William King Hale , often known locally as "Bill", or the self-styled "King of the Osage Hills," was a U.S. cattleman and convicted murderer. Born in Greenville, Texas, he came to the Indian Territory late in the 19th century and settled on the Osage Indian Reservation, where he built the noted Hale Ranch and made a fortune raising cattle. When Oklahoma gained statehood in 1907, the land occupied by the reservation became contiguous with Osage County, Oklahoma.
A power player in the Osage Indian Reservation in northern Oklahoma, Hale rose to local prominence in the late 19th century through years of bribery, intimidation, and extortion. In 1921, he ordered the murders of his nephew's wife and mother-in-law, followed by her cousin, sister and brother-in-law two years later, to gain control of their oil rights. Over the next few months, he had killed at least two dozen others who had threatened to testify against him.
Hale spent 20 years in the Federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was released in 1947. He was forbidden to return to Oklahoma, and died in a nursing home in Arizona.
Source: Wikipedia article and "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann, ISBN 978-0-307-74248-3.
A power player in the Osage Indian Reservation in northern Oklahoma, Hale rose to local prominence in the late 19th century through years of bribery, intimidation, and extortion. In 1921, he ordered the murders of his nephew's wife and mother-in-law, followed by her cousin, sister and brother-in-law two years later, to gain control of their oil rights. Over the next few months, he had killed at least two dozen others who had threatened to testify against him.
Hale spent 20 years in the Federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was released in 1947. He was forbidden to return to Oklahoma, and died in a nursing home in Arizona.
Source: Wikipedia article and "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann, ISBN 978-0-307-74248-3.
William King Hale , often known locally as "Bill", or the self-styled "King of the Osage Hills," was a U.S. cattleman and convicted murderer. Born in Greenville, Texas, he came to the Indian Territory late in the 19th century and settled on the Osage Indian Reservation, where he built the noted Hale Ranch and made a fortune raising cattle. When Oklahoma gained statehood in 1907, the land occupied by the reservation became contiguous with Osage County, Oklahoma.
A power player in the Osage Indian Reservation in northern Oklahoma, Hale rose to local prominence in the late 19th century through years of bribery, intimidation, and extortion. In 1921, he ordered the murders of his nephew's wife and mother-in-law, followed by her cousin, sister and brother-in-law two years later, to gain control of their oil rights. Over the next few months, he had killed at least two dozen others who had threatened to testify against him.
Hale spent 20 years in the Federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was released in 1947. He was forbidden to return to Oklahoma, and died in a nursing home in Arizona.
Source: Wikipedia article and "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann, ISBN 978-0-307-74248-3.
A power player in the Osage Indian Reservation in northern Oklahoma, Hale rose to local prominence in the late 19th century through years of bribery, intimidation, and extortion. In 1921, he ordered the murders of his nephew's wife and mother-in-law, followed by her cousin, sister and brother-in-law two years later, to gain control of their oil rights. Over the next few months, he had killed at least two dozen others who had threatened to testify against him.
Hale spent 20 years in the Federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was released in 1947. He was forbidden to return to Oklahoma, and died in a nursing home in Arizona.
Source: Wikipedia article and "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann, ISBN 978-0-307-74248-3.
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