Cinematic attraction: 'Killers of the Flower Moon' filming brings tourists to Osage County

PAWHUSKA — Roslynn Jackson will never forget the summer her downtown businesses were hurled 100 years into the past for a major motion picture. 

"It's not something that happens normally much in a lifetime, does it? ... It's been fun — cool to see the little town transformed back to the 1920s," Jackson said July 17, sitting under a vintage awning just steps away from the dirt-covered Kihekah Avenue. 

It's not every summer that you get to meet Martin Scorsese and have your shops play a part in one of the Oscar-winning legend's movies. 

Two and a half months after shutting down and undergoing a major transformation, a two-block section of Kihekah Avenue is opening back up as Scorsese finishes filming there on his historic drama "Killers of the Flower Moon." Filming on the big-budget movie is scheduled to continue into September in Osage County, but downtown Pawhuska is starting to get back to normal. 

"I don't think we knew what to hope for, because this was the first time to have a major production like this filming in the city," said Kelly Bland, executive director of Osage County Tourism. "This has been an iconic moment, a historic marker and something that we definitely would love to do again in Pawhuska. It's been a good experience all the way around."

Recreating history 

With a reported budget of at least $200 million and star-studded cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons and Native American actress Lily Gladstone, Scorsese's fact-based Western is believed to be the biggest movie production ever undertaken in Oklahoma. 

Calling it "a time in American history that should not be forgotten," Scorsese is adapting David Grann's 2017 best-seller “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI."

The film chronicles the slayings of Osage Nation citizens in 1920s Oklahoma after the oil boom made them wealthy. The killings became known as the "Reign of Terror" and led to an investigation by the then-fledgling FBI. 

"The book was excellent, I thought. I'm excited to see what they do with this. I hope they do the story justice," said Rhett Warren, a history buff from Yukon, standing near a facade meticulously fashioned to resemble an old Studebaker dealership. 

The creator of the "Rhetty for History" YouTube channel, Warren and his wife Sarah made a weekend trek to Osage County to check out the progress on Scorsese's Apple Studios epic. 

"I'm glad to see it happen. I think it's good for the Osage," he said. "I feel like there's a lot of Oklahoma history that's not known. ... And I think that this story needs to come out."

Getting a close-up

The production took a break from filming on Kihekah Avenue July 17 for Pawhuska's Cavalcade Rodeo, which gave people a chance to get a close-up look at the vintage makeover. Bland and other organizers asked if the parade could come through downtown, as it does every year, and filmmakers arranged the filming schedule to make it possible. They even joined in for the 75th annual event.

"The movie people, they had a stagecoach and a carriage and a covered wagon sort of thing, and they brought up the tail end of the parade," Bland said.

Along with the dirt covering the pavement on the street, carefully aged awnings shaded storefront windows advertising rooms to let, a steam laundry service and a billiards hall. One window was emblazoned with "Fairfax Electric," since downtown Pawhuska is doubling for nearby Fairfax in the film. A few blocks away, a fleet of antique automobiles was parked and ready for action. 

Launa Ford, of Cortland, Nebraska, and Tina Fincher, of San Antonio, met up for a girls' weekend to visit Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman Mercantile and the Food Network star's other Pawhuska businesses. The friends were surprised but delighted to find themselves in the middle of a major movie production. 

"It's very detailed," Ford said, standing on the sidewalk near the soil-covered street. "We didn't know what was going on. We're like, 'Maybe they're repaving?' and then somebody was talking about filming. So, we Googled it. ... You can see some of the pavement peeking through in a few spots."

Attracting visitors 

Since the opening of Drummond's Mercantile four and a half years ago, Pawhuska has enjoyed robust summer tourism, but Bland said filming on "Killers of the Flower Moon" has brought a noticeable uptick in visitors since principal photography started in April. 

"The streets lots of times are lined with tourists ... hoping they'll get a glimpse of someone famous or at least feel that they're a part of making history," Bland said, noting her assistant was thrilled to see DiCaprio come through their parking lot three times on one recent weekday.

Osage County has broken records in lodging tax dollars coming in for two straight months. 

The production is using the Constantine Theater, one of the oldest operating theaters in Oklahoma, as a place for extras to rest and await their cues. Although security guards are limiting access to some areas, Bland said the filmmakers have been cognizant that they've been working in the middle of downtown. 

"You might see 100 extras in costume standing out in front of the Constantine ... right there on Main Street," Bland said. "I was just down there with some tourists that came from Colorado, taking pictures of all of them standing there. They were giving us their smiles. And it's so neat, because it's almost like you step back in time." 

Experiencing extra

Daniel Scholfield, a Potawatomi performer from Mayetta, Kansas, is among the dozens of Native American extras who have worked on "Killers of the Flower Moon." 

"They just had us walking around, kind of filling in background, and then every once in a while we'll get close to the camera," he said. "I was wearing period clothes, but it was like Osage-type period clothes. So, they were just like nice suits." 

The suits were nice, but the shoes left something to be desired.

"Everybody's feet hurt a lot because it was a lot of standing and waiting," Scholfield said. "A lot of people bought insoles for their shoes because the shoes they give us were period shoes, so they were really uncomfortable." 

In his first film foray, Scholfield said he worked as an extra in Osage County for two weeks, including some 15-hour days. 

Scholfield said he is excited to see the movie, especially now that he might be in it. 

"A lot of people don't realize what a lot of us Natives kind of went through back then, how we weren't able to access our own money," Scholfield said. "I think it's really important as they're getting it out there, especially with Scorsese on it. So, it's such a big film right now that it'll get more coverage than, say, a little documentary or something."

Getting back to business 

Jackson, the downtown business owner, also said that she is eager to see the completed film when it comes to theaters, most likely in 2022. 

"People are excited — and sad about the story that is to be told — but it's a story that does need to be told," she said. "The movie people were marvelous to work with. I found them to be very happy to help in any way they could."

Her Gypsy Cowgirl women's clothing boutique was turned into the Gardener Flower and Plant Shop for the movie, while her Pawhuska Marketplace, where one of the production team bought gloves, clothes and jewelry for the film, was temporarily transformed into Bright Ruddy's, a men's tailoring shop. 

After 2½ months of staying closed — for which Apple Studios compensated her — Jackson reopened her businesses on the north end of Kihekah Avenue for the first time this summer July 17. While part of the street stayed closed for filming over the weekend, the production was slated to finish up in downtown Pawhuska this week and start restoring the storefronts and street to business as usual. 

"It was very busy. It was great," Jackson said, adding she's still hoping to meet DiCaprio before filming wraps in September. "It was good to be back. We were doing pop-up stores and stuff in the heat outside and in the rain. ... This was nice to be back to air conditioning and comfort." 

She opted to reopen her shops with the 1920s awnings still up and the windows still painted with the names of the fictional businesses. 

"I think that's cool. ... I'd like to leave them there so people can see what it was (for the film)," Jackson said. "We do good business, and I'm hoping it gets even better with the fact that people would love to still come and see where the movie was made."