Summary

Chapter Six describes the financial system that emerged in Osage county as a result of its massive oil deposits. Four times each year, speculators, including the country’s most prominent and influential oil barons, would descend on Pawhuska for an auction of drilling leases. The auctions were held next to a large tree, referred to as the Million Dollar Elm, and attracted local spectators. They also drew massive amounts of wealth into the community, with some leases being sold for nearly two million dollars. With each auction, the Osage tribe became wealthier and white Americans became more resentful of their wealth. Papers throughout the country suggested the Osage had done nothing to earn their wealth and simply profited from a decision by the government to relocate them above an oil field. They claimed that the Osage were ostentatious spenders, shamelessly throwing away their...