Deaths of Sybil Bolton

Oil, Greed, and Murder on the Osage Reservation

By: Dennis McAuliffe, Kalani Queypo, David Grann - foreword

Narrated by: Kalani Queypo

A true story of greed and murder of Native Americans by their countrymen.

Journalist Dennis McAuliffe Jr. grew up believing that his Osage Indian grandmother, Sybil Bolton, had died an early death in 1925 from kidney disease. It was only by chance that he learned the real cause was a gunshot wound and that her murder may well have been engineered by his own grandfather.

As McAuliffe peeled away layers of suppressed history, he learned that Sybil was a victim of the "Osage Reign of Terror" - a systematic killing spree in the 1920s when White men descended upon the oil-rich Osage reservation to court, marry, and murder Native women to gain control of their money.

The Deaths of Sybil Bolton is part murder mystery, part family memoir, and part spiritual journey.

©1994, 1999 Dennis McAuliffe, Jr. (P)2021 Council Oak Books

Really good book

This is a very interesting perspective on native American culture and history, very good insights were shared. The narrators voice was very easy to listen to. Glad I listened to this!

Great story, mispronunciations by narrator

I really enjoyed the book. I have lived in the area the book takes place in for over 40 years of my life. It was a little of nerve grating every time the narrator read off the name of a town and absolutely butchered it. If a little research had been made, YouTube is a good example, these mispronunciations wouldn’t be as cringe worthy. But I love the book and hope that doesn’t take away from the listener.

Personal discovery story

An excellent story about discovering your roots and finding out more about yourself in the process. This story is woven with historical facts related to what became known as the Reign of Terror, and the outright greed that plagued the Osage Tribe before and after the discovery of oil. Well worth the investment.

The Truth About The American Indian Holocaust.

Excellent well-written factual information. A story for the ages that will change you when you read it.

I had to stop midbook

I had to stop midbook just to say they should re-record this with a new narrater. I’m sorry but it’s grating on the ears.

Search for identity

Could not get emotionally involved in story but enjoyed learning about Osage tribe.and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A bit dated, but overall a very interesting and disturbing story

Like some others, I'm sure, I learned of this boom through the KOTFL book (which I learned of through the movie). First, I have no idea why there are complaints about the narrator. I thought he did a wonderful job.

My only critique about the boom was there seemed to be too much about the author, which is fine, but it kind of made it seem like a different book than the one I was expecting. Being published in '94, there's also some outdated ideas that come through. I cringed at bit at the "vanishing race" line.

But still, there's a lot of information about what went on in Osage County during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, and I appreciated the widened lens on who and how many people had a hand in the "reign of terror." I think that's where the movie really fell short. It focused so much on a small group of over the top criminals that the fact the theft and killings were so commonplace and committed by so many people gets lost in Scorsese's telling. This does a better job at getting across that Scorsese's killers were still just a small rowdy group in a much larger pond of sharks.

Intense journey

All non-indigenous Americans deserve to listen to this story.
To sum it up in one word, the story was in all ways grueling.
There are a lot of interesting historic details scattered throughout the story which add to the complexity of this grueling history in review.
The story itself, about the abusive killing of Osage Indians, is a grueling historic tale.
The story of the emotional roller coaster of the author's quest is also grueling as he strives on his mission to find out what happened to his mother, and we watch as alcoholism becomes like an additional character hidden in the book, the author seemingly not self-recognized until the end of the story
the narrator seemed to turn what was already a grueling story into an even more torturous listen.
There were times when it felt like the narrator was scolding us as an audience.
The anger of the author was palpable, and a lot of anger is justified, but it can seem like the listener is being whooped Instead of the story being just relayed with intensity.
And then there were other times where the reading was monotone and choppy like a recorded voice.
I really struggled through this story, but I was engaged enough to not give up.
I still recommend this book for the historic details, but it's not enjoyable.
It's important, it's valid, and it's historically Very significant,
And I guess it's told in the way it should be.
Harsh.
Because that's the reality of the past that allows us to sit here right now as the descendants of colonizers who caused the deaths and despair across the land that created the opportunity for this book in the first place.
So I believe it is deserved, and everyone should listen, everyone should feel a little bit uncomfortable for a little while, considering the centuries of injustice done to the Native American people on the continent of North America.
We deserve to listen.

Great research, not sure about the narration

Dennis McAuliffe did a great job of researching the story of his grandmother and the Osage tribe. And there is so much interesting information about Native American history in general. I like the way that the story blends smoothly with the research and facts. My only problem with this book is the narration. For the most part, Queypo does a good job. He has a nice voice and is not monotone. However, when he's reading the parts of people from Oklahoma who were part of the research, he makes everyone of them sound feeble minded and backwoods. Being from Oklahoma myself, I beg to differ! One in particular, a librarian, is made to sound like she hardly ever set foot inside a school. Librarians are college educated. Many folks from Oklahoma have southern/midwestern accents, but that cannot be equated with lack of education. My hat is off to Mr. McAuliffe, who diligently researched his family's Osage history and found important truths. Being interested in the Reign of Terror, I appreciate all his hard work.

Had High Hopes

After reading a similar book, I was very intrigued by the story that’s seemed to have been lost in time. Then I found this book and I couldn’t wait to get started listening. The history portion of the book was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it, however, I couldn’t make it past chapter 6. I thought this book would be more history of her death less author’s personal opinion. It became repetitive until I found myself being annoyed with it. This had so much potential yet was disappointing.