The Deaths of Sybil Bolton:: An American History

McAuliffe, a Washington Post editor, never knew his maternal grandmother, Sybil Bolton, an Osage Indian. She died in 1925 at age 21, allegedly of kidney disease. Recently, however, he learned by accident that her death was recorded as suicide. Gripped by disbelief and reporter's instinct, McAuliffe spent the next two years searching for the facts of her death. He unravelled a shocking story that leaves little doubt that his grandmother was murdered. In Oklahoma in the early 1920s, the oil-rich Osages were targetted by prominent white ``guardians'' in cahoots with corrupt physicians and local politicians. Hundreds of Osages were shot or poisoned, so that their ``guardians'' could gain rights to their oil holdings. McAuliffe tells the story of a shameful history. Author tour. (Aug.)