Osage County, Oklahoma: The Oil Murders That Created the FBI

Osage County, Oklahoma. It's around 3 in the morning on March 10, 1923. In Fairfax, Oklahoma, Rita Smith sleeps in her bedroom. Her husband, Bill, is in the adjacent room. Their teenage white servant, Nettie Brookshire, sleeps upstairs. Five gallons of nitroglycerin sits beneath the house. The explosion obliterates the structure. Neighbors three blocks away feel their windows rattle. The Smith house simply disappears. Rita and Nettie die instantly. Bill survives, barely, with massive injuries.

TIMELINE
1808: Between 1808 and 1839, the Osage ceded 96.8 million acres for approximately $166,000, less than two-tenths of a penny per acre.
1897: In October 1897, the Phoenix Oil Company drilled their first successful well along Butler Creek.
1901: Between 1901 and 1930, 319 million barrels of Oklahoma crude were pumped from Osage County ground.
1908: The Act of May 27, 1908 transferred jurisdiction over Osage minors and incompetents to local Oklahoma County probate courts.
1912: By 1912, lease auctions were held under the famous million-dollar elm tree in Pawhuska.
1923: In 1923, the Osage collectively received over $30 million annually in oil royalties.

WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Osage County is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.

Episode 174 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters

If you liked this: Episode 182 (Boise City, Oklahoma)

Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

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