One
of the reasons I love my work and by extension my life, is that I come
across the most amazing people! A case in point is writer,
David Grann.
By a circuitous route, I got to work with him on restoring images he
thought he would need for the book he was writing, "Killers of the Flower Moon" (
link Below). It turned out he only used one of the images I restored, Tom White, Sr. (
below) but it was fun being part of the process.
At the time I didn't know the title nor had any knowledge
whatsoever of the substance of the book but I knew the man he was writing about was an FBI agent and the grandfather of
Tom Bruce White III.
I've known Tom for over forty years and had no idea of the shocking
conspiracy his grandfather
discovered as I researched the book which was published last month.
It was an educational and astonishing experience for me. What I discovered is an absolutely mind boggling true events story about a series of murders of
Osage Indians.
The story follows the investigation by
Tom Bruce White, Sr. an agent for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation at the time under
J. Edgar Hoover.
used in the published edition of the book
This was the FBI's first major case, and a young
J. Edgar Hoover
wanted it solved. Hoover needed the sturdiest and most incorruptible of
agents
to head up the investigation. He chose Tom White, from
Texas.
White’s father was the local sheriff in
Austin,
so he grew up in a home attached to the county jail. He and two
brothers eventually became
Texas Rangers.
photographer unknown
not used in the published edition of the book
Looking for a more stable
life, White became an
F.B.I. agent. With the team he
assembled, White went undercover, infiltrated the Osage world and
exposed the reasons for the murders and who the murderers were.
There is in-depth coverage by Jon D. May about the conspiracy and results of the investigation by the FBI on the
Oklahoma Historical Society website (
link below).
Tom White, Sr. with
J. Edgar Hoover - September 29, 1967
photographer unknown
not used in the published edition of the book
After almost four years, the book by Grann was finally published and earlier this month, we received our copy of the book with the title page autographed by him.
My sincere thanks to
Tom White III, his brother John White and his cousin Kathlene Liles who provided invaluable photographic research.
Acknowledgement page
"Killers of the Flower Moon" has made it onto the
Book of the Month Club, which is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a
selection of five new hardcover books each month to its members.
Published by
PenguinRandomhouse
April 20, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0385534246
Oklahoma Historical Society ~ Osage Murders