Fairfax is a small town of about 1,500 people in Osage County, in the heart of the Osage Nation. It gained worldwide attention through David Grann's book Killers of the Flower Moon, which documents the systematic murders of Osage people during the 1920s oil boom — a dark chapter in American history that unfolded right here. The empty lot where the Smith family home was dynamited in March 1923 is on Main Street; the Osage Bank of Fairfax, where the chief conspirator William Hale served as cashier and trustee, still stands a block away.
The town is also the hometown of Maria Tallchief, one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the 20th century and the first major Native American prima ballerina; her sister Marjorie, also a ballerina of international standing, was born here too. Four miles down the road, the traditional Osage village of Gray Horse still holds its annual June Inlonshka dances. Fairfax is a quiet place, but its history runs deep. For the wider Osage story, drive 25 miles east to Pawhuska, the seat of the Osage Nation, and the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve beyond it.