The Aftermath: The Hatfield-McCoy Feud

·31 min·3 clips

Historian Bob Hutton explains how the Civil War's guerrilla conflicts in border states created the tinder for the Hatfield-McCoy feud.

The episode begins with a Patreon ad and host Rebecca Delgado-Smith introducing guest expert Dr. Bob Hutton, an Appalachian historian. Hutton explains that the feud cannot be understood without the context of the Civil War's legacy in border states like Kentucky and West Virginia, where guerrilla warfare was common. He describes the area as sparsely populated but with large families, and notes the Hatfields and McCoys had intermarried and lived peaceably for years. The initial trigger was an 1878 court case over stolen free-range hogs, followed by a land dispute involving Perry Cline. Hutton downplays the Romeo-and-Juliet romance between Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy as less significant. Violence escalated in 1880 with the shooting of Bill Staton and peaked in 1882 when Devil Anse Hatfield's men executed three McCoy brothers tied to pawpaw bushes, which Hutton frames as a lynching. After a lull, Perry Cline sought extradition of the Hatfields, leading to an interstate legal conflict. In 1888, Devil Anse attacked the McCoy home, burning it and assaulting women. Bounty hunter Frank Phillips was hired, killing Hatfield relative James Vance. The legal battle went to the Supreme Court as Kentucky and West Virginia fought over jurisdiction. Hutton discusses how New York reporter T.C. Crawford's sensationalized 1890 account cemented the feud narrative, portraying Appalachians as backward. This stereotype benefited industrialists seeking timber and coal resources, justifying the region's economic exploitation. The feud ended with the 1890 execution of mentally challenged Hatfield relative Ellison Mounts. Hutton concludes that the first phase was driven by toxic masculinity and the second by capitalism, emphasizing that victims rarely control their own stories.

As heard by us

A famous feud gets a harder reading as revenge is set against the history of lynch-mob violence in Kentucky.

The Aftermath: The Hatfield-McCoy Feud looks at the famous feud as a story of escalation, asking what changes when the killing of three captured McCoys is set against the broader violence of 1880s Kentucky. Dr.

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Want the Hatfield-McCoy feud reframed by an Appalachian historian who sees more than family grudges?

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