disorder of famines and plagues and natural disasters and crimes
and wars. Within these voluminous files, I hoped to find a clue
regarding the murder of W. W. Vaughan.
I had already reviewed court records about the lawsuit that Rosa
Vaughan had filed against H. G. Burt. At first glance, the dispute,
which began in 1923, seemed mundane. Vaughan and Burt, who
was the president of a bank in Pawhuska, were considered close
friends, and Vaughan had long acted as one of Burt’s attorneys.
According to Rosa, Burt owed her deceased husband $10,000,
which she was seeking to recover.
Yet the devilry is in the details, and as I delved deeper, I
discovered that the money in dispute was connected to another
victim of the Reign of Terror, George Bigheart. Vaughan had also
been Bigheart’s attorney. And before Bigheart disclosed critical
information about the murders to Vaughan—and before he died of
suspected poisoning at the hospital in Oklahoma City—he had
sought a “certificate of competency” from authorities. With this
document, he would no longer be designated a ward of the
government, and he could spend his headright payments as he
pleased. Vaughan had successfully helped him file his application,
and for this and other legal services Bigheart had planned to pay
him as much as $10,000—a sum that is comparable today to
nearly $140,000. Burt, however, had somehow collected the
money. Days later, both Bigheart and Vaughan were dead.
Rosa Vaughan’s suit against Burt, who was represented by one
of the same law firms that had represented Hale in the murder
trials, was initially dismissed in state court. Martha had told me
the family was sure that the jury had been rigged, and on appeal
the Oklahoma Supreme Court eventually reversed the decision
and ordered Burt to turn over to Rosa Vaughan $5,000, plus
interest. “What kind of person tries to steal from a penniless