osage nation, including civil wars, geopolitical conflicts, and brutal dictatorships, ultimately culminating in murders. The murderers often operated independently, with their own methods and motives, and were shielded by a white society that showed little regard for the lives of wealthy Osage individuals. The magnitude of the conspiracy surrounding the murders made it impossible to label it as just a conspiracy.
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