Editing Osage County, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
During the 17th century, the Osage and other [[Dhegihan languages|Dhegihan]] [[Siouan]] tribes were displaced westward from the [[Ohio Country]] following the [[Beaver Wars]]. The Osage became established as a powerful nation in the areas of present-day Missouri and Arkansas between the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] and [[Red River of the South|Red rivers]], as well as extending to the west. By 1760, they had increased their range to include the present Osage County. Historically one of the most powerful [[Plains Indians|Great Plains tribes]], their numbers were reduced by [[infectious disease]] and warfare after encounter with Europeans.

In 1825, they ceded their claim to the land in present-day Oklahoma to the United States government, which included it in a "perpetual [[Cherokee Outlet|outlet to the west]] given to the [[Cherokee Nation]] by the [[Treaty of New Echota]]" in 1835. This treaty was to accomplish Cherokee [[Indian removal|removal]] to the Indian Territory. During the [[American Civil War]], on December 26, 1861, a band of pro-Union [[Muscogee (Creek)|Creek]] and [[Seminole]] fought with a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] unit at the [[Battle of Chustenahlah]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=770 |title=On this date in Civil War history: December 26, 1861 - Battle of Chustenahlah (150th Anniversary)}}</ref> on Bird Creek, near the present town of [[Skiatook, Oklahoma|Skiatook]].<ref name = "EOHC-Osage" /> Generally the Five Civilized Tribes were allied with the Confederacy.

In 1870, the Osage finally prepared for removal from Kansas, after having negotiated payment for their land. They purchased {{convert|1.57|e6acre|km2}} of their former territory in present-day Oklahoma from the Cherokee. By owning it by title, they had a stronger position in relation to the US government than did other tribes.<ref name=McAuliffe/> The Osage Agency was established in 1872 at Deep Ford, later renamed as [[Pawhuska, Oklahoma|Pawhuska]]. It was designated as the county seat when Oklahoma was admitted as a state. The other chief settlements in the 1870s were [[Hominy, Oklahoma|Hominy]] and [[Fairfax, Oklahoma|Fairfax]]; each of the three was settled by a major Osage band.<ref name=McAuliffe>{{cite book|first=Dennis |last=McAuliffe |year=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7J7zbQDV9BgC |title=Bloodland: A Family Story of Oil, Greed and Murder on the Osage Reservation|publisher=Council Oak Books|page=43 |isbn=978-1-57178-083-6}}</ref>

In 1875, the US designated their land as the Osage Reservation. Because the tribe owned the land directly, they retained more control over their affairs than did tribes whose land was held "in trust" by the United States government.<ref name=McAuliffe/> This reservation became part of the [[Oklahoma Territory]] under the [[Oklahoma organic act|Oklahoma Organic Act]] of 1890. It became a semi-autonomous district by the [[Oklahoma Enabling Act]] of 1906, and Osage County at the time of Oklahoma Statehood in 1907.<ref name = "EOHC-Osage">{{cite book|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS004 |first=Jon D. |last=May|title=Osage County, ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''|access-date=September 25, 2011}}</ref> At that time, there were 2,229 registered Osage members.<ref name=McAuliffe/>

As owners, the Osage negotiated the retention of the communal mineral rights to their reservation lands. In October 1897, the Phoenix Oil Company drilled the first successful oil well on the Osage reservation and in Oklahoma Territory. It was located along Butler Creek. In 1901, Phoenix Oil and Osage Oil companies combined their assets to form the Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Company (ITIO). It arranged with the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] to sub-lease the eastern part of the Osage reservation until 1916. When ITIO's lease expired, the United States government supervised the public auctioning of leases for {{convert|160|acre|ha|adj=on}} tracts.<ref name = "EOHC-Osage" />

All subsurface minerals, including oil, are owned by the [[Osage Nation]] and held in trust for them by the Federal Government. Each mineral lease was negotiated by the Osage National Council and approved by the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|U.S. Secretary of the Interior]].<ref name = "EOHC-Osage" /> While the government forced allotment of lands and distribution of {{convert|160|acre|ha|adj=on}} plots to tribal members for farming in the early 20th century, the tribe continued to hold their "surplus" land after the distribution.<ref name=McAuliffe/>  Other tribes were forced to give up such "surplus" and allow for sales to non-Indians. The Osage distributed their surplus communal land to tribal members, so that in 1906 each Osage was given a total of {{convert|657|acre|ha}}, nearly four times the amount that other Indian households received in the allotment process. Later the enrolled Osage and their descendants received oil and other mineral royalties as payments based on these "headrights".<ref name=McAuliffe/>

The Burbank Oil Field was discovered in May 1920 with the Marland Oil Company's well 1 discovery. Peak production from the [[dome (geology)|dome]] was in July 1923 at 88,950 barrels from 1020 wells, with total production of 200 million barrels by the end of 1938. Most production is from the Burbank [[Sand]] at a depth of 2700–3000 feet.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bass |first1=N.W. |last2=Goodrich |first2=H.B. |last3=Dillard |first3=W.R. |title=SUBSURFACE GEOLOGY AND OIL AND GAS RESOURCES OF OSAGE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, USGS Bulletin 900-J |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0900j/report.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0900j/report.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |publisher=USGS |access-date=October 29, 2020 |date=1942}}</ref>

{{main|Osage Indian murders}}
By 1920, the Osage were receiving lucrative revenues from royalties and were counted as the richest people in the country. During the 1920s, Osage County was the site of the infamous [[Osage Indian murders]]. Because of the great wealth being generated by oil, an estimated 60 tribal members were killed as whites tried to gain their headrights, royalties or land. The FBI believed that several white husbands of Osage women had committed or ordered murders of their wives.<ref name=McAuliffe/>  Other Osage were tricked out of their legal rights by unscrupulous white opportunists. Congress had passed a law in 1921 requiring all Osage of half or more Indian ancestry to have a guardian appointed by the court until the person proved to be "competent." Guardians were appointed by the courts even for minors with living parents. There was extensive corruption as such guardians manipulated people to give or bequeath land to them in order to get access to oil rights.

The Osage called in the FBI to help solve several murders in the Kyle family. Three white men were ultimately convicted and sentenced. But, many murders were never solved. To try to protect the Osage, Congress passed a law in 1921 limiting the inheritance of headrights only to persons who were half or more Osage in ancestry.<ref name=McAuliffe/>