Question

Use the passage from "The Osage Indians Struck It Rich, Paid the Price" by Dwight Garner to answer the question:

(“Killers of the Flower Moon” describes how the
Osage people were driven from their lands in
Kansas onto a rocky portion of northwestern
Oklahoma — out of sight, out of mind. It became
apparent within a few decades, however, that
immense oil deposits pooled below those
Oklahoma rocks.
The Osage people became wealthy from leasing
their mineral rights; so wealthy that white America,
stoked by a racist and sensationalistic press, went
into a moral panic, a collective puritanical
shudder.
“Journalists told stories,” Grann writes, “often
wildly embroidered, of Osage who discarded
grand pianos on their lawns or replaced old cars
with new ones after getting a flat tire.” A reporter
from Harper’s Monthly Magazine wrote,
ominously: “The Osage Indians are becoming so
rich that something will have to be done about it.”
Something was done about it. The federal
government appointed white guardians to monitor
many of the Osage members’ spending habits.
Even tiny purchases had to be authorized. The
chicanery and graft were remarkable. Then things
got worse.)

Which quotation is the reviewer’s use of
historical evidence to tell the reader the initial
cause of the conflict faced by the Osage
people?

a. “The Osage people became wealthy
from leasing their mineral rights; so
wealthy that white America, stoked by a
racist and sensationalistic press, went
into a moral panic, a collective
puritanical shudder.”
b. “The federal government appointed
white guardians to monitor many of the
Osage members’ spending habits.”
c. “It became apparent within a few
decades, however, that immense oil
deposits pooled below those Oklahoma
rocks.”
d. “‘Journalists told stories, Grann writes,
‘often wildly embroidered, of Osage
who discarded grand pianos on their
lawns or replaced old cars with new
ones after getting a flat tire.’”

Answer 1

The quotation that best represents the initial cause of the conflict faced by the Osage people is:

**c. “It became apparent within a few decades, however, that immense oil deposits pooled below those Oklahoma rocks.”**

This statement highlights the discovery of valuable natural resources, which set the stage for the conflicts that ensued as the Osage people became wealthy due to their mineral rights.