“illegal plots”: Quoted in Lowenthal, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 292.
“Every effort”: Quoted in Gentry, J. Edgar Hoover, 129.
“gilded favoritism”: Cincinnati Enquirer, March 14, 1924.
“I was very much”: J. M. Towler to Hoover, Jan. 6, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“You brought credit”: Hoover to Verdon Adams, Oct. 19, 1970, FBI/FOIA.
“We were a bunch”: Quoted in Burrough, Public Enemies, 51.
“any continued”: C. S. Weakley to Findlay, Aug. 16, 1923, FBI.
“unfavorable comment”: W. D. Bolling to Hoover, April 3, 1925, FBI.
“undercover man”: Report by Weiss and Burger, May 24, 1924, FBI.
“We expect splendid”: Ibid.
“a number of officers”: Findlay to Eberstein, Feb. 5, 1925, FBI.
“responsible for failure”: Hoover to Bolling, March 16, 1925, FBI.
“I join in”: Palmer to Curtis, Jan. 28, 1925, FBI.
“acute and delicate”: Hoover to White, Aug. 8, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“This Bureau”: Hoover to White, May 1, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“I want you”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
“office is probably”: Hoover to White, Sept. 21, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“I am human”: White to Hoover, Aug. 5, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“There can be no”: Hoover to Bolling, Feb. 3, 1925, FBI.
9: THE UNDERCOVER COWBOYS
“The two women”: Report by Weiss and Burger, April 29, 1924, FBI.
“unbroken chain”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
“almost universal”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 12, 1924, FBI.
“I’ll assign as many”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
These agents were still: Information on the members of Tom White’s team comes largely from the agents’ personnel files, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act; White’s FBI reports, letters, and writings; newspaper accounts; and the author’s interviews with descendants of the agents.
White first recruited: The former New Mexico sheriff was named James Alexander Street.
White then enlisted: Eugene Hall Parker was the former Texas Ranger who was part of White’s undercover team.
“where there is”: Personnel file of Parker, April 9, 1934, FBI/FOIA.
In addition, White: The deep undercover operative was an agent named Charles Davis.
“Pistol and rifle”: Personnel file of Smith, Aug. 13, 1932, FBI/FOIA.
“the older type”: Personnel file of Smith, Oct. 22, 1928, FBI/FOIA.
“He is exceedingly”: Louis DeNette to Burns, June 2, 1920, FBI.
“Unless you measure”: Hoover to Wren, March 28, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“The Indians, in general”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Dec. 31, 1923, FBI. Prior to Tom White’s taking over the investigation, Burger had worked on the case with Agent Tom F. Weiss; all of Burger’s reports were filed jointly with him.
“any of these dissolute”: Report by Weiss, Nov. 19, 1923, FBI.
“PROCEED UNDER COVER”: Harold Nathan to Gus T. Jones, Aug. 10, 1925, FBI.
10: ELIMINATING THE IMPOSSIBLE
One after the other: My descriptions of the bureau’s investigations into the murders come from several sources, including FBI reports; agent’s personnel files; grand jury testimony; court transcripts; and White’s private correspondence and writings.
Finally, Agent Wren arrived: Wren also pretended at times to be representing certain cattle interests.
“Wren had lived”: White to Hoover, Feb. 2, 1926, FBI/FOIA.
“My desk was”: Grand jury testimony of Horace E. Wilson, NARA-FW.
“I don’t know”: Ibid.
“made a diligent”: Grand jury testimony of David Shoun, NARA-FW.
“When you have eliminated”: Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four (London: Spencer Blackett, 1890), 93.
“It is a matter”: Report by Weiss, Sept. 1, 1923, FBI.
“I never had a quarrel”: Report by Burger and Weiss, April 22, 1924, FBI.
“very self-contained”: Ibid.
“Were you thick”: Report by Weakley, Aug. 7, 1923, FBI.
“We interviewed”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Feb. 2, 1924, FBI.
“unusually shrewd”: Ibid.
“Talks and smokes”: Ibid.
“This arrangement”: Ibid.
“He may efface”: Tarbell, “Identification of Criminals.”
When Hoover became: The bureau’s Identification Division initially collected fingerprints from files maintained by the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth penitentiary and by the International Association for Chiefs of Police.
“the guardians of civilization”: Quoted in Powers, Secrecy and Power, 150.
“We have his picture”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Feb. 2, 1924, FBI.
He reported back: Morrison initially claimed, falsely, that Rose implicated her boyfriend.
“Why’d you do it”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Feb. 2, 1924, FBI.
“If he is not”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 16, 1924, FBI.
11: THE THIRD MAN
“I do not understand”: Hoover to White, June 2, 1926, FBI.
“interesting observation”: Hoover to Bolling, June 1925, FBI.
“paid by suspects”: Weiss and Burger to William J. Burns, March 24, 1924, FBI.
“We old fellows”: Grand jury testimony of Ed Hainey, NARA-FW.
“There was Indians”: Trial testimony of Berry Hainey, State of Oklahoma v. Kelsie Morrison, OSARM.
“They went straight”: Report by Weakley, Aug. 15, 1923, FBI.
“perjured himself”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Jan. 8, 1924, FBI.
“Third man is”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Jan. 10, 1924, FBI.
“Stop your foolishness”: Ibid.
12: A WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS
“strangle”: Report by Smith, Sept. 28, 1925, FBI.
“seen part”: Ibid.
“information contained”: Findlay to Burns, Dec. 19, 1923, FBI.
“handed to”: Eustace Smith to Attorney General, March 15, 1925, FBI.
“reprehensible”: Report by Weiss and Burger, July 2, 1924, FBI.
“sole object”: Ibid.
“frightened out”: Report by Weiss and Burger, July 12, 1924, FBI.
“son-of-bitches”: Report by Weiss and Burger, July 2, 1924, FBI.
“Look out”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 16, 1924, FBI.
“Keep your balance”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
“has known”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Feb. 11, 1924, FBI.
“It is quite”: Report by Weiss and Burger, April 11, 1924, FBI.
“Pike will have”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 14, 1924, FBI.
“shape an alibi”: Grand jury testimony of Elbert M. Pike, NARA-FW.
“discuss this case”: Report by Weiss, Nov. 19, 1923, FBI.
13: A HANGMAN’S SON
“Mr. White belongs”: Daniell, Personnel of the Texas State Government, 389.
“I was raised”: Adams, Tom White, 6.
“BLOOD, BLOOD”: Austin Weekly Statesman, March 31, 1892.
“If a mob attempts”: Bastrop Advertiser, Aug. 5, 1899.
“RAVISHED IN BROAD”: Austin Weekly Statesman, Sept. 1, 1892.
“Truth to tell”: Austin Weekly Statesman, Nov. 22, 1894.
“hung by the neck”: Austin Weekly Statesman, Nov. 16, 1893.
“Let the law”: Austin Weekly Statesman, Jan. 11, 1894.
“Sheriff White has been”: Dallas Morning News, Jan. 13, 1894.
“Ed Nichols is”: Ibid.
“He kicked”: Adams, Tom White, 8.
“Every school boy”: Quoted in Parsons, Captain John R. Hughes, 275.
“Get all the evidence”: Leonard Mohrman, “A Ranger Reminisces,” Texas Parade, Feb. 1951.
“the same as a cowpuncher”: Transcript of int
erview with Tom White, NMSUL.
“Here was a scene”: Quoted in Robinson, Men Who Wear the Star, 79.
Tom learned to be a lawman: Tom White practiced firing his six-shooter. It was the Rangers who had recognized the revolutionary power of these repeat revolvers, after long being overmatched by American Indian warriors who could unleash a barrage of arrows before the lawmen could reload their single-shot rifles. In 1844, while testing out a Colt five-shooter, a group of Rangers overran a larger number of Comanche. Afterward, one of the Rangers informed the gun maker Samuel Colt that with improvements the repeat revolver could be rendered “the most perfect weapon in the world.” With this Ranger’s input, Colt designed a lethal six-shooter—“a stepchild of the West,” as one historian called it—that would help to irrevocably change the balance of power between the Plains tribes and the settlers. Along its cylinder was engraved a picture of the Rangers’ victorious battle against the Comanche.
You picked up: To hone his aim, White practiced shooting on virtually any moving creature: rabbits, buzzards, even prairie dogs. He realized that being an accurate shot was more important than being the fastest draw. As his brother Doc put it, “What good is it to be quick on the draw if you’re not a sure shot?” Doc said a lot of the legends about Western gunmen were “hooey”: “All that business about Wyatt Earp being a quick draw artist is exaggerated. He was just a good shot.”
“You don’t never”: Adams, Tom White, 19.
“the lawless element”: Ben M. Edwards to Frank Johnson, Jan. 25, 1908, TSLAC.
“We had nothing”: Hastedt, “White Brothers of Texas Had Notable FBI Careers.”
“avoid killing”: Adams, Tom White, 16.
“An officer who”: Quoted in Parsons, Captain John R. Hughes, xvii.
“the Sheriff has”: Thomas Murchinson to Adjutant General, March 2, 1907, TSLAC.
“I am shot all”: Quoted in Alexander, Bad Company and Burnt Powder, 240.
“Tom’s emotional struggle”: Adams, Tom White, 24.
“proved an excellent”: Adjutant General to Tom Ross, Feb. 10, 1909, TSLAC.
“fell, and did not get up”: Beaumont Enterprise, July 15, 1918.
“One wagon sheet”: Adjutant General to J. D. Fortenberry, Aug. 1, 1918, TSLAC.
14: DYING WORDS
“If Bill Smith”: Grand jury testimony of David Shoun, NARA-FW.
“often leave”: Ibid.
“If she says”: Ibid.
“He never did say”: Grand jury testimony of James Shoun, NARA-FW.
“Gentlemen, it is a mystery”: Grand jury testimony of David E. Johnson, NARA-FW.
“You know, I only”: Ibid.
“I would hate”: Grand jury testimony of James Shoun, NARA-FW.
“If he did”: Report of Smith, Street, Burger, and Murphy, Sept. 1, 1925, FBI.
“You understand in your study of”: Grand jury testimony of David Shoun, NARA-FW.
“Did he know what”: Ibid.
“The blackest chapter”: Survey of Conditions of Indians, 23018.
“an orgy of graft”: Gertrude Bonnin, “Oklahoma’s Poor Rich Indians: An Orgy of Graft and Exploitation of the Five Civilized Tribes and Others,” 1924, HSP.
“shamelessly and openly”: Ibid.
“A group of traders”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1925.
“For her and her”: Memorandum by Gertrude Bonnin, “Case of Martha Axe Roberts,” Dec. 3, 1923, HSP.
“There is no hope”: Ibid.
“Your money”: Shepherd, “Lo, the Rich Indian!”
15: THE HIDDEN FACE
“controlled everything”: Report by Wren, Davis, and Parker, Sept. 10, 1925, FBI.
“Hells bells”: Grand jury testimony of John McLean, NARA-FW.
“drunken Indian”: Ibid.
“I don’t think it”: Grand jury testimony of Alfred T. Hall, NARA-FW.
“I knew the questions”: Tulsa Tribune, Aug. 6, 1926.
“Photographs taken by means”: Bert Farrar to Roy St. Lewis, Dec. 22, 1928, NARA-FW.
“Absolutely”: Grand jury testimony of John McLean, NARA-FW.
“Bill, what are you”: Grand jury testimony of W. H. Aaron, NARA-FW.
“Hell, yes”: U.S. v. John Ramsey and William K. Hale, Oct. 1926, NARA-FW.
“If I were you”: Unpublished nonfiction account by Grove with White, NMSUL.
“notorious relations”: Report by Burger and Weiss, Aug. 12, 1924, FBI.
“I, like many”: Hale’s application for clemency, Nov. 15, 1935, NARA-CP.
“is absolutely controlled”: Report by Wright, April 5, 1923, FBI.
“capable of anything”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Jan. 10, 1924, FBI.
“MOLLIE appears”: Report titled “The Osage Murders,” Feb. 3, 1926, FBI.
16: FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE BUREAU
“many new angles”: Edwin Brown to Hoover, March 22, 1926, FBI/FOIA.
“a crook and”: Report by Wren, Oct. 6, 1925, FBI.
“dominated local”: Report titled “Osage Indian Murder Cases,” July 10, 1953, FBI.
“conditions have”: Hoover to White, Nov. 25, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“slender bundle”: Quoted in Nash, Citizen Hoover, 23.
Hoover wanted the new: For more information regarding Hoover’s transformation of the bureau, see Gentry, J. Edgar Hoover; Powers, Secrecy and Power; Burrough, Public Enemies; and Ungar, F.B.I. For more on the dark side of Progressivism, also see Thomas C. Leonard’s journal articles “American Economic Reform in the Progressive Era” and “Retrospectives.”
“days of ‘old sleuth’ ”: San Bernardino County Sun, Dec. 31, 1924.
“scrapped the old”: Quoted in Powers, Secrecy and Power, 146.
“He plays golf”: San Bernardino County Sun, Dec. 31, 1924.
“I regret that”: Hoover to White, Sept. 21, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“I have caused”: Hoover to White, May 1, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“You either improve”: Quoted in Gentry, J. Edgar Hoover, 149.
“I believe that when”: Hoover to White, April 15, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“I’m sure he would”: Quoted in Gentry, J. Edgar Hoover, 67.
“supposed to know”: Tracy, “Tom Tracy Tells About—Detroit and Oklahoma.”
“honest till”: Adams, Tom White, 133.
“I feel that I”: White to Hoover, Sept. 28, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“with the betterment”: White to Hoover, June 10, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“I do not agree”: Memorandum for Hoover, May 12, 1925, FBI/FOIA.
“The first thing”: Quoted in Gentry, J. Edgar Hoover, 170.
“directed against”: Quoted in Powers, Secrecy and Power, 154.
17: THE QUICK-DRAW ARTIST, THE YEGG, AND THE SOUP MAN
“diaspora”: Mary Jo Webb, interview with author.
“I made peace”: Osage Chief, July 28, 1922.
“Gregg is 100 percent”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 12, 1924, FBI.
“A very small man”: White to Grove, June 23, 1959, NMSUL.
“a cold cruel”: Criminal record of Dick Gregg, Jan. 9, 1925, KHS.
“gone places”: White to Grove, June 23, 1959, NMSUL.
“my life would”: Report by Weiss and Burger, July 24, 1924, FBI.
“Bill Smith and”: Statement by Dick Gregg, June 8, 1925, FBI.
“That’s not my style”: Quoted in article by Fred Grove in The War Chief of the Indian Territory Posse of Oklahoma Westerners 2, no. 1 (June 1968).
“on the level”: White to Grove, June 23, 1959, NMSUL.
“an outlaw”: Ibid.
“Johnson knows”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 14, 1924, FBI.
“HENRY GRAMMER SHOOTS”: Lamb, Tragedies of the Osage Hills, 119.
“CHEROKEES NO MATCH”: Muskogee Times-Democrat, Aug. 5, 1909.
“that Indian deal”: Report by Burger, Nov. 30, 1928, FBI.
The legendary quick-draw: There were also suspicions that Grammer had been
shot as well and had a bullet wound near his left armpit.
“taking care”: Grand jury testimony of John Mayo, NARA-FW.
“Hale knows”: Report by Weiss and Burger, July 2, 1924, FBI.
“damned neck”: Report by Weiss and Burger, Aug. 16, 1924, FBI.
“making all the propaganda”: Report by Wren, Nov. 5, 1925, FBI.
“I’m too slick”: Document titled “Osage Indian Murder Cases,” July 10, 1953, FBI.
“like he owned”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
18: THE STATE OF THE GAME
“We’ve been getting”: Unpublished nonfiction account by Grove with White, NMSUL. In bureau records, Lawson’s first name name is spelled Burt; in other records, it is sometimes spelled Bert. To avoid confusion, I have used Burt throughout the text.
“hot Feds”: White to Grove, May 2, 1959, NMSUL.
“We understand from”: Unpublished nonfiction account by Grove with White, NMSUL.
“Some time around”: Report by Smith and Murphy, Oct. 27, 1925, FBI.
“Have confession”: White to Hoover, Oct. 24, 1925, FBI.
“Congratulations”: Hoover to White, Oct. 26, 1925, FBI.
“Once, when he”: Homer Fincannon, interview with author.
“not to drink”: Report by Wren, Oct. 6, 1925, FBI.
“illness is very suspicious”: Edwin Brown to George Wright, July 18, 1925, NARA-CP.
“Understand I’m wanted”: Unpublished nonfiction account by Grove with White, NMSUL.
“like a leashed”: Guthrie Leader, Jan. 6, 1926.
“You could look”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
“We all picked Ernest”: Statement by Luhring in grand jury proceedings, NARA-FW.
“small-town dandy”: Transcript of interview with White, NMSUL.
“We want to talk”: Unpublished nonfiction account by Grove with White, NMSUL.
“If he didn’t”: Gentry, J. Edgar Hoover, 386.
“perfect”: Tulsa Tribune, Jan. 5, 1926.
“too much Jew”: Report by Weiss and Burger, April 30, 1924, FBI.
“Blackie, have”: Grand jury testimony of Smith, Jan. 5, 1926, NARA-CP.