Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is based on real-life events that took place in the Osage Nation in the 1920s in Oklahoma when oil was discovered on their land. The film was based on the non-fiction novel by David Granna about the Osage Indian Murders that took place from 1910 to 1930, many of which remained unsolved until the FBI moved in and began to investigate the case. Impressively, Scorsese worked with the Osage Nation from the start of working on the project to make it as respectful and accurate as possible.
The movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, a World War I veteran who was married to an Osage woman named Mollie (Lily Gladstone). However, when his uncle William King Hale (Robert De Niro) sets his eyes on the oil fortune in Oklahoma, Osage citizens begin to die. Jesse Plemons stars as Thomas Bruce White Sr., a BOI agent who heads into Oklahoma to lead the investigation into the murders. However, how much of the movie’s story is true to life?
What Was The Inspiration For Killers Of The Flower Moon?
David Grann Wrote The Book Detailing The Murders & Case
The main inspiration for Killers of the Flower Moon was the true story of the Osage Indian Murders. However, the movie is mostly based on the true-crime novel about the murders by David Grann. The book, which has the same name, was released in 2017. Grann investigated the murders of the wealthy Osage citizens in Osage County, Oklahoma, after it was discovered that there was oil on their land. While the Osage people expected a windfall of wealth, they saw violence and murders.
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
was released in 2017.
The book then goes into detail about how the Osage people were considered the “middle man” and the plan by the white men was to eliminate as many of the inheritors one by one, often by murder, so they could take their land and become rich off their oil. The book reveals at least 20 Osage people were confirmed murdered in the plot, but he believes there were possibly hundreds more that died that were never discovered (via The Denver Post). William King Hale was arrested and convicted as the mastermind.
What Really Happened With The Osage Murders?
White Settlers Began Killing Osage Families To Steal Their Oil
The Osage tribe had been displaced twice from vast areas of the Midwest to make room for the white settlers to move onto their lands. As a result, the Osage used their money to legally purchase 1.5 million acres of land from their Cheyenne neighbors in what would become Oklahoma. This purchase included the land and mineral rights below, and they soon discovered oil on the land. The shares could not be sold, which angered many white settlers who wanted these royalties, too.
Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese's new 3.5 epic western, and the movie has a suitably epic cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio.
As a result, many white men began to marry eligible Osage women. This led to the government interfering and assigning white “guardians” to oversee the tribes since the thought was that a typical Osage adult had the mind of a child. Soon, Osage people began dying and the local law enforcement was either too corrupt or inept to figure out what was going on.
This led the federal government to send in a new agency known as the Bureau of Investigation, with J. Edgar Hoover believing this could be their big break. In the end, Hoover had his men team up with the Texas Rangers and they found out that William K. Hale was the mastermind behind the murders (via Oklahoma History).
When Did The Killers Of The Flower Moon Events Take Place?
The Murders Took Place In the 1920s In Oklahoma
By 1923, the Osage tribe made over $30 million in revenue from their oil rights. All the minerals were tribally owned, and the U.S. government held them in a trust. However, the white settlers wanted a piece of it as well. Two years before this, William K. Hale encouraged his nephew Ernest Burkhart to marry a full-blooded Osage named Mollie Kyle. The idea was that if Ernest, a World War I veteran, married her, he would have rights to the oil on the land as much as any Osage man.
Mollie Kyle and Ernest Burkhart inherited everything.
The murders started around this time. The first to die was Lizzie Q. Kyle, Mollie’s mother. The suspected death was by poison and her land rights went to her two daughters but in 1921, her second daughter, Anna, was shot to death. Lizzie’s nephew, Henry Roan, was also shot and killed. William K. Hale was the beneficiary of Henry’s life insurance policy. Then, in 2023, someone blew up Lizzie’s family home and killed her daughter Rita, her husband Bill, and housekeeper Nettie Brookshire. Mollie Kyle and Ernest Burkhart inherited everything.
When more Osage people ended up dying, the Osage Tribal Council asked the U.S. government for help. This is when J. Edgar Hoover sent in his newly formed FBI and called in the Texas Rangers. When they learned they were under investigation, Hale ordered Burkhart to kill Mollie, but this attempt failed (via News OK). Finally, in 1926, they took Hale, Burkhart, and a man named John Ramsey into custody.
What Were The Results Of The FBI Investigation & Trial?
The Killers Received Life Sentences But Were All Later Paroled
The court case saw William K. Hale, his nephews, and one of his ranch hands tried and charged with the murder of Mollie Kyle’s family. Hale was also charged with the murder of Roan, and since this happened on the reservation, it became a federal crime (via National Museum of the American Indian). The men were convicted in state and federal trials from 1926 to 1929 after venue changes, hung juries, appeals, and overturned verdicts. Finally, Burkhart pleaded guilty and implicated the others.
Killers of the Flower Moon follows the serial Osage murders that occurred in the 1920s. We break down the film's ending, true story changes & more.
However, the men who committed the murders did not serve their full sentences in prison. While receiving life sentences, William K. Hale and John Ramsay were paroled in 1947. Hale died in 1962 while Burkhart was also paroled in 1937 but ended up back in prison on burglary charges in 1941, and his original parole was revoked. The board officially pardoned Burkhart for good in 1966, and he died in 1986 (via The Oklahoma Historical Society).
What Was Changed In Killers Of The Flower Moon?
Mollie Became A Bigger Character Than She Was In The Book
When it comes to Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, he worked hard with the Osage Nation to ensure he treated their story respectfully. This also means he made a few changes from the source novel by David Grann. The biggest change was making Mollie a much more central character in the movie than she was in the book. This was a huge alteration, as Lily Gladstone turned in a fantastic performance as Mollie and added to her role in Fancy Dance, showing she is one of the top new Indigenous actresses working today.
“One has to remember that Ernest loved Mollie, and Mollie loved Ernest,” Scorsese said (via
Collider
). “It’s a love story. And so, ultimately, what happened was that the script shifted that way. That’s when Leo decided to play Ernest instead of Tom White. By that point, we started reworking the script and instead of from the outside in, coming in and finding out whodunit, in reality, it’s who didn’t do it. It’s a story of complicity.“
There was also the fact that Martin Scorsese made Robert De Niro’s William Hale a bad man from the start. The book plays it more like a murder mystery; in the film, there is no doubt who is behind the killings. The other change was that this was not about the FBI forming and how this case helped make them legitimate. Instead, Killers of the Flower Moon is about Mollie, and the FBI is just a small part of the story.
Killers of the Flower Moon is the next film from director Martin Scorsese, based on the non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, initially captured by David Grann. When members of the Osage tribe are murdered in the 1920s via mysterious circumstances shortly after the discovery of oil on Native-American soil, the FBI is established to uncover the true reason behind them.
Original SR Image by Shawn Lealos.
English (US) ·