Peer reviews in this class involve sharing with the writer what you see their writing doing for you as a reader and what you would like the writing to do more of. You are NOT evaluating or judging the writing or telling them what they should do to improve.

Peer Review Prompts:

Describe what the draft does. What does it show? What does it teach or inform you of? What does it make you think? How does it make you feel? Make suggestions for what you would like more of in the next draft. What would you like the draft to show more of? What would you like it to teach or inform you of? What would you like to know more about? What questions would you like the draft to answer? What would you like to feel after reading a revised draft?

Peer's draft:

Were the Osage killings an act of racism or an act of greed, or maybe even both? Was the government in on these killings? How many people actually participated in the killings? How much evidence was destoyed or hidden to maintain William Hale's name before he was arrested? So many questions with so few answers and so much left to be solved in order to bring the people responsible for the Reign of Terror to justice. The Osage killings were one of the most brutal examples of the genocide of native peoples. Although the book, Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann, answers many questions surrounding the topic, there are still parts of the case left unsolved to this day. One thing that I found interesting about this story was how much your environment can change your way of life. In this case it came with the Osage settling on top of oil filled land. This can be seen in the quote, "The Osage had been driven from their lands in Kansas onto a rocky, presumably worthless reservation in northeastern Olkahoma, only to discover, decades later, that this land was sitting above some of the largest oil deposits in the United States" (Gramm 6). This shows just how important the land that you live on could be and how big a factor it could be in your ways of life. This ultimately changed their life for the better as this oil gave them enough money to live off of and more without needing to work. Although the oil came with many upsides, it also painted targets on the back of the Osage. The amount of money that each headright paid was so much that many white relatives wanted to kill members of the tribe in order to inherit their wealth. The author states, "'Over the sixteen-year period from 1907 to 1923, 605 Osages died, averaging about 38 per year, an annual death rate of about 19 per 1,000. The national death rate now is about 8.5 per 1,000" (Gramm 307). This quote displays the unusual amount of Osage Indians that died during the Reign of Terror. The motive behind these killings was money as the white people of Oklahoma desired the headrights of the Osage tribe. Finaly, the effects that the environment had on the Osage Indians brought many riches but also gave people a reason people to kill them. Another interesting thing about this book was how they connected the Osage killings to the formation of the FBI. The Forming of the FBI came with the Osage killings as the cases served as a way to kickstart the operation. This can be observed in the quote, "He wanted to record the crimes agains the Osage and wanted to make sure that the agents who had worked with him were not erased from history" (Gramm 254). In writing this book, White wanted to let people know about the crimes comitted during the Reign of Terror. In doing this he also wanted to put the FBI's name out there so they would be known for their good deeds. Other examples of the Osage killings giving fame to the FBI came with the arresting of Hale. This trip to court brought many spectators as Hale was very popular and the Osage killings were-righfully so-a big problem among the members of the tribe. Gramm states, "'The stage is set: the curtain rises slowly on the great tragedy of the Osage--the long-awaited federal trial of two old-time cowboys,' the Tulsa Tribune reported" (Gramm 231) This quote exemplifies the tension held in this one courtroom and how everything had been building up to this one moment. Many different people did reports on this story which again helped build up fame for White and the FBI. To conclude, the FBI was kickstarted through the Osage killings as the case gave them fame and made their names known. Another important factor in the writing is the Corruption in the government. The government was corrupt in many ways such as appointing corrupt guardians to rich Osage leaders. These guardians would then gain access to the Osage headrights once their wards had died. Examples of this can be seen in the quote, "I noticed that a third Osage Indian had died under Mathis's guardianship, and so had a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth" (Gramm 305). This quote shows the very high percentage of wards that had died under the guardianship of Mathis. This correlates with the Osage killings as guardians would find ways to kill or hasten the death of their wards so that they could collect the Osage headrights through inheritance. Another example of corruption in the government was with the FBI and hiding records. The FBI would conceal records to preserve their name and status. This is displayed in the quote, "There was another layer to this case--a deeper, darker, even more terrifying conspiracy, which the bureau had never exposed" (Gramm 258). This quote highlights the fact that the FBI was hiding facts about the killings as they believed that they had closed the case but it was still very much unsolved as they had only solved a tiny piece of it. All in all, corruption in the government heavily influenced these killings and the lives of the Osage tribe as shown by the reasoning provided above. Ultimately, with many questions left to answer and many more cases left to solve, the damaged families of the Osage tribe live on and continued to thrive for years to come. This book really captures the emotions felt by the Osage and the atrocities committed by William Hale and his accomplices. This aspect sort of makes the writing seem like fiction as the human brain struggles to comprehend how and why someone would do such things. Killers of the Flower Moon is a well written book that provides the reader with an accurate account of the Osage lifestyle and how it was forced upon them.