Killers of the Flower Moon Free Movie Premiere in Fort Scott

Friday, October 20, 2023, the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site, Inc. and Fort Scott National Historic Site are sponsoring the premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon, as a part of the nationwide release. The free premiere showing is at 6:40 p.m. and is hosted by the Fort Scott Cinema, 224 W 18th St, Fort Scott, KS 66701.

The free tickets are available at the box office at show time.

In the late 1800s, oil was discovered on the Osage Indian Reservation in present-day Osage County, Oklahoma. The members of the Osage Nation earned royalties from oil sales through their federally mandated “head rights,” and, by the 1920s, the richest people in the world were members of the Osage Nation. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off.

The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances.

FBI agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. This conspiracy of theft, terror, and genocide helped launch J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.

This film is an adaptation by Director Martin Scorsese of the book Killers of the Flower Moon, a narrative nonfiction by David Grann.

There are 25,288 Osage Tribal Members who live across the globe, with just under half residing in Oklahoma. In “Killers of the Flower Moon”, the language you hear is taught by Osage Nation Language Teachers, the traditional clothing you see is made by Osage artists, and the landscape is the Osage Nation Reservation. They are not relics. The Osage Nation is a sovereign Nation that is thriving. A people of strength, hope, and passion, honoring the stories of the past and building the world of the future.

This is but one series of the many traumas experienced in Native American history. The National Park Service encourages you to be part of the discussion and learn more at www.nps.gov/fosc, www.nps.gov/subjects/americanindians, or www.osageculture.com. This event is a portion of a series of programs and events around the Native American Experience that Fort Scott National Historic Site and the Friends of the Fort have been hosting such as Wahzhazhe, the Osage Ballet.  Additional programs are to be announced soon.

Fort Scott National Historic Site’s, a unit of the National Park Service, exhibit areas and visitor center are open daily from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The park grounds are open daily from a half hour before sunrise until a half hour after sunset. To find out more or become involved in activities at the Fort, please contact the park at 620-223-0310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/fosc.

-NPS-

Image of Mollie Burkhart.  Credit Photo as: The Bismarck Tribune, June 16, 1926

…

John Freed was a graphic arts and photography instructor at Fort Scott Community College in October 1986, when the levy on Mill Creek burst.

Mill Creek feeds into the Marmaton River in the current Riverfront Park area.

On October 3, 1986, after nearly 20 inches of rain in 3 days, the Marmaton River crested at 52.5 feet, breaking the previous record set in 1915, according to information on the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce website.

The Fort Scott Cattle Sales Company released 250 head of cattle from their pens, according to the website. These cattle swam in the water, and three ended up on the roof of a home in Belltown, the area east of the cattle sales company.

The area between the Marmaton River Bridge on North National Avenue and U.S. Highway 54 was covered with several feet of fast-moving water.

Freed started taking photos of the historic event on the afternoon of October 3.

This was the beginning of his publication of the book, which is mostly a photo album with stories and poems from residents about the historic event, entitled the ’86 Flood. We Booked It Just For You.

He sponsored a photo contest for the book and over 1,500 photos were submitted by community members.

The stories of the flood were from local Fort Scott students and a few adults.

“Kids wrote the stories,” Freed said. “The superintendent of the schools made it mandatory that elementary, middle, and high school kids had to write an article for the book. The Catholic school students contributed as well. Fort Scott Community College students sent a few articles.”

“A few Panamanian students attending FSCC saw a bunch of Kansas National Guard helicopters that brought flood victims to the college because it was higher ground,” he said. “They thought America was being invaded. They wrote some stories. Theirs are written in Spanish, translated by the college Spanish instructor.”

“I resigned from FSCC and started my print shop a short time after the flood,” he said.  The print shop was located on Main Street, in a space now occupied by Papa Don’s Pizza.

The book was a long-term project.

“I  designed it, put it together,” he said. “It took weeks and I had considerable help from volunteers,” Freed said.

Freed judged the photos, and local English teachers judged the stories, and prizes were awarded to students for their contributions to the book.

The book was published in 1987.

In commemoration of the flood stories, he is promoting the book again at an author’s event at Hedgehog INK Bookstore at 16 S. Main Street on Oct. 3 from 2-4 p.m. There will be copies of the book for sale for $8.95, the original cost of the book in 1987, the year it was published.

“I want to encourage people that wrote in the book, to come a get a copy, if they don’t have one,” Freed said.