"The Osage Indians Struck It Rich, Paid the Price"

Question

by Dwight Garner

“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.

"The Osage Indians Struck It Rich, Then Paid the Price" by Dwight Garner, from THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 12, 2017. Copyright © 2017 by The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under license.

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

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?

(1 point)
Responses

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

“‘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.’”
“‘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.’”

“The federal government appointed white guardians to monitor many of the Osage members’ spending habits.”
“The federal government appointed white guardians to monitor many of the Osage members’ spending habits.”

“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.”
“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.”

Answer 1

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

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

This statement highlights the discovery of oil, which was the catalyst for the ensuing conflict and the exploitation of the Osage people.