◆ SpookStack

rn ae " Ce er ~~ ~ ot + ’ ADV ewe OW OD WAN ew HOw ~ de ars we. IRN eWN Ko . “sideration inalater chapter. But there is undowbledly « more sig- ‘nificant picture of ‘le secret ser- vice’s relentlessness, in the track- . { .ing down of criminals,in the case i of the Osage Indian murders. i This series of diabolical crimes was the outgrowth of-a curious ‘gocial condition within the reserva- ‘tion. The stalwart traditions and _“eustoms of the Osage tribe suffered ’. greatly a few years ago when oil was discovered on the reservation. - Before that time, cach Osage In- - dian received a total annual pay- ens wemnrmant af t1en a 4 pr sm be _ a : at a cae ee nee mént from the-government of $150 “a Fyear.=. He, was’ content to live m a hut and wear the blankeis and gaudy trappings of his ‘forefathers... °- ae <*;'But with the advent of oil ali that changed. ‘Suddénly 2,229 enrolled members of the tribe found themselves fantastically wealthy. They ‘turned from traditions to the ways of the pale’ face. They abandoned their humble nuts and erected mansions. They kought expensive auto- ;Mobiles and delved into 2 gay lite which would F . fathers. They called their ros ' new and gaudy display .of ee. .. ” diving, “the pale face's civilization.” os: _,.+Then one day an Indiaz. was sound mur- TSrgored in his home. He was an unimportant ndividual and the reservation was only mildly taxcited.. But a few days later another Indian— this-one a rich one— was killed and within a Saonth a dozen Indians—all rich—died suddenly ad’ mysteriously. The examiaing doctor’s cer- ificate usually read “death from alcoholic oigoning." « ; ‘x? But-the Osages began-to fear that some.evil ower was hanging over them. As the mysterious ‘deaths increased to twenty—and then tnirty-— the richest of the Osages, who had embraced forthe ay face civilization,” began to hark back a - ei ah | sthe ‘superatitions of their ancestors. They ap- Sealed to the medicine men of the tribe and in yery mansion loud incantations celled yon-The Great Spirit to lift the pall fdoom that hung over the reservation. The>climax cana when Anna rown, beautiful Osage princess, arted out for a drive in her expensive - automobile. She was seen no more until wher bodytwes found crumpled under the - Steering Wheel: There was a bullet hole 24 .s4n-the batk of her head. 5 Se : have horrified their fore ‘Charles Whitehorn, a popular young: u So now the Osage Indians sought the methods of their ancestors™c¢..prédlaim: their-terror and sorrow. That night the tom-toms beat and signal firesflaredfrom + hill to hill—telling all Indians to ‘bews:e olf Evil Spirit that was stalking the lang. “gScus hid indoors and kept-their children e] ‘while they shivered with fear. ““<4 For no one knew when or wherd| Spirit”. would strike next.” The mei “performing an elabérate ceremony ove ‘of Anna Brown, had called upon he drive away this strange menace te happiness, But Anna Brown’s _ spi answer, Soy a PHE United States Bureau of Investig “™ notified of Anna Brown’s murder : diately a special agent was despates vestigate. But the agent found thar ; stitions and fears of the Osages har. No ohe dared to talk. The specia! agen to Washington that at the time it was to make any headway against the moor -enveloping the Osage hills, . For a lew weeks there was no mor and Indians began to think that the would no longer molest them. Thar Osage, was found dead in his car. Aac’ tery. No solution. . - aa But since Whitehorn was a cicse Anna Brown, the latter’s relatives dete P*ine: investigate on ineir own. The othe, analsy: might cry that Anna Brown and Whitenorn vs. victims of the “the Evil Spirit,” bus Ann. Brown's relatives were educated Indians and ha: other theories, Someone, they said among chem 4 selves, was trying te destroy the family in ord.” to get hojd of its immense wealth. - TE of For Anna's mother, known as Linzie Q) Waka, one of the richest women on the reaeivition. {Int of her daughters, Mollie Burkhart, rich in ther own right, was married to a man named Erie 7 Burkhart, nephew of William HaJe, a white man and the most powerfed individual in the Osage counsrii? controlling land, o:] and poritiogs "4 wife of Will Smith, wealthy Ogazs chieftain. . Wien (it is important to rote [rt that the Osaye Indians has ‘crate & practice in recent years of do ing the names of white Eh thaws. i counts for the presence of dul A Saxon names a3 Sm.*h 'STOWRMD full-blooded Osage inci... fa nilassy. al ae ee oF i of " Se iremtmememeemnimeien es ee ey : ~~ . 7 . : AE Ten cranny OTE Renata meu care ee ~