H. G. Burt—William K. Hale

H. G. Burt and William K. Hale were linked by informants and investigators as close associates within the network exploiting the Osage. Their connection mattered not only because of the money they were suspected of sharing, but because Burt’s guardianship over George Bigheart’s daughter gave him control of funds left to her after Bigheart’s death. The records raise serious suspicions about both men while stopping short of proving that they conspired in Bigheart’s or W. W. Vaughan’s murder.

The Association and Its Financial Links

An informant described Burt and Hale as very close and reported that they had divided money obtained from Bigheart. The records did not establish exactly what that sum included. Hale later claimed $6,000 from Bigheart’s estate by presenting a creditor’s note investigators regarded as bogus; Burt, meanwhile, had tried to obtain $10,000. The amounts may have been connected to the informant’s account of their shared proceeds, but the documentation left that uncertain.

The financial evidence did not offer an obvious murder motive. The sums, particularly if divided between the two men, were modest beside the Osage headrights at stake in other killings or the $25,000 life-insurance policy associated with Henry Roan’s death. The book presents that difference as a possible reason the Justice Department did not prosecute Hale for Bigheart’s killing or pursue Burt further. Investigators nonetheless regarded Burt with deep suspicion: another Bureau report described him as a murderer.

Burt as Guardian to Bigheart’s Daughter

Bigheart’s wealth passed to his wife and young daughter, rather than to Hale or another white man. His daughter’s guardian, however, controlled the money on her behalf—and probate records named Burt. That position gave Burt access to the family’s assets without making him their heir. He had also served as guardian to other Osage people, including one who died, placing financial authority and the deaths under investigation within the same broader network of relationships.

The record connecting Burt to Bigheart’s final illness was circumstantial but troubling. A local lawman noted that Burt and Hale had both visited Bigheart shortly before he died of apparent poisoning. Burt’s guardianship then gave him control over his daughter’s funds. The convergence of access, proximity, and prior suspicions made Burt a consequential figure in the inquiry, though those circumstances alone did not prove that he poisoned Bigheart or that Hale ordered him to do so.

Vaughan and the Limits of the Case

Court records showed that Burt had taken money Bigheart intended for Vaughan, despite presenting himself as Vaughan’s close friend. Investigators considered whether Vaughan might have confided information about his inquiry or the location of a hideout containing money and evidence. They also considered whether Bigheart, on his deathbed, had implicated Burt as well as Hale in the murder plots. These possibilities remained theories, not established facts.

Newspaper accounts added a concrete connection between Burt and Vaughan’s disappearance. Burt boarded the train with Vaughan in Oklahoma City, traveled with him, and reported that Vaughan had disappeared from his berth. The evidence did not identify who was with Vaughan when he was thrown from the train, and Burt’s presence on the journey did not by itself establish his involvement. It did, however, place a suspected associate of Hale’s beside Vaughan at the moment central to the investigation.

A Relationship within a Wider Network

The reported partnership between Burt and Hale sat within a system broader than either man. Investigators described guardians, business interests, local officials, and law-enforcement figures as compromised or influenced by Hale. Burt’s financial role and his reported closeness to Hale connected the Bigheart estate to that network; the wider pattern also helps explain why suspicion could accumulate without yielding an airtight case.

The book’s account distinguishes the strength of the association from the strength of the murder evidence. Informant reports, a questionable creditor’s note, Burt’s guardianship, his presence before Bigheart’s death, and his shared train journey with Vaughan formed a troubling circumstantial pattern. They did not establish a proven murder conspiracy between Burt and Hale. Burt’s and Hale’s relationship therefore remains significant as a documented investigative suspicion: a channel through which money, influence, and access converged, but not a fully adjudicated account of how either man participated in the deaths.