The FBI historian John F. Fox was a tremendous and invaluable
resource. So was Dee Cordry, a former special agent with the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation who has spent years
researching and writing about western lawmen. Garrett Hartness,
Roger Hall Lloyd, and Arthur Shoemaker all shared some of their
immense knowledge about the history of Osage County. David A.
Ward, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of
Minnesota, provided me with a transcript of his interview with one
of the prisoners who took Tom White hostage.
Louise Red Corn, the publisher of the Bigheart Times and an
indefatigable reporter, found photographs for me and along with
her husband, Raymond, was a kind host whenever I visited Osage
County. Joe Conner and his wife, Carol, opened their house to me
and turned it into a central place to conduct interviews. Guy Nixon
spoke to me about his Osage ancestors. And Archie L. Mason, a
member of the Osage Nation Congress, sent me a copy of the
astonishing panoramic photograph of William Hale and the Osage.
There is no greater gift to an author than the Dorothy and
Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York
Public Library. The Cullman fellowship allowed me essential time
for research and the opportunity to plumb the library’s miraculous
archives. Everyone at the center—Jean Strouse, Marie d’Origny,
and Paul Delaverdac, as well as the fellows—made for a year that
was productive and fun.
The fellowship also guided me to an unexpected source. One
day, Kevin Winkler, then the director of library sites and services,
informed me that he knew about the Osage murders. It turned out
that he was a grandson of Horace Burkhart, who was a brother of
Ernest and Bryan Burkhart. Horace was considered the good
brother, because he was not involved in any of the crimes. Winkler
helped me to get in touch with his mother, Jean Crouch, and two