Americas Feud Hatfields McCoys 2012

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00:00:00It's the most iconic of all American feuds, one that began at the end of the Civil War

00:00:06and involved two legendary families, the Hatfields and the McCoys.

00:00:13Family against family, friend against friend, blood against blood. It was awful.

00:00:17The legend would evolve from stories of gun battles, knife fights, assassination attempts,

00:00:24point-blank executions, a volatile Romeo and Juliet romance, and the public hanging of a man who may have been

00:00:32innocent.

00:00:33Everybody's heard of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, but the truth is today, nobody knows what actually happened.

00:00:49America's Feud, the Hatfields and McCoys.

00:00:55The clashes between the Hatfield and McCoy clans began in 1865.

00:01:00In the absence of any strong local authorities in West Virginia and Kentucky,

00:01:04minor disputes between the families began to escalate.

00:01:09There were 11 recorded murders of Hatfield and McCoy family members and their supporters,

00:01:15four Hatfields and seven McCoys.

00:01:18The feud is violent. It's awful.

00:01:21It seemed no one could really let go of revenge and payback.

00:01:28Both clans traced their ancestry to the Scots-Irish who immigrated to America in the early 1800s.

00:01:34They moved into the Appalachian region of the Tug River Valley,

00:01:38settling into an area of rough timber terrain with little possibility of farming.

00:01:44The only reason it was settled at all is that the government made these very cheap land grants

00:01:49to allow people to come here and begin to populate it.

00:01:51And it was very, very sparsely populated, but there also wasn't very much farmable land,

00:01:56and everybody at that time was subsistence farmers.

00:01:59Located in the border region between modern-day Kentucky and West Virginia,

00:02:03the Tug River was a wild land, tall timber, shallow-running streams, and little flat land to plant crops.

00:02:11It's very remote and very rugged.

00:02:13It tends to form the people in a certain way.

00:02:16They tended to be very suspicious of outsiders.

00:02:19They tended to be very rugged individualists.

00:02:22They put a lot of stock in being a self-reliant person.

00:02:26They had a great deal of pride.

00:02:28They didn't have a great deal of education,

00:02:29but you saw a great deal of common horse sense in these people.

00:02:33This little enclave in America that was sort of passed by.

00:02:36You know, you had culture on the east and a lot of activity,

00:02:41and then you had this little pocket in the mountains that it had some appeal for these people,

00:02:47but America just passed it by and moved out west.

00:02:51The Hatfield clan mostly settled on the West Virginia side of the river,

00:02:55the McCoys on the Kentucky side.

00:02:58But members of both families did spread throughout the valley

00:03:01and even called one another neighbors.

00:03:04According to family history, there was no record of conflict

00:03:07between the clans and previous generations.

00:03:10Up until the time of the feud, it was very common for them to intermarry.

00:03:14You go very far into a family, and you find out that nearly everyone's related.

00:03:20The Hatfield-McCoy feud was a border war fueled by resentment and hatred from the war.

00:03:27West Virginia was originally part of Virginia until the Civil War, 1863,

00:03:31when it seceded from Virginia and became a Union state.

00:03:35It was the only state born out of the Civil War.

00:03:38While the ancestors of the Hatfield and McCoy clan settled in the Kentucky-West Virginia region

00:03:44and set down their family roots,

00:03:46it was not until the mid-1800s that the key players in the feud emerged.

00:03:52William Anderson Hatfield, 26 years old,

00:03:56better known to his family and friends as Devil Ann's,

00:04:00and Randolph McCoy, 40 years old, known most simply as Randall,

00:04:05or by his nickname, O'Rannell.

00:04:08He was a farm laborer from his youth on up until he was a grown man,

00:04:15and then he's a farmer and a woodsman.

00:04:19And that was typical for the time period.

00:04:23The difference was that he wasn't that successful with it.

00:04:26Randall McCoy was not a good businessman, nor was his father.

00:04:30His father, Dan, was sort of a famous ne'er-do-well,

00:04:33and he left his children destitute.

00:04:37Randolph McCoy, I don't think, had the physical appearance

00:04:43nor the solid upbringing and support.

00:04:48It put him at a disadvantage with Hatfield.

00:04:53Hatfield was well-known in the area,

00:04:54having grown up an expert marksman

00:04:56hunting bears in the steep hills of West Virginia.

00:05:00He married a local girl, Levice,

00:05:02and together they raised 13 children.

00:05:05Although illiterate, Devil Ann's was a natural businessman

00:05:08and established himself as a well-respected leader.

00:05:12We see the name Devil Ann's,

00:05:14and we immediately think evil.

00:05:18He is an evil character,

00:05:20and he looks very imposing.

00:05:23When you see the pictures of him,

00:05:24he looks somewhat threatening with his long beard

00:05:27and his very stern expression.

00:05:30There's some argument of what the name means.

00:05:32Some people say it was because he actually was a little bit devilish,

00:05:36had a good sense of humor,

00:05:37very playful when he was younger.

00:05:39According to his grandchildren,

00:05:41he was a loving man that would tell wonderful stories.

00:05:46He was a very physically active, fit, strong character,

00:05:51and that physical presence was with him all his life.

00:05:53That's why he was a leader of men.

00:05:55During the time of the Civil War

00:05:57and the early time of the feud,

00:06:00he was a man not to be reckoned with.

00:06:03He had a logging operation.

00:06:05He had 20-some roughneck men living out in the woods

00:06:08cutting timber for him all the time, you know,

00:06:10so he had his own little army right there.

00:06:14So he was uneducated,

00:06:17but not stupid.

00:06:20Up until the feud broke out,

00:06:22these men and their families had more in common than not.

00:06:26They were both born and raised in the same area

00:06:28with similar values.

00:06:29Their families knew and liked each other,

00:06:32some even married.

00:06:34And the patriarchs both fought formally and informally

00:06:37on the same side in the Civil War

00:06:39as Confederates.

00:06:44All records indicate that both

00:06:47were Confederate in sympathies.

00:06:51Randolph McCoy did serve

00:06:53in some of what you would call

00:06:56the guerrilla bands that did exist

00:06:59or the home guard units for the Confederacy.

00:07:02Devil Anse Halffield was a captain for the Wildcats.

00:07:06The Wildcats were a Confederate militia group.

00:07:10Logan County Wildcats was a unit

00:07:13made up of mountain people,

00:07:15Logan County people.

00:07:17Of course, Logan County was much bigger then.

00:07:19They had a mission,

00:07:20and that was to defend the honor of the South

00:07:23and the honor of Virginia.

00:07:25Hatfield's loyalty stayed with Virginia,

00:07:27even though he lived in West Virginia,

00:07:29a Union breakaway state.

00:07:31This is the battleground.

00:07:33This isn't a southern area.

00:07:34It's not a northern area.

00:07:35It's split right down the middle.

00:07:37The soldiers actually joined in a ratio

00:07:39of about two to one for the north in Pike County.

00:07:42Most in southern West Virginia

00:07:45were inclined toward the Confederate cause

00:07:47more so than the Union cause.

00:07:50It wasn't that they went away to fight

00:07:52in some distant war

00:07:54and then came back home

00:07:55and joined their neighbors

00:07:56and started raising crops.

00:07:57It's that they were fighting right here.

00:07:59When Devil Anse joined the war,

00:08:01you've got to remember

00:08:02that he was from what was then Virginia,

00:08:03and he was one of the very early people

00:08:07who volunteered for the Civil War.

00:08:09Devil Anse and his brothers and his father

00:08:11all fought in legitimate Confederate armies.

00:08:14He got to the point

00:08:15where he was in northern West Virginia,

00:08:17and he was hearing about all these raids

00:08:19that were happening in his homeland

00:08:20where he was from,

00:08:21and there was really nothing he could do about it.

00:08:23When the Confederate armies

00:08:24moved out of their territory,

00:08:26they wouldn't go

00:08:27because they had to protect their homes.

00:08:29Their wives and their big families were there,

00:08:31and they knew that if they went away

00:08:33at a crucial time in the farm cycle,

00:08:36they weren't going to have any food.

00:08:37It was a horrible time

00:08:39where the home guard were not invaders

00:08:40from up north or from down south.

00:08:42They were your neighbors,

00:08:44and they're coming in here

00:08:45and doing these horrible things to you

00:08:46that's starving your children to death.

00:08:48In June of 1863,

00:08:50the part of Virginia that he was a part of

00:08:52seceded from Virginia

00:08:53and joined the Northern Army.

00:08:55And so here's a guy

00:08:56that was suddenly a traitor.

00:08:58And not only that,

00:08:59that some of the marauders

00:09:00from the other side

00:09:01just across the river,

00:09:03you know, not a mile or two,

00:09:05would come over

00:09:06and potentially burn their houses

00:09:07steal their livestock,

00:09:08so they wouldn't go.

00:09:10They continually deserted

00:09:11whenever the Confederate forces

00:09:13left their area.

00:09:14The whole system's broken down.

00:09:15I mean, county government's broken down.

00:09:17There are no local governments.

00:09:18So basically, it's ruled by no law.

00:09:22There's total lawlessness here.

00:09:24There is no civil authority.

00:09:25There's no court records

00:09:26because there's no court taking place.

00:09:28There's no sheriff.

00:09:29There's no state police.

00:09:30So imagine living in a remote area

00:09:32where every week,

00:09:34it just depends on which group ran through.

00:09:36If it was Devil Ants and his group

00:09:37that came through of Home Guard,

00:09:39that was the law that day.

00:09:40On the West Virginia side,

00:09:42you had the Wildcats.

00:09:43On the Kentucky side of the river,

00:09:45you had the Home Guard.

00:09:47The Home Guard was a union militia group

00:09:51headed by General Bill France.

00:09:55Historians don't agree on the role

00:09:57of the Civil War played in the feud.

00:09:59But there is one credible account

00:10:01that has Devil Ants Hatfield

00:10:02and Randall McCoy working together

00:10:04against the Union.

00:10:05The mission was to assassinate

00:10:07a Union general, Bill France,

00:10:09who was terrorizing the local populace.

00:10:15Randall basically said to Devil Ants,

00:10:18I live in Pike County.

00:10:20I know Bill France's ins and outs.

00:10:23I know where he can be found.

00:10:25I will lead you to him.

00:10:29Using McCoy's information,

00:10:31Hatfield devised a plan

00:10:32to ambush General France.

00:10:34He formed a group of Confederate

00:10:36Home Guard troops

00:10:37and hid them along the road.

00:10:38McCoy said he would travel.

00:10:40As General France approached the road,

00:10:43Hatfield's troops opened fire.

00:10:47Although wounded,

00:10:49Hatfield was said to have extracted

00:10:50some information from the general.

00:10:52This successful mission

00:10:53was the last time

00:10:54Devil Ants Hatfield

00:10:56and Randall McCoy

00:10:57would be allied.

00:10:58There's a lot of debate.

00:11:01There's a lot of disagreement

00:11:02as to whether or not

00:11:03that is true.

00:11:05But that seems to be

00:11:06the place where most discussions

00:11:08of the feud start

00:11:09is a friendship

00:11:11or a relationship

00:11:12between the two of them

00:11:13from the Civil War time.

00:11:14But what actually started the feud

00:11:16has been a subject of debate

00:11:17for decades.

00:11:19Trying to say

00:11:20when the feuds start

00:11:21is kind of like

00:11:22trying to determine

00:11:23when a hurricane starts.

00:11:25You know,

00:11:25is it when the low-pressure system,

00:11:27you know,

00:11:28creates a storm?

00:11:29Is it when the hurricane

00:11:30hits the land?

00:11:31Is it, you know,

00:11:32when it devastates

00:11:33an urban region?

00:11:34Or where is that beginning?

00:11:36Where is the end?

00:11:36For me,

00:11:37it's obvious

00:11:38it started at the end

00:11:39of the Civil War.

00:11:40If you look back

00:11:41in eastern Kentucky history

00:11:42and the history

00:11:43of this region,

00:11:44there were no feuds

00:11:46that we could find anywhere.

00:11:47There's no mention

00:11:47of a feud

00:11:48for the first 50 years.

00:11:50It was only after

00:11:51the Civil War

00:11:52that all the great feuds

00:11:53break out.

00:11:54It's where the seeds

00:11:55of future strife

00:11:56were planted.

00:11:57While the debate

00:11:58continues over

00:11:59the exact role

00:12:00of the Civil War

00:12:01and the feud,

00:12:02it was in 1865

00:12:04when the first death

00:12:05attributed to the conflict

00:12:06between the Hatfields

00:12:08and McCoys came.

00:12:10It involved

00:12:11Asa Harmon McCoy,

00:12:12the younger brother

00:12:13of Randall McCoy

00:12:14and the one member

00:12:16of the family

00:12:16who joined the Union Army.

00:12:21By whose story,

00:12:23we don't know for sure,

00:12:25but he goes home

00:12:27to his wife

00:12:27to find out

00:12:29that his life

00:12:29is in danger

00:12:30because he's gone

00:12:31with the Union calls

00:12:32and these Confederate sympathizers.

00:12:34They decide that

00:12:35Harmon should no longer

00:12:38exist because he had

00:12:40to serve the Union calls.

00:12:43Asa Harmon soon

00:12:45found himself

00:12:45facing the scrutiny

00:12:46of Devil Anse Hatfield

00:12:48and the Logan Wildcats.

00:13:05Devil Anse Hatfield

00:13:06and a guy named

00:13:07Crazy Jim Vance

00:13:08came in

00:13:09and they killed

00:13:10Harmon McCoy.

00:13:11It's complicated.

00:13:13Harmon McCoy

00:13:14was on the Union side

00:13:16and he lived

00:13:17in that region,

00:13:18but he was

00:13:18one of the very few people

00:13:20who was a Union supporter.

00:13:23And so some people

00:13:24have jumped on that

00:13:25to say,

00:13:26okay, he's a McCoy,

00:13:27he was on the Union side,

00:13:28so all the McCoys

00:13:29were on the Union side,

00:13:29which is far from the truth.

00:13:31He was maybe the only one

00:13:33or one of the very few.

00:13:35Now, subsequent historians

00:13:36for some reason

00:13:37have written that off.

00:13:38They say that Harmon McCoy

00:13:40fought for the Union

00:13:42unlike the other people

00:13:43of eastern Kentucky,

00:13:44that he was an anomaly

00:13:45and that everybody

00:13:46wanted him killed

00:13:46because they didn't like him.

00:13:48Patently untrue.

00:13:50The McCoys

00:13:51on the Kentucky side

00:13:52of the river

00:13:52all fought for the Union.

00:13:54There was an area

00:13:54called Peter Creek

00:13:55where Harmon McCoy lived

00:13:57and they all fought

00:13:58for the Union.

00:13:59You know,

00:14:00the fact that the feud

00:14:01didn't heat up again

00:14:02until, you know,

00:14:04until 14 years later

00:14:06and a little bit after that

00:14:08is not evidence

00:14:10that the feud

00:14:11didn't start

00:14:11in the Civil War.

00:14:13This was the beginning,

00:14:15the act that many now believe

00:14:17began the feud.

00:14:18If you think about it,

00:14:19you don't forget

00:14:20somebody murdering

00:14:20your brother.

00:14:22Family against family,

00:14:24man against man,

00:14:25from deadly encounters

00:14:26with only the voice

00:14:27of a single bullet

00:14:28to be heard

00:14:29to large-scale attacks

00:14:31lost in the volley

00:14:32of a mass of gunfire.

00:14:33The feud between

00:14:35the Hatfields

00:14:35and the McCoys

00:14:36only grows louder

00:14:37and deadlier.

00:14:45In 1865,

00:14:46Asa Harmon McCoy,

00:14:48brother of Randall McCoy,

00:14:49was shot to death.

00:14:51Whether the motivation

00:14:52was that he was

00:14:53a Union soldier

00:14:54in a sea of Confederates

00:14:55or something else

00:14:56isn't clear.

00:14:58And it remains

00:14:59in dispute

00:15:00whether this killing

00:15:01was the catalyst

00:15:01for the Hatfield-McCoy feud.

00:15:04It wasn't until

00:15:05the fall of 1878

00:15:07that one of the most

00:15:08famous feud events

00:15:09took place.

00:15:10It involved the ownership

00:15:11of a single hog,

00:15:13which pitted the two clans

00:15:14against each other

00:15:15for the first time

00:15:16in a court of law.

00:15:18Floyd Hatfield

00:15:19was a cousin

00:15:22of Devil Ants,

00:15:23but he was more

00:15:25related to the McCoys.

00:15:27He had more blood

00:15:29relationships to the McCoys

00:15:30than he did

00:15:30into the Hatfields.

00:15:32It was the season

00:15:33for the hogs

00:15:33to be returned

00:15:34to their pens

00:15:34for slaughter.

00:15:36Floyd Hatfield

00:15:37had rounded up his

00:15:38when his neighbor

00:15:39Randall McCoy

00:15:39stopped by.

00:15:41Randall McCoy

00:15:42comes in

00:15:43and he sees

00:15:44these hogs

00:15:45in a pen

00:15:45of a guy

00:15:46named Tom Stafford.

00:15:47And Tom Stafford

00:15:48said,

00:15:48okay, Randall,

00:15:49if you say so,

00:15:50they're your hogs.

00:15:51Well,

00:15:51that same evening,

00:15:52Floyd Hatfield

00:15:53comes across the river

00:15:54and tells Tom,

00:15:56hey,

00:15:56those are my hogs.

00:15:57And Tom says,

00:15:58you know what,

00:15:59Randall was just here.

00:15:59He said they were his hogs.

00:16:00Pigs roamed free

00:16:01in the mountains.

00:16:02They notched their ears,

00:16:05but the notches

00:16:06could be changed easily.

00:16:07Sometimes pigs would fight

00:16:08and the ear would be damaged.

00:16:10So it was difficult

00:16:10to tell whose pig was whose.

00:16:12Floyd said,

00:16:13no,

00:16:13those are my hogs

00:16:14and I'm going to

00:16:15take them right now.

00:16:16And so Randall came back

00:16:17the next day.

00:16:17The hogs were gone.

00:16:18He was furious.

00:16:19He went into a rage

00:16:21and went straight

00:16:23to the justice of the peace,

00:16:25preacher,

00:16:26Ants Hatfield.

00:16:27One of the things

00:16:28that I think

00:16:28is often interesting

00:16:30when we look at the feud

00:16:32is people have an image

00:16:33of vigilante justice

00:16:35with weapons

00:16:36and all of the dramatic things.

00:16:38And in fact,

00:16:39the Hatfields in particular

00:16:41were exceptionally litiginous.

00:16:43They went to court

00:16:45for everything.

00:16:46The courthouse

00:16:47is packed with records,

00:16:49land deeds,

00:16:51court minutes.

00:16:53These folks went to court

00:16:54at the drop of a hat.

00:16:56They didn't pick up their guns.

00:16:58They went to court

00:16:58and over and over

00:17:00I found them going to court

00:17:01to try to settle

00:17:01their differences.

00:17:02They weren't uncivilized,

00:17:04you know,

00:17:05the way that we came

00:17:07to think of them

00:17:08and the way that the,

00:17:10sort of the muckraking journalists

00:17:12portrayed them.

00:17:13They weren't savages.

00:17:14Now, a lot of people

00:17:15think that it's funny

00:17:16that you could have a trial

00:17:17over a hog,

00:17:18but you've got to remember

00:17:19these are subsistence farmers

00:17:21and the only source

00:17:22of protein that they had

00:17:23were the hogs

00:17:24that they raised

00:17:25and the gain

00:17:26that they killed.

00:17:27And so,

00:17:28a hog was actually

00:17:29a very important part

00:17:30of what people needed

00:17:30to be able to survive

00:17:31and that was one

00:17:32of the reasons

00:17:32that it was a big enough issue

00:17:34that there was actually

00:17:35a trial over it.

00:17:37While the majority

00:17:38of the Hatfields

00:17:38were residents

00:17:39of the West Virginia

00:17:40side of the valley,

00:17:41Floyd Hatfield

00:17:42happened to live

00:17:43on the Kentucky side,

00:17:44which is where the case

00:17:46would go to trial.

00:17:48This area was by all

00:17:49accounts McCoy country,

00:17:50so the selection

00:17:52of a jury of his peers

00:17:53was a delicate matter.

00:17:56There was only one

00:17:57Justice of the Peace

00:17:58in the area,

00:17:59and he was a Hatfield.

00:18:02Preacher Ann's Hatfield

00:18:03was known to be

00:18:04a temperate and honest man

00:18:06respected by both clans.

00:18:07There is no evidence

00:18:09that the McCoys complained

00:18:10about a Hatfield

00:18:11officiating the proceedings.

00:18:14The Justice of the Peace

00:18:15knew that this was

00:18:16going to be

00:18:16a very contentious trial.

00:18:19It was going to be

00:18:19trouble for him

00:18:20because he's got

00:18:21Hatfield relatives

00:18:22over in West Virginia.

00:18:23He's got McCoys

00:18:24living all around him.

00:18:25You know,

00:18:26how's he going to

00:18:27come out of this thing?

00:18:28That pig trial

00:18:31was to me

00:18:31one of the most

00:18:32interesting trials

00:18:32I've ever read about

00:18:35because you had

00:18:36a court set up

00:18:37where you had

00:18:37a Hatfield as a judge,

00:18:39then you had

00:18:39six Hatfields

00:18:40on the jury,

00:18:41six McCoys on the jury,

00:18:42and so you can't imagine

00:18:44there being anything

00:18:44but a hung jury

00:18:46in this case.

00:18:47But the testimony

00:18:48of an eyewitness,

00:18:49Bill Staten,

00:18:50threw the case

00:18:51into an unexpected direction.

00:18:53He claimed he saw

00:18:55the actual marking

00:18:55of the hog

00:18:56by none other

00:18:57than Floyd Hatfield.

00:18:59This was enough evidence

00:19:00for one of the jurists,

00:19:02Selkirk McCoy.

00:19:04The juror

00:19:06who was on the Hatfield side

00:19:07and who caused

00:19:08the Hatfields to win,

00:19:09actually,

00:19:10was Selkirk McCoy.

00:19:11And he was

00:19:12much more closely related

00:19:15by marriage

00:19:16and by cousins

00:19:18by blood

00:19:19to the McCoy family.

00:19:20So what's that all about?

00:19:23People tend to think

00:19:24of them as two separate,

00:19:25very separate families

00:19:27when, in fact,

00:19:29there were a lot

00:19:30of intermarriages

00:19:31between the families

00:19:32or between branches

00:19:34of the families.

00:19:35And so when the McCoy,

00:19:37who sides

00:19:38with the Hatfields

00:19:39in this case,

00:19:40sides with what

00:19:42some people perceive

00:19:43as the enemy.

00:19:44In fact,

00:19:45he was related

00:19:46to the Hatfields,

00:19:46he worked for the Hatfields,

00:19:48he lived near the Hatfields.

00:19:49He may have been

00:19:50a McCoy by name,

00:19:52but in fact,

00:19:52he was very closely

00:19:53associated

00:19:54with the Hatfields.

00:19:56And this kicks off

00:19:57some family issues,

00:19:59shall we say.

00:20:00Randall McCoy

00:20:01couldn't believe

00:20:01his own flesh and blood

00:20:02would vote against him.

00:20:04Furious,

00:20:05he refused

00:20:06to accept the verdict.

00:20:07While the dispute

00:20:08at first glance

00:20:09was simply over

00:20:10the ownership

00:20:10of a hog,

00:20:12Randall McCoy

00:20:13hadn't forgotten

00:20:13that his brother

00:20:14had died

00:20:15at the hands

00:20:15of the Hatfields.

00:20:16The 13-year-old memory

00:20:18was still painful,

00:20:20and now fuel

00:20:20was being thrown

00:20:21on that fire.

00:20:31Randall McCoy

00:20:32couldn't get over

00:20:32this insult to him.

00:20:34It was a matter

00:20:35of honor

00:20:37losing this trial.

00:20:38Not only that,

00:20:38he had to pay

00:20:39the court costs.

00:20:40So he was very unhappy

00:20:42about it.

00:20:42He griped about it

00:20:44always when people

00:20:46would avoid him

00:20:47because they were

00:20:48tired of hearing

00:20:48about this trial

00:20:50and how angry he was

00:20:51and how he'd gotten

00:20:52abused and how

00:20:53he was going

00:20:54to get his revenge.

00:20:56After the hog trial,

00:20:57Selkirk McCoy

00:20:58and Bill Staten

00:20:59were shunned

00:21:00as untrustworthy.

00:21:05Staten was careful

00:21:06to maintain

00:21:06his distance

00:21:07from the McCoy

00:21:08side of the river,

00:21:09choosing instead

00:21:10to remain

00:21:11on the West Virginia

00:21:11side close

00:21:12to the Hatfield clan.

00:21:14Bill Staten

00:21:15knows that he,

00:21:17you know,

00:21:18has enemies

00:21:18as a result of this.

00:21:20And a meeting

00:21:20was inevitable.

00:21:22Two years later

00:21:23in 1880,

00:21:24Staten crossed paths

00:21:25with two McCoys,

00:21:27Paris and Sam.

00:21:28They immediately

00:21:29seeing each other

00:21:30because bad words

00:21:31had been exchanged

00:21:32in the past

00:21:33and rocks had been

00:21:34thrown,

00:21:34they'd even shot

00:21:35at each other

00:21:35across the river

00:21:36a bit.

00:21:38They immediately

00:21:40knew that

00:21:40they were going

00:21:41to have a battle.

00:21:42And so Bill Staten

00:21:44pulled up his gun

00:21:45and shot at

00:21:47Paris and Sam McCoy.

00:21:59Staten fired at

00:22:00Paris McCoy,

00:22:01wounding him

00:22:01in the shoulder.

00:22:08Sam McCoy

00:22:09returned a single

00:22:09shot to Bill

00:22:10Staten's chest,

00:22:11killing him.

00:22:11In the coming years

00:22:13there would be

00:22:14retribution,

00:22:15small skirmishes

00:22:16and large,

00:22:17each side

00:22:18looking for justice,

00:22:19whether it be

00:22:20in a courtroom

00:22:21or in the woods.

00:22:30The bad blood

00:22:31between Hatfields

00:22:32and McCoys

00:22:33had been going

00:22:33on for 13 years.

00:22:35The latest incident

00:22:36was a showdown

00:22:37between Bill Staten,

00:22:39who testified

00:22:40in favor of the Hatfields

00:22:41in the stolen hog case

00:22:42and two McCoy brothers,

00:22:44Paris and Sam.

00:22:45Staten ended up dead.

00:22:48There's also indications

00:22:50that evidence

00:22:51left at the scene,

00:22:52Bill Staten

00:22:53was in the process

00:22:55of killing

00:22:57at least one

00:22:57if not both

00:22:58of the McCoy boys.

00:23:01Although the Hatfields

00:23:02could have easily

00:23:03fanned the flames

00:23:03of the ever-growing feud,

00:23:05they did not pick up

00:23:06their guns

00:23:07and set out

00:23:07after the McCoy boys

00:23:09to seek their own

00:23:09form of mountain justice.

00:23:11Instead,

00:23:12they followed

00:23:13the rule of law

00:23:14and got warrants

00:23:15for the arrest

00:23:15of Sam and Paris

00:23:17McCoy.

00:23:18It took a long

00:23:19period of time.

00:23:20I mean,

00:23:20Paris McCoy

00:23:21was actually found

00:23:22rather soon afterwards,

00:23:24but Sam McCoy

00:23:25was on the run

00:23:27or on the lam

00:23:28for an extended period

00:23:30of time

00:23:30before he was brought in.

00:23:31It had to be hunted down.

00:23:34Elias Hatfield,

00:23:35Wall's brother,

00:23:36hunted down

00:23:36squirrel hunting Sam

00:23:37and brought him in.

00:23:38They captured him,

00:23:41took him to trial.

00:23:42Remember,

00:23:43this is West Virginia,

00:23:44Devil Anse's territory,

00:23:45and had a trial

00:23:47in which the judge

00:23:48was Wall Hatfield,

00:23:50Anse's brother.

00:23:51Wall Hatfield

00:23:53was a pretty clever,

00:23:55independent-minded guy,

00:23:56and he listened

00:23:57to all the evidence,

00:23:58and what he heard

00:24:00was basically,

00:24:01because there were

00:24:01three guys there,

00:24:02one of them was dead,

00:24:03he heard Paris

00:24:04and squirrel hunting

00:24:04Sam McCoy's testimony,

00:24:06and he did what he thought

00:24:09was the right thing

00:24:10by the law.

00:24:10He had no choice

00:24:11but to declare them

00:24:13innocent,

00:24:13because there was

00:24:15no evidence against them,

00:24:16really,

00:24:16other than dead body,

00:24:17but they said

00:24:18it was in self-defense.

00:24:19So, there again,

00:24:20I think it shows

00:24:21that these aren't,

00:24:23these aren't savages.

00:24:24They did have

00:24:25some social structure,

00:24:25they had morals,

00:24:27and, you know,

00:24:28they were just

00:24:29in a cauldron,

00:24:30you know,

00:24:31because it was

00:24:31such an isolated,

00:24:32small place.

00:24:33They faced each other

00:24:34every day,

00:24:34and M&Ts

00:24:36had no place to go

00:24:37but into violent interaction.

00:24:40There are many folk stories

00:24:41surrounding the

00:24:42Hatfield and McCoy feud,

00:24:43some true,

00:24:45some half true,

00:24:46and some not true at all.

00:24:48But there is one

00:24:49emotional story

00:24:50that most agree on.

00:24:53In 1880,

00:24:54there was a romance

00:24:55that occurred,

00:24:57sort of a

00:24:58Romeo and Juliet

00:24:59type romance

00:25:00on election day.

00:25:02The people

00:25:03in the Tug River Valley,

00:25:04which straddle

00:25:05the Kentucky-West Virginia

00:25:06border,

00:25:07look forward

00:25:08every year

00:25:08to the annual

00:25:09Election Day

00:25:10social gathering,

00:25:11an event more festive

00:25:13than political.

00:25:14In 1880,

00:25:15an election took place

00:25:16at Blackberry Creek

00:25:17in Pike County, Kentucky.

00:25:19What happens here

00:25:20that's a little bit unusual

00:25:21is that

00:25:22the Hatfields

00:25:23of West Virginia

00:25:24really have no business

00:25:25coming to an election

00:25:26in Kentucky.

00:25:28But their relatives

00:25:29are over there,

00:25:29and they know

00:25:30their relatives

00:25:30are going to be there.

00:25:31And so this day,

00:25:32actually,

00:25:33Devil Anse didn't come over,

00:25:34but his son,

00:25:35Johnsy,

00:25:36came over.

00:25:36Johnsy was

00:25:3718 years old,

00:25:38blonde-haired,

00:25:40blue-eyed,

00:25:40strapping.

00:25:41He was a moonshiner.

00:25:44The young woman

00:25:44he took a shine to

00:25:45that election day

00:25:46was Rosanna McCoy,

00:25:48the 21-year-old daughter

00:25:50of his father's

00:25:50archenemy, Randall.

00:25:53Johnsy and Rosanna

00:25:54immediately had eyes

00:25:55for each other.

00:25:56Johnsy was known

00:25:57as a ladies' man.

00:25:58He had relationships

00:26:00with all the young women,

00:26:01and he loved

00:26:01to go out dancing

00:26:03and get drunk.

00:26:04Johnsy was a really

00:26:05interesting character.

00:26:05When he met Rosanna,

00:26:06he was 18 years old.

00:26:07He had sent off

00:26:09to Sears and Roebuck

00:26:10for a brand-new suit,

00:26:12and it was a yellow suit

00:26:14with a cardboard-tabbed collar.

00:26:16So it was the height,

00:26:17the fashion of the day,

00:26:18and you think about it,

00:26:18a yellow suit

00:26:19is fairly loud.

00:26:20Rosanna was a little bit

00:26:21older than he,

00:26:22and she was getting up there

00:26:25in years for being

00:26:26a single woman.

00:26:27And so she was probably

00:26:30looking for a potential

00:26:32husband as well.

00:26:33Well, they saw each other.

00:26:34She was very attractive.

00:26:35He was a very handsome guy,

00:26:37and it was like,

00:26:38you know, magnets, boom.

00:26:39Was it love?

00:26:40I don't think it was

00:26:41for Johnsy.

00:26:44Possibly it was

00:26:45for Rosanna.

00:26:45She saw someone

00:26:46who was from a family

00:26:49that was more well-to-do

00:26:50than her family.

00:26:51She saw someone

00:26:52who perhaps offered

00:26:54her a way out

00:26:55of the area.

00:26:58And was she interested

00:26:59in him for that?

00:27:00I think so.

00:27:01They're seen talking.

00:27:02They're told to stop talking

00:27:04by Randall,

00:27:06Rosanna's father,

00:27:07but then he goes off

00:27:07and gets in a political

00:27:08discussion, you know,

00:27:09at another part

00:27:10of this election ground

00:27:11thinking that matter's soft.

00:27:13Johnsy's uncle,

00:27:14Jim Vance,

00:27:15comes up and says,

00:27:15hey, you shouldn't be

00:27:16talking to a McCoy girl,

00:27:18you know,

00:27:18but that attraction

00:27:20is stronger than

00:27:21either of these warnings.

00:27:23Pretty soon,

00:27:24they slip off

00:27:24into the woods

00:27:26to do some romance,

00:27:27and they're lost

00:27:28track of.

00:27:30Randall McCoy

00:27:30eventually thinks

00:27:31that Rosanna's gone home

00:27:33with his wife

00:27:35and family

00:27:35back to the cabin

00:27:36and that hasn't happened.

00:27:39Having lost track

00:27:40of time,

00:27:40Rosanna's afraid

00:27:41of going home,

00:27:43knowing that she would

00:27:43have to face her father

00:27:44and explain her disappearance.

00:27:46So Johnsy takes her

00:27:48to the Hatfield cabin

00:27:49in West Virginia.

00:27:50The two emerge

00:27:51from the woods

00:27:52and cross the river,

00:27:53not really thinking

00:27:54about what would be

00:27:55confronting them

00:27:56on the other side.

00:27:58And Johnsy says,

00:27:59you know,

00:28:00I want to marry you.

00:28:01I'm going to take you home

00:28:02to my place,

00:28:03and he does.

00:28:04So she rides with him

00:28:06back across the river,

00:28:07back to their cabin.

00:28:09Devil Anse informs Johnsy

00:28:10that under no circumstances

00:28:11will he be marrying

00:28:12a daughter of Randall McCoy.

00:28:14Well, there's no evidence

00:28:16for that.

00:28:17That's pure legend.

00:28:19And when you consider

00:28:20that later after Rosanna

00:28:21and Johnsy

00:28:22were no longer together,

00:28:23Johnsy married Nancy McCoy

00:28:26and Devil Anse

00:28:28had no objections to that,

00:28:29it seems probably

00:28:31that he didn't care

00:28:32whether they got married

00:28:33or not.

00:28:34Now they're in a very

00:28:35difficult position

00:28:36because Rosanna

00:28:37hasn't gone home

00:28:38and Devil Anse

00:28:39is not going to let them

00:28:40get married,

00:28:41but she ends up

00:28:42staying there.

00:28:43She knows if she goes home,

00:28:44she's going to be

00:28:46probably abused,

00:28:47if not physically,

00:28:48certainly verbally.

00:28:50While living in

00:28:51Devil Anse's home,

00:28:52Rosanna became pregnant

00:28:53with Johnsy's child.

00:28:56But she was also

00:28:57finding out that

00:28:58Johnsy was not going

00:28:59to be a very good

00:29:01partner or husband

00:29:04because he was going

00:29:06out with other women

00:29:06when she was pregnant.

00:29:09So Johnsy abandoned her

00:29:13What we do know

00:29:14about that is

00:29:15that she would have

00:29:16liked to go home

00:29:17to her family

00:29:20and take refuge

00:29:21with them

00:29:22after she realized

00:29:23it was not going

00:29:23to work with Johnsy

00:29:24and Randall McCoy

00:29:26would not have her.

00:29:27He never allowed her

00:29:29back under his roof

00:29:31ever.

00:29:32And so he obviously

00:29:34had very hard feelings.

00:29:35As a matter of fact,

00:29:35she had to go

00:29:36to her aunt's house

00:29:37to have her baby.

00:29:38So there was obviously

00:29:39a schism there

00:29:40between the family

00:29:41and between her

00:29:42and her father

00:29:42that was never really

00:29:44mended until very,

00:29:45very later on

00:29:46in the feud.

00:29:47A young girl

00:29:48becoming pregnant

00:29:49by someone she was

00:29:50not married to

00:29:54was problematic.

00:29:56Was it an issue?

00:29:57Was it someone that

00:29:58her father would

00:29:59allow her to marry?

00:30:01Probably not.

00:30:02And one of the reasons

00:30:02he didn't want her

00:30:03to marry him,

00:30:04I think it has less

00:30:06to do with him

00:30:06being a Hatfield

00:30:07and more to do

00:30:08with him being

00:30:09the man that got

00:30:10his little girl pregnant

00:30:11and he wasn't real

00:30:12happy with the situation.

00:30:13If you look at

00:30:14other families

00:30:15in Appalachia,

00:30:16it was not uncommon

00:30:18for young people

00:30:19to get together

00:30:19and not get married

00:30:22and then break up.

00:30:24And invariably,

00:30:25those young women

00:30:26went back

00:30:26to their families.

00:30:28So this was not uncommon,

00:30:30but yet,

00:30:31Randall McCoy

00:30:32was so upset

00:30:33with, you know,

00:30:35he was so angry

00:30:36at the Hatfields

00:30:36that he would not

00:30:37let her come home.

00:30:38And even his wife

00:30:40and other members

00:30:41of family

00:30:41tried to persuade him

00:30:43that that was too harsh,

00:30:45that he wouldn't listen.

00:30:47Chauncey's and Rosanna's

00:30:48relationship

00:30:49was tumultuous for them.

00:30:51It was tumultuous

00:30:52for them

00:30:52and for their families.

00:30:54Chauncey decides

00:30:56that he misses Rosanna

00:30:58and he comes back

00:31:00across the river

00:31:00and they have

00:31:02secret liaisons.

00:31:04It's said that Rosanna

00:31:05has gone off

00:31:06to live with

00:31:07her aunt Betty McCoy

00:31:10in a place called

00:31:11Stringtown.

00:31:13And so,

00:31:13Chauncey would come there

00:31:15and meet up with her

00:31:16or they would meet

00:31:16in the woods.

00:31:19But Rosanna's brothers

00:31:20had had enough

00:31:21of Chauncey's

00:31:22off-again, on-again

00:31:23attitude toward their sister.

00:31:25They knew there was

00:31:26an outstanding moonshine

00:31:27charge against them.

00:31:28So they decided

00:31:29to capture

00:31:30Chauncey themselves

00:31:31during one of his

00:31:31liaisons with Rosanna.

00:31:35Well, the McCoy boys,

00:31:38having gotten wind of this,

00:31:39goes to a justice

00:31:40of the peace

00:31:41and gets a warrant

00:31:42for the arrest

00:31:43of Chauncey Hatfield.

00:31:44There are outstanding

00:31:46warrants for him.

00:31:47You know,

00:31:48there are many counts

00:31:48of carrying a concealed weapon,

00:31:52selling whiskey illegally.

00:31:54And so these are

00:31:55misdemeanor charges

00:31:56and nobody,

00:31:57no sheriff

00:31:58in his right mind

00:31:58is going over

00:31:59to West Virginia

00:32:00to try to serve

00:32:01that warrant.

00:32:03It's never been

00:32:04totally clear

00:32:05what they wanted.

00:32:07But she knew

00:32:08that he was going

00:32:09to pay a huge price.

00:32:11And I think she was

00:32:12more in love with him

00:32:15than he was with her.

00:32:20So she goes

00:32:22and finds a horse

00:32:23and rides over

00:32:24and informs Devil Lance.

00:32:26She was riding

00:32:28in the night.

00:32:28She was pregnant.

00:32:30It was the mountains

00:32:32of eastern Kentucky

00:32:32which are very rough.

00:32:35This was a courageous

00:32:36thing to do,

00:32:37a thing that a woman

00:32:39in love would do,

00:32:39but to her family

00:32:40it was the ultimate betrayal.

00:32:42Her motive

00:32:44has never been

00:32:45completely clear.

00:32:47I would argue

00:32:48that her motive

00:32:50was that she still

00:32:51wanted to marry John Z.

00:32:54And obviously

00:32:56if her brothers

00:32:57got him arrested,

00:33:00got him thrown

00:33:01in the jails

00:33:01or even beat him up,

00:33:03the possibility

00:33:05of her marrying him

00:33:07would be pretty slim.

00:33:10I don't think

00:33:11he'd want to marry

00:33:11into that family.

00:33:14On Rosanna's information,

00:33:16Devil Lance

00:33:16led a gang of Hatfields

00:33:17to get John Z. back.

00:33:21Taking back trails

00:33:22to the mountains

00:33:22they catch up with

00:33:23and surround the McCoys

00:33:25who now find themselves

00:33:26at a disadvantage.

00:33:29And it's a total shock

00:33:30to the McCoys.

00:33:31They're outnumbered

00:33:32and Devil Lance

00:33:34lets them have it.

00:33:38He's so angry

00:33:39that he tells them

00:33:41to get down

00:33:41on their knees

00:33:42and pray

00:33:42like he's going

00:33:43to kill them.

00:33:44One of the McCoys,

00:33:45the oldest McCoy son,

00:33:46Jim McCoy,

00:33:48is said to have

00:33:50basically stood up

00:33:51to Devil Lance

00:33:51and said,

00:33:52there's no way

00:33:53I'm getting down

00:33:53on my knees

00:33:54before you.

00:33:55The only person

00:33:55I get down

00:33:56on my knees

00:33:56before is God.

00:33:59And in Devil Lance,

00:34:00he admired the pluck

00:34:02in Jim for that.

00:34:03He backed off.

00:34:04It cooled him down.

00:34:05And without a shot

00:34:06being fired,

00:34:07Johnsy Hatfield

00:34:08was taken back home

00:34:09by his father.

00:34:10This was an event

00:34:12that isn't talked

00:34:13about as much,

00:34:14but I think

00:34:15really raised

00:34:16the volume of vitriol

00:34:18even more so

00:34:19than the misalliance

00:34:21between Roseanne

00:34:22and Johnsy.

00:34:24It was this confrontation

00:34:26between the men

00:34:27on that hilltop

00:34:29that created now

00:34:31a really incendiary

00:34:33atmosphere.

00:34:36Tragically and shortly

00:34:37after birth,

00:34:39Rosanna and Johnsy's

00:34:40baby dies.

00:34:41Not long after,

00:34:42Rosanna receives word

00:34:43that Johnsy is to be

00:34:45remarried to her first

00:34:46cousin, Nancy McCoy.

00:34:49Rosanna takes a job

00:34:50as a governess

00:34:51for Perry Kline,

00:34:52who would soon come

00:34:53to be a key player

00:34:54in the feud.

00:34:54After the romance

00:34:57fails,

00:34:58Johnsy actually

00:34:59has fallen in love

00:35:01with Rosanna's

00:35:03cousin, Nancy.

00:35:04And so they get married,

00:35:06a bitter thing

00:35:07for the Randall McCoy family.

00:35:12Rosanna's had a daughter,

00:35:14little Sally,

00:35:15who will only live

00:35:16for eight months

00:35:17and is buried

00:35:19now right at Stringtown

00:35:22outside of Betty

00:35:23McCoy's house.

00:35:25She betrayed the family,

00:35:27not so much

00:35:28by getting pregnant,

00:35:29but by warning him

00:35:30when he was going

00:35:31to be taught a lesson

00:35:32by her brothers.

00:35:33Rosanna McCoy

00:35:35would ultimately

00:35:35become one of the

00:35:36true tragic figures

00:35:38of the Hatfield

00:35:39and McCoy feud.

00:35:40Rosanna actually

00:35:41told her relative

00:35:43that the worst tragedy

00:35:44was not the relationship

00:35:46with Johnsy

00:35:47that broke down,

00:35:48but her relationship

00:35:49with her father,

00:35:50who refused

00:35:51to have her come home

00:35:52and refused

00:35:53to support her

00:35:54when she needed support.

00:35:56The feud was now

00:35:57in its 16th year

00:35:58and showed no signs

00:35:59of abating.

00:36:00The next confrontation

00:36:02was a bloody knife fight,

00:36:04eyewitnessed by the entire town

00:36:05of Pikeville, Kentucky.

00:36:06This time,

00:36:08there would be no question

00:36:09as to who would be blamed.

00:36:13August 7, 1882.

00:36:16Election Day festivities.

00:36:18A year after Johnsy Hatfield

00:36:20and Rosanna McCoy

00:36:21had sparked their ill-fated romance

00:36:23at the annual event,

00:36:24the Tug River locals

00:36:26flocked to the polling place

00:36:27in Kentucky again.

00:36:28In attendance

00:36:29at the carnival-like gathering

00:36:31were several young members

00:36:32of the McCoy clan

00:36:33and Ellison Hatfield,

00:36:35brother of clan leader,

00:36:36Devil Anse Hatfield.

00:36:38Not very many Hatfields

00:36:39were there

00:36:41except for Devil Anse's

00:36:42brother, Ellison.

00:36:45Devil Anse and Ellison

00:36:46were close.

00:36:47Ellison was his younger brother.

00:36:48He was a tall, handsome guy.

00:36:50He fought at Gettysburg.

00:36:52He was known as a hero.

00:36:54And Devil Anse and Ellison

00:36:56were very close.

00:36:56And Ellison actually let

00:36:57Devil Anse in his early years

00:36:59live on some of his land.

00:37:00Ellison Hatfield

00:37:01doesn't have much of a history.

00:37:02We don't know a great deal

00:37:04about him.

00:37:05But he appears to have

00:37:06gotten somehow or another

00:37:08on the wrong side

00:37:08of the McCoy boys.

00:37:09The men start drinking

00:37:11and as the afternoon wears on,

00:37:13ill words are exchanged

00:37:14between Tolbert McCoy,

00:37:17Randall's oldest son,

00:37:18and a guy named Bad Lias.

00:37:21He's a brother of

00:37:22preacher Anse Hatfield.

00:37:24And they have words

00:37:26over a debt

00:37:28that Bad Lias owes

00:37:31about $1.75

00:37:32to Tolbert McCoy

00:37:34for a fiddle.

00:37:35So Ellison gets up

00:37:36and comes over

00:37:37and he tries to

00:37:39introduce some humor

00:37:40at first

00:37:41and get Tolbert

00:37:43to stop

00:37:43and back down

00:37:44and, well,

00:37:45that just infuriates

00:37:46Tolbert McCoy.

00:37:47And they exchange words,

00:37:50some of which

00:37:51I can't repeat right here.

00:37:53According to many

00:37:54eyewitness accounts,

00:37:55what started as

00:37:56an exchange of words

00:37:57quickly escalated

00:37:58into a violent confrontation.

00:38:01They didn't fight

00:38:02the way we typically

00:38:03think a fair fight

00:38:04might be.

00:38:05A fair fight to them

00:38:06would be pulling knives,

00:38:07would be wrestling,

00:38:08grappling,

00:38:09tripping, kicking,

00:38:10even biting.

00:38:11You know,

00:38:11that was a fight.

00:38:12There's agreement

00:38:13that Tolbert McCoy

00:38:14attacked the elder

00:38:15Ellison Hatfield

00:38:16with a knife.

00:38:18It's clear that

00:38:19Tolbert McCoy

00:38:20is getting the worst

00:38:22of the fight.

00:38:22His brothers

00:38:23start getting involved.

00:38:25Farmer and Bill

00:38:27both have knives.

00:38:28Tolbert and his two brothers

00:38:29were so furious,

00:38:30they pulled out knives

00:38:32and they were literally

00:38:33cutting into pieces,

00:38:34stabbing.

00:38:34Ellison gets on top

00:38:35of Tolbert.

00:38:36He knows he needs

00:38:37to end this fight,

00:38:38so he sees a big rock

00:38:39and he picks it up

00:38:41and he's getting ready

00:38:41to hit Tolbert

00:38:42on the head with it

00:38:44and it was going

00:38:45to kill Tolbert.

00:38:47At that point,

00:38:48Bill has a gun

00:38:49and he shoots

00:38:51Ellison.

00:38:56When it was all

00:38:57said and done,

00:38:58Ellison Hatfield

00:38:58had been stabbed

00:38:59more than 27 times,

00:39:01then shot

00:39:02and left for dead.

00:39:11It doesn't kill

00:39:12Ellison.

00:39:12He's a remarkable man.

00:39:14He staggers off

00:39:15in shock

00:39:16and he just sits down

00:39:17and he's bleeding

00:39:19from all these wounds.

00:39:20It was very bloody,

00:39:25very painful

00:39:26and he lived for a while

00:39:29after they stabbed him.

00:39:32The three McCoy brothers,

00:39:33Tolbert, Farmer, and Bill,

00:39:35knew they'd be arrested.

00:39:37Bill was only 14,

00:39:38so at the last moment,

00:39:40out of a sense

00:39:40of loyalty and protection,

00:39:42Randolph Bud McCoy Jr.,

00:39:44his brother,

00:39:46took his place.

00:39:46And so people think

00:39:47that Bud is Bill.

00:39:50He doesn't deny it

00:39:51because he's protecting

00:39:52his younger brother.

00:39:54Mortally wounded,

00:39:55Ellison is loaded

00:39:56on a makeshift stretcher

00:39:57by his brother,

00:39:58Good Elias,

00:39:59and transported

00:40:00across the river

00:40:01to the West Virginia side

00:40:02where Devil Lanz awaits.

00:40:05Basically, after that,

00:40:06there is a death watch.

00:40:08In the meantime,

00:40:09the three McCoy brothers

00:40:11have been arrested

00:40:12and the McCoys

00:40:13and the Hatfields

00:40:14on that side

00:40:15realize there's going

00:40:16to be a big problem here.

00:40:17The best thing

00:40:18that can happen

00:40:18to these McCoys

00:40:19is to get them

00:40:20to Pikeville in jail

00:40:21where they're actually safe.

00:40:22It was a quick decision

00:40:24at that point

00:40:25that, as far as

00:40:27Devil Lanz was concerned,

00:40:29justice could not be served

00:40:30in Pike County, Kentucky,

00:40:33and that instead,

00:40:36the Hatfields

00:40:37would have to carry out justice.

00:40:39Although already in custody

00:40:41and on the way to jail,

00:40:42the three McCoys

00:40:43were captured

00:40:44by a posse of Hatfields.

00:40:47Faced with a violent confrontation,

00:40:49the Kentucky law enforcement officials

00:40:51hand over Tolbert, Farmer,

00:40:52and Randolph,

00:40:53Bud McCoy Jr.,

00:40:54to Devil Lanz Hatfield.

00:40:57Devil Lanz clearly has the might.

00:41:00He's got more guns.

00:41:01He's just a tougher guy,

00:41:03you know,

00:41:03and he's an action-first kind of guy.

00:41:06So they slowly co-opt this group

00:41:10and they slowly take over

00:41:11the prisoners.

00:41:13They take them across the river

00:41:14and they take them

00:41:15to an old abandoned schoolhouse

00:41:17and they lodge them there

00:41:19with guards.

00:41:20And so in this one house,

00:41:23you have Elson Hatfield

00:41:24on his deathbed.

00:41:25In this other house,

00:41:26you've got the three McCoy brothers.

00:41:28They realize they're

00:41:29in a pretty bad situation.

00:41:30Now, Randolph has gone on.

00:41:31He has gone on to Pikeville

00:41:33to try to get legal help.

00:41:36Meanwhile, the mother

00:41:37of the three jailed McCoys,

00:41:39Sarah, also known as Sally,

00:41:41couldn't stand by and do nothing.

00:41:43She sets out

00:41:44into Hatfield territory

00:41:45in an attempt

00:41:46to beg Devil Lanz for mercy.

00:41:47The boy's mother

00:41:48goes to the schoolhouse

00:41:50with Tolbert's married

00:41:52and has a young child.

00:41:54And his wife, Mary,

00:41:55and the child come

00:41:56and they're pleading there

00:41:57while Hatfield is guarding

00:41:58the schoolhouse.

00:41:59He's sitting on the porch

00:42:00with Winchester across his lap.

00:42:02And, I mean,

00:42:04the boy's mother's distraught.

00:42:05Mary's crying.

00:42:07She says to Devil Lanz,

00:42:08please, let them be tried

00:42:09in Kentucky.

00:42:11We'll make sure that,

00:42:12you know,

00:42:13they're put in jail

00:42:14and that this all

00:42:14happens the right way.

00:42:16Sarah's attempt

00:42:16to save her boys

00:42:17has a breakthrough.

00:42:19Devil Lanz tells her,

00:42:21look, if Ellison lives,

00:42:23I'll let that happen.

00:42:24You can take them back

00:42:25and they can be tried.

00:42:26But if Ellison dies,

00:42:27we'll try them right here.

00:42:29Meaning Devil Lanz

00:42:30was going to take the law

00:42:31into his own hands

00:42:32if his brother died.

00:42:34Not unsympathetic

00:42:35to a mother,

00:42:37he allows Sarah

00:42:38to spend a precious few hours

00:42:39with her sons.

00:42:41Hours that could be

00:42:42their last.

00:42:45The Hatfields held vigil

00:42:47over Ellison's

00:42:48stabbed and shot up body.

00:42:50And the three young

00:42:51McCoy brothers

00:42:52held by Devil Lanz

00:42:53awaited their fate.

00:42:55Finally,

00:42:55on the third day,

00:42:57Ellison Hatfield died.

00:42:59The Hatfields

00:43:00were going to take justice

00:43:01into their own hands.

00:43:09You might wonder

00:43:10why they didn't go

00:43:11through the legal system

00:43:12since they were known

00:43:15for using the legal system

00:43:17for all kinds

00:43:18of other things.

00:43:18I think a lot of it

00:43:20had to do with

00:43:20the emotion of the murder.

00:43:22In this case,

00:43:24the stakes were too high.

00:43:25They had their reasons.

00:43:27It wasn't the right thing

00:43:28to do,

00:43:28but there was a lot

00:43:30behind that decision-making process.

00:43:32At that time,

00:43:34he kept his promise

00:43:35to Sarah McCoy

00:43:37and took them

00:43:39to the banks of the tug,

00:43:40crossed the tug.

00:43:42It's this very eerie scene

00:43:43because you have McCoys

00:43:46at various houses.

00:43:48They can hear

00:43:48the party passing,

00:43:50and they don't know

00:43:51what's going on there.

00:43:52They haven't been

00:43:52privy to this.

00:43:53They've all been driven off.

00:43:55And Randall's not there.

00:43:56Jim McCoy,

00:43:57the boy's brother,

00:43:58is listening to them pass.

00:44:00He knows it's them

00:44:01and he can't do anything

00:44:02because his mother

00:44:02has made him swear

00:44:04that he won't.

00:44:04She said,

00:44:05look,

00:44:06I don't want to lose you, too.

00:44:08And I don't know

00:44:09what they're going to do exactly,

00:44:10but I don't want you

00:44:11going in there.

00:44:12And so he's sort of bound

00:44:13by that promise

00:44:14to his mother.

00:44:15And at that point,

00:44:17tied the boys

00:44:18to pawpaw bushes.

00:44:29They form up

00:44:30in execution style.

00:44:32The boys,

00:44:33some are pleading.

00:44:35They're taunting the boys.

00:44:37There's back and forth.

00:44:39Wall Hatfield,

00:44:39who's been a part of this,

00:44:40has had apparently

00:44:42a dispute with Devil Lance.

00:44:44He doesn't want this to happen.

00:44:45He doesn't want them

00:44:46to be executed.

00:44:47He leaves the party,

00:44:48goes back over

00:44:49to West Virginia.

00:45:23It was truly done

00:45:26as an execution,

00:45:27an unlawful execution,

00:45:29but done as an execution.

00:45:31And I think

00:45:32there was also a statement.

00:45:33They kill Tolbert

00:45:35and Farmer right away,

00:45:36the two older boys.

00:45:37Tolbert's 23,

00:45:38Farmer's 18.

00:45:40But Bud,

00:45:40who's taken Bill's place,

00:45:42is 15, almost 16,

00:45:44and they don't want

00:45:45to kill the boy.

00:45:46You know,

00:45:47nobody wants to shoot the boy,

00:45:48so they kill the two

00:45:49older young men

00:45:50and leave Bud alive.

00:45:52Well,

00:45:53they're starting to leave,

00:45:55and Devil Lance

00:45:56tells one of the men,

00:45:59dead men tell no tales,

00:46:01and we can't leave him alive.

00:46:11He puts his Winchester

00:46:13to the boy's head

00:46:14and blows his skull off.

00:46:20A few years after,

00:46:21in 1884,

00:46:23Sam Squirrelhuntin McCoy

00:46:24wrote down his account

00:46:26of the execution.

00:46:28The charge blew off

00:46:29the top of Bud McCoy's head.

00:46:31It lay about six feet

00:46:33from the body.

00:46:34Next morning,

00:46:35Melvin Larson

00:46:36picked the boy's skull

00:46:37and brains off the ground

00:46:39and placed it

00:46:39back in his head.

00:46:42The accounts of that

00:46:43jump all over the place.

00:46:45None of them

00:46:45describe a pleasant scene.

00:46:48It would be

00:46:51an extremely

00:46:52brutal account

00:46:53by all accounts.

00:46:54That moment of the feud

00:46:56is when,

00:46:58for some reason,

00:46:59everyone seemed

00:47:00to realize

00:47:02that it had to stop.

00:47:07The deaths in 1892

00:47:08of Ellison Hatfield

00:47:10and Tolbert,

00:47:11Farmer,

00:47:12and Randolph McCoy, Jr.,

00:47:14brought a period

00:47:14of surprising calm

00:47:15to the feud.

00:47:17Legal warrants

00:47:18were issued

00:47:18in Pike County, Kentucky,

00:47:19for 20 members

00:47:20of the Hatfield clan

00:47:21for the killing

00:47:22of the three McCoy boys.

00:47:24After the boys

00:47:26were murdered

00:47:26at the Pawpaw Massacre site,

00:47:28Randolph began

00:47:29trying to get

00:47:30charges brought

00:47:31against the Hatfields

00:47:32to get them arrested,

00:47:32and he was actually

00:47:33able to get the charges.

00:47:34But there was never

00:47:35any extradition.

00:47:36There was never

00:47:37any attempt

00:47:37to cross the border

00:47:38into West Virginia

00:47:39to arrest the lands.

00:47:40And Randolph tried

00:47:41for years to begin

00:47:42to get something

00:47:43to happen with this,

00:47:44but nothing ever did.

00:47:45There was a,

00:47:46I think they called it

00:47:47the coroner's jury

00:47:48at that time,

00:47:49that investigated

00:47:51the death

00:47:52of these three McCoys.

00:47:54They said that

00:47:55they could not determine

00:47:58who murdered these people.

00:48:00I think that

00:48:01if you would have been

00:48:03living in that time period,

00:48:04I think everyone

00:48:06had a very good idea

00:48:08of who killed these men.

00:48:10What happens is

00:48:11that a grand jury meets,

00:48:12and they indict 23 Hatfields

00:48:16and the men

00:48:16who work for the Hatfields.

00:48:18And so these warrants

00:48:20are out for the arrest

00:48:21of these men

00:48:22in West Virginia.

00:48:23But the grand jury

00:48:24is a Kentucky grand jury.

00:48:26And so what would have

00:48:27to happen is

00:48:28that somebody would have

00:48:29to go into West Virginia

00:48:31and serve these warrants

00:48:32or catch them

00:48:33on the Kentucky side

00:48:34and serve the warrants.

00:48:35But Dev Lance

00:48:36went to the governor

00:48:37of West Virginia

00:48:37and got those extradition

00:48:39orders refused.

00:48:41And so there was a stalemate

00:48:43there for a number of years.

00:48:45Over a five-year

00:48:46period,

00:48:46there were no arrest

00:48:47or extradition actions.

00:48:49The Kentucky officials

00:48:50didn't have the authority

00:48:52to cross the state line

00:48:53into West Virginia.

00:48:54The Hatfields

00:48:56who had business

00:48:56and relationships

00:48:57in Kentucky

00:48:57often traveled there

00:48:59in well-armed groups.

00:49:00But they were feared,

00:49:02and Kentucky lawmen

00:49:03let them go their way.

00:49:05Now, Randall McCoy

00:49:07continued to try

00:49:09to persuade officials

00:49:10in Pikeville

00:49:11to do something about this,

00:49:13to reinstate the warrants.

00:49:14Randall McCoy

00:49:15asked for help

00:49:16from a relative

00:49:16by marriage,

00:49:18a Pikeville, Kentucky

00:49:19attorney named Perry Klein,

00:49:21whose sister Martha

00:49:22was the widow

00:49:23of Asa Harmon McCoy.

00:49:25Randall McCoy

00:49:26has gone to Pikeville

00:49:28and alerted his cousin

00:49:29and alerted his cousin,

00:49:30Perry Klein.

00:49:31Randall's daughter,

00:49:33Roseanne,

00:49:33has lived with Perry Klein

00:49:35after the Johnsey affair.

00:49:36So Perry Klein's

00:49:37very up on what's going on here

00:49:39in this part of eastern Kentucky

00:49:42on the Tug River

00:49:43because that's where he was raised, too.

00:49:44Many people feel

00:49:45that he was

00:49:46a bit of a troublemaker.

00:49:51Klein had his own history

00:49:53with the Hatfields.

00:49:54It dated 16 years earlier

00:49:56in 1872.

00:49:59Devil Ann's Hatfield

00:50:00found success

00:50:01in the lumber business,

00:50:02hiring crews

00:50:02to clear land,

00:50:04even hiring

00:50:04some of the McCoy clan.

00:50:07Timber was the big deal

00:50:08at the time.

00:50:09You know,

00:50:10the amount of timber

00:50:10they took out of there

00:50:11and the riches

00:50:12that were made out of timber

00:50:14were truly phenomenal.

00:50:15Klein saw an opportunity

00:50:17for payback.

00:50:18Perry Klein

00:50:19had a large piece of property

00:50:20which was given to him

00:50:22when he was a teenager.

00:50:23In 1872,

00:50:24a dispute broke out.

00:50:26Hatfield discovered

00:50:27that Klein

00:50:28had been trespassing

00:50:29on his land

00:50:29and was reaping

00:50:31the financial benefits

00:50:32of his lumber.

00:50:33He timbered part

00:50:34of Devil Ann's Hatfield's property

00:50:36accidentally

00:50:37or on purpose

00:50:38thinking he wouldn't get caught

00:50:39and that's how

00:50:40Devil Ann's took that to court

00:50:41and ended up winning

00:50:42all of Perry Klein's property.

00:50:44Again,

00:50:44the court was in West Virginia.

00:50:46You had the divide

00:50:47with the tug.

00:50:48You had Union on one side,

00:50:49Confederate on the other.

00:50:51Did Perry Klein

00:50:51get a fair shake

00:50:52in West Virginia?

00:50:53I don't think so.

00:50:54The court decision

00:50:55was harsh.

00:50:56Instead of awarding

00:50:57damages to Hatfield,

00:50:58they directed Klein

00:50:59to deed over

00:51:00all his land,

00:51:015,000 acres

00:51:02to Ann's Hatfield.

00:51:04Perry Klein

00:51:04never forgave him for that.

00:51:06So he had a couple axes

00:51:07to grind, really.

00:51:08He had the attacks

00:51:09on the McCoy family

00:51:10and the fact

00:51:11that he lost his property

00:51:12to Devil Ann's.

00:51:13After that decision,

00:51:15Ann's Hatfield

00:51:15became one of the largest

00:51:17landowners

00:51:17and wealthiest men

00:51:18in the Tug Valley

00:51:20and Klein was a man

00:51:21with a 16-year grudge.

00:51:23In the process

00:51:24of becoming a lawyer,

00:51:25Perry Klein

00:51:26was in a position

00:51:28in the 18...

00:51:29post-1882 period

00:51:31to position himself

00:51:33to take Randall McCoy's

00:51:38grievances

00:51:39to the next level.

00:51:40Perry Klein decided

00:51:43that, oh, well,

00:51:45maybe he had a chance

00:51:46of getting his land back,

00:51:48maybe he had a chance

00:51:48of getting revenge

00:51:49for what had gone on,

00:51:51and so suddenly he, too,

00:51:55became interested

00:51:55in listening to Randall McCoy.

00:51:57My personal opinion

00:51:58is he was seeking

00:52:00revenge,

00:52:00that he was

00:52:02an angry man,

00:52:03and if he was,

00:52:06if he could use Randall

00:52:07as a tool

00:52:09to go after

00:52:10Devil Ann's,

00:52:11all the better.

00:52:12It's all going to be

00:52:13to Perry Klein's advantage,

00:52:14and poor Randall McCoy

00:52:17isn't shrewd enough

00:52:18to see that

00:52:19he's really just

00:52:20a pawn on Perry's chessboard.

00:52:23Klein's role in the feud

00:52:24would lead to a chain

00:52:25of events

00:52:26where innocents

00:52:27on both sides

00:52:28of the families

00:52:28were killed.

00:52:331887.

00:52:34Randall McCoy

00:52:35had spent the last

00:52:36five years

00:52:37trying to get

00:52:37the Hatfields tried

00:52:38for the execution

00:52:39of his three sons.

00:52:41He turned to

00:52:42a distant relative

00:52:43and lawyer Perry Klein

00:52:44for help.

00:52:46Klein had lost

00:52:475,000 acres

00:52:48of timberland

00:52:48to Devil Ann

00:52:4916 years before.

00:52:51The lawyer,

00:52:52who now had

00:52:53political power

00:52:53in Pike County,

00:52:54saw a path

00:52:55for revenge.

00:52:57Perry Klein

00:52:58helps a gentleman

00:52:59named Simon Boulevard

00:53:00Buckner

00:53:01get elected

00:53:01governor of Kentucky.

00:53:03And Pike County

00:53:03is the largest county

00:53:04east of the Mississippi,

00:53:05so bringing in

00:53:06Pike County

00:53:06for Buckner

00:53:07was a big deal.

00:53:08And Governor

00:53:09Buckner owed him.

00:53:10Payback was that

00:53:11Buckner would post

00:53:12bounties

00:53:13on the heads

00:53:13of the Hatfields,

00:53:14including $500

00:53:16for Devil Ann's

00:53:17Hatfield himself.

00:53:18So now things

00:53:19are going to start

00:53:20heating up.

00:53:21Perry Klein

00:53:21is on the ball.

00:53:23He's getting Buckner

00:53:24to go to the

00:53:25West Virginia governor,

00:53:27Willis Wilson,

00:53:28who has some allegiance

00:53:29to the Hatfields,

00:53:30but he's getting him

00:53:31to pressure Wilson

00:53:33to go arrest

00:53:34the Hatfields

00:53:35and send them

00:53:35to Kentucky.

00:53:36Now you get into

00:53:38a long battle

00:53:39of letters

00:53:40between the governors.

00:53:42Perry Klein jumps

00:53:43in there.

00:53:43The Hatfields are

00:53:44powerful in this part

00:53:45of West Virginia.

00:53:46And politics being

00:53:47what they are,

00:53:48the governor knows

00:53:48what's the upside

00:53:49for turning over

00:53:50the Hatfields.

00:53:51And the Hatfields

00:53:52can deliver that part

00:53:53of West Virginia

00:53:54to him in elections.

00:53:56As extradition

00:53:57proceedings move forward,

00:53:59Klein hired teams

00:54:00of private detectives

00:54:01and bounty hunters

00:54:02to cross into

00:54:03West Virginia

00:54:04to arrest the murderers

00:54:05of the McCoy boys.

00:54:06And in this phase

00:54:08of the fuse,

00:54:09the leader was

00:54:09really Perry Klein

00:54:10because he raised

00:54:11the posse.

00:54:12In some ways,

00:54:13it would be more

00:54:14accurate to say

00:54:15there was a Klein-Hatfield

00:54:16feud after 1888.

00:54:19Perry Klein has an ace card

00:54:21and that ace card

00:54:22is Frank Phillips,

00:54:24better known as

00:54:24Bad Frank Phillips.

00:54:26Phillips was well known

00:54:27in the territory

00:54:28as a ruthless lawman,

00:54:30not afraid to use his gun

00:54:32and take no prisoners.

00:54:34He needed a heavy

00:54:35and here was this

00:54:37sort of stepbrother,

00:54:39Frank Phillips,

00:54:40who he then recruited

00:54:41to come in

00:54:41to be his strong arm.

00:54:43Frank Phillips was

00:54:44short, lightweight,

00:54:45but supposedly,

00:54:47much like Anderson,

00:54:48Hatfield,

00:54:48quick with his temper

00:54:49and quick to get involved

00:54:51in any kind of

00:54:52hard fighting and killing.

00:54:54I have never read

00:54:55an account of Frank Phillips

00:54:57being the kind of guy

00:54:58I would want to sit down

00:55:00and have a cup of coffee with,

00:55:01much less drink with.

00:55:03Frank Phillips,

00:55:04he decides that he's

00:55:05going to cross the line

00:55:06and go in and make arrests

00:55:07on his own

00:55:08and this is what's really

00:55:10going to ignite

00:55:11a new phase in this feud

00:55:12which is going to take

00:55:13the states nearly to war

00:55:15and is going to hit

00:55:16the national media

00:55:17and become, you know,

00:55:19a much bigger deal.

00:55:21The first person

00:55:22the Klein posse captured

00:55:23was none other

00:55:24than Selkirk McCoy,

00:55:26the man who some felt

00:55:27betrayed his family

00:55:28by being the swing vote

00:55:29in favor of the Hatfields

00:55:31in the Hog Trial of 1878.

00:55:33He takes him back

00:55:34and puts him in jail

00:55:35in Pikeville

00:55:35and he arrests

00:55:37two other men.

00:55:38In 1888,

00:55:40with the governors

00:55:41of Kentucky

00:55:42and West Virginia

00:55:43now involved

00:55:44and multiple raiding parties

00:55:45crossing the border

00:55:46into West Virginia,

00:55:48the key players

00:55:49in the Hatfield clan

00:55:50scattered into the hills

00:55:51to hide out.

00:55:52At this point,

00:55:53Devil Lance knew

00:55:54what was going on,

00:55:55knew Perry Klein

00:55:57had done this

00:55:58and was obviously

00:56:00getting nervous.

00:56:01West Virginia's

00:56:02Governor Wilson

00:56:03made a courageous

00:56:04political decision

00:56:05by agreeing

00:56:06to the extradition

00:56:07of 20 members

00:56:08and supporters

00:56:09of the local

00:56:10Hatfield clan.

00:56:11Yet soon after,

00:56:13it's been said

00:56:13that Wilson

00:56:14became aware

00:56:14of some double dealings

00:56:16by Klein

00:56:16and his associate,

00:56:18Frank Phillips.

00:56:19John C. Hatfield

00:56:20had actually

00:56:21gone across the river

00:56:22and had a private meeting

00:56:24with Perry Klein

00:56:25gave him $200

00:56:26and an agreement

00:56:27that you sort of

00:56:28back off the family.

00:56:30And Perry Klein

00:56:31apparently gave John C.

00:56:34a reasonable amount

00:56:35of surety

00:56:36that good deal,

00:56:39give me the money.

00:56:39The governor

00:56:40immediately withdrew

00:56:41his approval

00:56:42for the extraditions.

00:56:44I personally

00:56:45don't believe it.

00:56:45I think Perry Klein

00:56:46was a man

00:56:47of more integrity.

00:56:48The money

00:56:49they're talking about

00:56:49just wasn't enough.

00:56:50The property

00:56:51that he had taken

00:56:52from him

00:56:52was worth thousands

00:56:53and thousands

00:56:54of dollars

00:56:54at this point.

00:56:55What is true

00:56:56is that Devil

00:56:56Lanz Hatfield

00:56:57realized that he

00:56:58was being backed

00:56:59into a corner

00:56:59and had limited options

00:57:01for self-preservation.

00:57:03He needed a new plan

00:57:05and he needed it quickly.

00:57:07You can see

00:57:07something familiar

00:57:08going on here.

00:57:09It looks like

00:57:10the Civil War again.

00:57:11You've got

00:57:12Union-affiliated

00:57:13Kentucky men

00:57:14coming in

00:57:15raiding West Virginia.

00:57:17And what are

00:57:18the Hatfields thinking?

00:57:19These guys are coming

00:57:20in here making raids

00:57:21on our turf

00:57:22we can't take

00:57:23this sitting down.

00:57:24We've got to do

00:57:25something about it.

00:57:26Eventually

00:57:26what got decided

00:57:28was they would

00:57:29cross the river

00:57:30and try to

00:57:32intimidate Randolph McCoy

00:57:33and his family

00:57:34so they would

00:57:35stop this.

00:57:36I mean even though

00:57:37it was Perry Klein

00:57:38leading it

00:57:39I think they figured

00:57:40that if they got

00:57:41rid of the McCoys

00:57:42or the McCoys

00:57:43wouldn't testify

00:57:44there would be no case.

00:57:46At sunrise

00:57:46on the morning

00:57:47of New Year's Day

00:57:481888

00:57:49the Hatfields

00:57:51put their

00:57:51newly hatched plan

00:57:52into motion.

00:57:53What happens

00:57:54is they

00:57:55get their posse

00:57:56together on

00:57:56New Year's Eve

00:57:57they go over

00:58:00Devil Anse Hatfield

00:58:01is not part of it

00:58:02he's feeling sick

00:58:03he stays at home

00:58:04but crazy Jim Vance

00:58:06is back in the picture.

00:58:07Taking Devil Anse

00:58:08place as leader

00:58:09of the armed men

00:58:10was Jim Vance

00:58:11Anse's uncle.

00:58:13He is a plausible

00:58:14leader when

00:58:15Devil Anse

00:58:16steps aside

00:58:17he's a little bit

00:58:18older

00:58:18he is a war veteran

00:58:20and he has

00:58:21that kind of

00:58:22charismatic

00:58:23leadership.

00:58:24Included in the

00:58:25raiding party

00:58:26was Johnsy Hatfield

00:58:27Devil Anse's

00:58:28oldest son

00:58:30along with

00:58:31Cap Hatfield

00:58:32Johnsy's younger

00:58:33brother and the

00:58:34most eager of the

00:58:34bunch

00:58:36and Ellison Mounts

00:58:38fondly called

00:58:39Cottontop

00:58:39the illegitimate

00:58:41son of Devil Anse's

00:58:42murdered brother

00:58:42Ellison.

00:58:43All three were

00:58:44well known to be

00:58:45some of the more

00:58:46violent and

00:58:46aggressive members

00:58:47of the Hatfield

00:58:48clan.

00:58:49I think that

00:58:50idea may have

00:58:52appealed to Devil

00:58:52Anse quite a bit.

00:58:54It has a certain

00:58:56logic to it.

00:58:57If you get rid of

00:58:58the enemy

00:58:58the feud will end.

00:59:00My conclusion is

00:59:01that there was a lot

00:59:02of disagreement about

00:59:03this was too drastic

00:59:04a measure

00:59:05and they only managed

00:59:06to get eight people

00:59:07out of the say

00:59:0835 to 40 supporters

00:59:10you could count as

00:59:11supporters.

00:59:12They actually

00:59:13go over on New

00:59:15Year's Day

00:59:15very stealthily.

00:59:16They start shooting

00:59:17in the windows.

00:59:21The Hatfields are

00:59:22there for blood.

00:59:23Some accounts have it

00:59:24that Johnsy Hatfield

00:59:25fired the first shots

00:59:27into the cabin.

00:59:28Inside the McCoys

00:59:29scrambled for cover.

00:59:31The McCoys start

00:59:32shooting through the roof.

00:59:34They've got some

00:59:34portholes in the roof

00:59:35of their cabin.

00:59:37One of the men

00:59:37sets fire to the house.

00:59:39One of the girls

00:59:40goes outside

00:59:42to get water

00:59:43to put the fire out.

00:59:45She's shot.

00:59:46That's Alifair.

00:59:47It's an awful event.

00:59:49It's believed that

00:59:50Ellison Mounts

00:59:51is the one

00:59:52who shot Alifair.

00:59:53Now Sally comes down.

00:59:55She's hysterical

00:59:56because her daughter's

00:59:56been shot.

00:59:57She crawls out there

00:59:58and Johnsy Hatfield

01:00:00clubs her with his gun.

01:00:02Doesn't kill her

01:00:02but it knocks her out

01:00:04and she's left for dead.

01:00:07Calvin tells Randall

01:00:08look, I'm going to

01:00:09make a run for it

01:00:11and you come out

01:00:12after me.

01:00:13Calvin, he gets

01:00:14all the way

01:00:15to the other end

01:00:15of the yard

01:00:16and almost a freak shot

01:00:18catches him in the skull

01:00:19and kills him

01:00:20right on the spot.

01:00:22Randall comes running out

01:00:23blazing away.

01:00:24He shoots Johnsy

01:00:25in the shoulder.

01:00:26Randall actually

01:00:27does get away.

01:00:28He runs off

01:00:29in the mountains.

01:00:30The Hatfields

01:00:30burn the house

01:00:31and this really was

01:00:33the egregious,

01:00:35the heinous act

01:00:36of the feud

01:00:37that made the Hatfields

01:00:39clearly the bad guys.

01:00:42The hornet's nest

01:00:42had been stirred.

01:00:43The Hatfield and McCoy

01:00:45feud was at its most intense

01:00:46and would soon find itself

01:00:48being the subject

01:00:49of a case

01:00:49in the highest court

01:00:51in the land.

01:00:54The attacks on Randall

01:00:55McCoy's family

01:00:56on that New Year's Day

01:00:57in 1888

01:00:58took the feud

01:01:00to a new low.

01:01:01Never before

01:01:02had the conflicts

01:01:03in the feud

01:01:04been so premeditated.

01:01:06and by now

01:01:07McCoy had lost

01:01:08a brother,

01:01:10four sons

01:01:10and a daughter

01:01:12and his wife

01:01:13suffered mental

01:01:14and physical damage.

01:01:16The New Year's Day

01:01:17raid was

01:01:18a real turning point.

01:01:20This was such

01:01:20a heinous,

01:01:21cold-blooded act.

01:01:23Killing the daughter

01:01:24and maiming

01:01:25the mother,

01:01:26that's kind of

01:01:27hard to overcome

01:01:29in anybody's

01:01:31environment

01:01:32and especially

01:01:32where family

01:01:33meant so much.

01:01:34That definitely

01:01:35had to have cost

01:01:36the Hatfield clan

01:01:37a lot of reputation.

01:01:40I think they were

01:01:40convinced that they

01:01:41were back

01:01:42in a war-like situation.

01:01:44During the war,

01:01:45raids were made

01:01:46on both sides.

01:01:47They assassinated people.

01:01:48It was what you did

01:01:49because they were

01:01:50trying to assassinate you.

01:01:51In some ways,

01:01:52it was accepted,

01:01:53but they didn't kill

01:01:54women and children.

01:01:57After Randall's home

01:01:58was burnt,

01:01:59he was left penniless.

01:02:00He had nothing.

01:02:00And he went to live

01:02:02with Perry Klein.

01:02:03And one really

01:02:04interesting coincidence

01:02:05here is that

01:02:06Randall had never

01:02:07allowed his daughter

01:02:08Rosanna back

01:02:09under his roof.

01:02:10Rosanna was basically

01:02:11sort of a governess

01:02:12for Perry Klein's

01:02:13children.

01:02:14And the only time

01:02:15he lived under

01:02:16the same roof

01:02:16was when he went

01:02:17with head in hand

01:02:18to live at Perry Klein's house.

01:02:19Within days

01:02:20of the New Year's

01:02:21massacre,

01:02:22bounty hunter

01:02:23Bad Frank Phillips

01:02:24and his posse

01:02:25intensified their efforts

01:02:26to capture the Hatfields.

01:02:28He caught Crazy Jim

01:02:30on a hillside

01:02:31along with Cap Hatfield,

01:02:34probably his two main targets

01:02:36in addition to Devil Lance.

01:02:38Outnumbered and trapped,

01:02:40Vance and Cap Hatfield

01:02:41dug in and tried

01:02:42to hold off

01:02:42the advancing Kentucky posse.

01:02:44Cap takes off

01:02:45and he runs back

01:02:47through the woods

01:02:47and he goes over

01:02:48to try to get

01:02:49other Hatfields

01:02:50to come help.

01:02:50So Tracy Jim's left

01:02:51fighting Bad Frank

01:02:52and this crew

01:02:54and he's got a couple guns

01:02:55and he holds them off

01:02:55for a while

01:02:56but Bad Frank's

01:02:57not going to give up.

01:02:59Frank Phillips' men

01:03:00quickly surrounded them

01:03:01flanking their position

01:03:02in the woods.

01:03:03Jim Vance was shot.

01:03:05As he lay dying,

01:03:07Bad Frank Phillips

01:03:07put a single bullet

01:03:09through his head.

01:03:12And so that was the end

01:03:13of Crazy Jim Vance,

01:03:15the first major Hatfield

01:03:17to go.

01:03:18However,

01:03:19it's a completely

01:03:19illegal act

01:03:20that Bad Frank Phillips

01:03:23has just perpetrated

01:03:24in the state

01:03:24of West Virginia.

01:03:25It's just out-and-out

01:03:26murder, you know,

01:03:28because he has

01:03:28no legal right

01:03:29to be there.

01:03:30I think this was

01:03:30the primary confrontation

01:03:32between the two states,

01:03:34between the two governors,

01:03:35which blew up

01:03:36into what it became,

01:03:37a national event

01:03:39of interest

01:03:40to more than just

01:03:41the local folks

01:03:42of Pike and Logan County.

01:03:44The feud was making headlines

01:03:46beyond local news stories,

01:03:47but reliable coverage

01:03:49of the events

01:03:50would be few

01:03:50and far between.

01:03:54This is sensational news.

01:03:56Hallelujah.

01:03:56We've got something

01:03:57to read about it.

01:03:58It's as good

01:03:58as the serialized novels

01:04:00that all the newspapers

01:04:02published at the time

01:04:03to try to keep people

01:04:04reading their newspaper

01:04:05every week.

01:04:06Well,

01:04:06the Hatfield-McCoy thing

01:04:07was doing just that.

01:04:09The feud helped instigate

01:04:11a new form of journalism.

01:04:12Yellow journalism

01:04:13is journalism

01:04:14that's not based in fact.

01:04:16It was telling a story

01:04:17because it sounded good,

01:04:18because it was interesting.

01:04:20The more sensational it was,

01:04:21the better,

01:04:21because it sold more papers.

01:04:23Knowing their readers' appetite

01:04:24for dark tales

01:04:25of violence and mayhem,

01:04:27newspapers clamored

01:04:28to get a piece

01:04:29of the Hatfield-McCoy feud,

01:04:31sending city reporters

01:04:32into the Appalachian region

01:04:34for any

01:04:34and all lurid details.

01:04:37You know,

01:04:37this was a big-time adventure

01:04:38coming down

01:04:39from New York City

01:04:39to these hollers

01:04:41of West Virginia.

01:04:42For them,

01:04:42it was almost like

01:04:43going into the heart of Africa,

01:04:45discovering the headwaters

01:04:46of a river or something.

01:04:47You know,

01:04:48they were going in there

01:04:48and meeting with

01:04:49Devil Ants Hatfield

01:04:50was a big deal.

01:04:51You know,

01:04:51they felt like

01:04:52they were taking

01:04:52their lives in their hands.

01:04:53So that interaction

01:04:55became pretty fascinating.

01:04:57In order to feed the headlines,

01:04:59reporters knew their editors

01:05:00wanted the most sensational

01:05:01aspects of the story.

01:05:03When you look at

01:05:04the newspapers of that day,

01:05:05you had sensational murders

01:05:06going on all over the place.

01:05:08It wasn't just happening

01:05:08in this little part

01:05:09of West Virginia

01:05:10and Kentucky.

01:05:11But there was something

01:05:12about the Hill People

01:05:13that really captured

01:05:14the imagination.

01:05:15Put it into context,

01:05:16same time period,

01:05:17you have the dime novels

01:05:18that are going crazy

01:05:20in the East

01:05:20about the West.

01:05:22All of a sudden,

01:05:22there was a fascination

01:05:24with this world

01:05:26that people did not know.

01:05:27And so you get

01:05:28John R. Spears

01:05:29and T.C. Crawford

01:05:31who wrote stories

01:05:32that appeared

01:05:33in The Sun and The World.

01:05:34You had Louisville Courier

01:05:35journalists reporting

01:05:36on the feud.

01:05:37And then you have

01:05:37some people,

01:05:38you have a guy named

01:05:38Squirrel Hunt and Sam McCoy,

01:05:40who was the only

01:05:41actual feudist

01:05:42to write his full account.

01:05:44And so there are details

01:05:46in that account

01:05:46that are unbelievable

01:05:47that you won't find

01:05:49anywhere else.

01:05:50And it's sort of that thing

01:05:51where fact is stranger

01:05:52than fiction.

01:05:53You know,

01:05:54he didn't make that up.

01:05:56Frank Phillips

01:05:57and his growing

01:05:57Kentucky posse

01:05:58continue to make raids

01:05:59into Hatfield territory

01:06:01on the West Virginia

01:06:02side of the Tug River.

01:06:04They tracked down

01:06:05and captured eight more

01:06:06of the 23 Hatfield

01:06:07Klan members

01:06:08indicted for murder

01:06:09under Kentucky warrant.

01:06:11Phillips went across

01:06:13into West Virginia,

01:06:14arrested nine Hatfields

01:06:17and Hatfield supporters,

01:06:18including Ellison Mounts,

01:06:19brought them back

01:06:20into Kentucky

01:06:21to stand trial.

01:06:22They're not the central figures

01:06:24in the feud

01:06:25or in any of the events.

01:06:26So it was pretty easy

01:06:27to pick up these nine guys.

01:06:29But the heat was on

01:06:30and he decided,

01:06:31I'm going back.

01:06:33Realizing they were helpless

01:06:34against the power

01:06:35of these warrants,

01:06:36the Hatfields sought

01:06:37the protection

01:06:37of West Virginia law,

01:06:39convincing Logan County

01:06:40officials to form

01:06:41a posse of their own

01:06:43in order to arrest

01:06:44bad Frank Phillips

01:06:45for the murder

01:06:46of family member

01:06:47Jim Vance.

01:06:49By this time,

01:06:50the Hatfields

01:06:50were prepared.

01:06:51They were ready.

01:06:52They had pulled together

01:06:53their own posse.

01:06:54They even had a sheriff

01:06:55with them,

01:06:56so the law in West Virginia

01:06:58is on their side.

01:06:59The two opposing posses,

01:07:00one from Kentucky

01:07:01favoring the McCoys

01:07:02and the other

01:07:03from West Virginia

01:07:04favoring the Hatfields,

01:07:06finally came face-to-face

01:07:07at Grapevine Creek

01:07:09in West Virginia

01:07:09on January 19, 1888.

01:07:15Jim McCoy comes

01:07:16leading the posse

01:07:17around the corner

01:07:18and they start shooting

01:07:19at Jim McCoy

01:07:20and pretty soon

01:07:21they're in an all-out battle.

01:07:24Historically,

01:07:24this land was significant

01:07:26to both parties.

01:07:27It was the exact parcel

01:07:28of timber-rich land

01:07:30that young Perry Cline

01:07:31had lost to

01:07:32Devil Land's Hatfield

01:07:33during their logging dispute

01:07:34in 1872.

01:07:36There was a group

01:07:37of Hatfields on one side

01:07:38and a group of

01:07:39bad Frank Phillipsmen

01:07:40on the other side

01:07:41and they had this gunfight.

01:07:42Jim's first shot

01:07:44felled the deputy sheriff

01:07:45that's there with the Hatfields,

01:07:47a man named Dempsey.

01:07:48The Hatfields fight for a while

01:07:50but they realize

01:07:50they're outnumbered

01:07:52and they're not going

01:07:53to win this battle

01:07:53if they stay.

01:07:54They retreat up

01:07:55into the hills.

01:07:56But not before

01:07:57bad Frank Phillips

01:07:58took the opportunity

01:07:59to once again

01:08:00send a message

01:08:01to the Hatfields.

01:08:02As if what they're doing

01:08:04isn't bad enough,

01:08:05bad Frank Phillips

01:08:07comes up to Dempsey

01:08:08who's wounded in the leg

01:08:11and Dempsey's pleading

01:08:13for his life

01:08:13and says,

01:08:14you know,

01:08:15I'm a deputy sheriff.

01:08:16You know,

01:08:16I'm not a Hatfield.

01:08:17Phillips paid no heed

01:08:19and killed Dempsey

01:08:20on the spot.

01:08:22Frank Phillips

01:08:22just went out of his way

01:08:24to say,

01:08:25and this is what we do

01:08:27to those who support

01:08:28the Hatfields.

01:08:29The feud

01:08:30had taken a new turn.

01:08:33The battle

01:08:34of Grapevine Creek

01:08:35while massive in scale

01:08:36yields little

01:08:37in the actual capture

01:08:39of Hatfields

01:08:39or McCoys.

01:08:40What does make itself clear

01:08:42is that bad Frank Phillips,

01:08:44working for the McCoy side,

01:08:45has established himself

01:08:47as a ruthless killer

01:08:48based on the blatant execution

01:08:50of West Virginia deputy

01:08:51Bill Dempsey.

01:08:53This is when the McCoys

01:08:55realized that bad Frank

01:08:56is not necessarily

01:08:58an agent for good

01:09:00and they will later say

01:09:01that, you know,

01:09:02they're scared of this man now

01:09:03and bad Frank

01:09:05eventually is going

01:09:06to lose his support

01:09:07from everybody.

01:09:08So now the Hatfields

01:09:09have gone from

01:09:10the really bad guys

01:09:11to, well,

01:09:12maybe the McCoys

01:09:13aren't so good either.

01:09:14It took five years

01:09:16but finally some justice

01:09:17for the 1888

01:09:19New Year's Day

01:09:20McCoy murders.

01:09:22The captured

01:09:23Hatfield clan members

01:09:24and supporters

01:09:25were rounded up

01:09:26by Frank Phillips

01:09:27and brought to Kentucky.

01:09:29But it was unclear

01:09:31if the men

01:09:31could be legally held

01:09:32and tried in Kentucky

01:09:33as they were all

01:09:34captured in

01:09:35and citizens

01:09:36of West Virginia.

01:09:38In those days,

01:09:39it was illegal

01:09:40to cross state lines

01:09:42in pursuit of a felon.

01:09:44Each state

01:09:45had its own laws

01:09:46and for bad Frank

01:09:47to cross into

01:09:48West Virginia

01:09:49and arrest a Hatfield

01:09:50was actually illegal.

01:09:52This ended up causing

01:09:53a lot of consternation

01:09:55between the states.

01:09:56There were actually

01:09:57militias that were sent in

01:09:58by both governors

01:09:59on each side of the state.

01:10:01Both governors

01:10:02really had to get a grasp

01:10:03on what was going on

01:10:04down here.

01:10:04This little mini war

01:10:05on their border

01:10:06was becoming a big headache.

01:10:08So both of them

01:10:08sent emissaries down

01:10:10to vet

01:10:11what was going on

01:10:12down there.

01:10:13Governor Wilson

01:10:14sent a man

01:10:14named W.L. Mahone

01:10:16down

01:10:16and Governor Buckner

01:10:18sent the adjutant general

01:10:20of Kentucky down,

01:10:21a guy named Sam Hill.

01:10:23Hints comes to saying,

01:10:25what in the Sam Hill's

01:10:26happening?

01:10:27You know,

01:10:27what in the Sam Hill's

01:10:28going on?

01:10:30Because Sam Hill

01:10:31went down there

01:10:31to find out

01:10:31what was going on

01:10:32between the Hatfields

01:10:33and McCoys.

01:10:34Attorneys representing

01:10:35the states of West Virginia

01:10:36and Kentucky

01:10:37met in Louisville

01:10:38and federal court

01:10:39to determine

01:10:40if the Hatfield prisoners

01:10:41could be legally tried

01:10:42in the state of Kentucky.

01:10:44The governors

01:10:45of both states

01:10:46were keenly aware

01:10:47of the importance

01:10:47of this meeting

01:10:48and took an active role

01:10:50in making sure

01:10:50each of their state's rights

01:10:52were protected.

01:10:53So the judge

01:10:54in Louisville

01:10:55said,

01:10:56I'll hear this case.

01:10:58He ordered the jailer

01:11:00in Pikeville

01:11:00to send

01:11:01the Hatfield 9

01:11:03to Louisville.

01:11:04The district court judge

01:11:06heard the arguments

01:11:06and made a deft decision.

01:11:08There were many arguments.

01:11:09You know,

01:11:10is this a place

01:11:11that this should be adjudicated?

01:11:12Kentucky said,

01:11:13no.

01:11:14You know,

01:11:14this is clearly

01:11:15a case between two states.

01:11:17You know,

01:11:18this belongs

01:11:19straight in the Supreme Court.

01:11:21What had started out

01:11:22as a feud

01:11:22between two families

01:11:24in an isolated region

01:11:25of the American frontier

01:11:26moderated by the laws

01:11:28and conventions

01:11:28of local justice

01:11:29now became

01:11:31a national issue,

01:11:32one to be handled

01:11:33by the highest court

01:11:34in the land,

01:11:35the United States

01:11:36Supreme Court.

01:11:38They ruled that

01:11:39while the arrest

01:11:41was technically illegal

01:11:43and that West Virginia

01:11:44could press charges

01:11:45against bad Frank Phillips,

01:11:47the holding of the prisoners

01:11:49was not illegal.

01:11:50Kentucky was holding

01:11:51the prisoners

01:11:52wanted for murder

01:11:53in their state legally.

01:11:55So it doesn't matter

01:11:57how the Hatfields

01:11:59got to Kentucky.

01:12:01They're there.

01:12:02So they can be tried.

01:12:05Seven long years

01:12:06after the executions

01:12:07of the three McCoy boys,

01:12:08in August 1889,

01:12:11the Hatfield family members

01:12:13and supporters

01:12:13were put on trial

01:12:14in Pikeville, Kentucky.

01:12:16There were actually

01:12:17two trials,

01:12:18one for the McCoy executions

01:12:21and one for the New Year's Day

01:12:23murders of Calvin

01:12:24and Alifair McCoy.

01:12:25A total of nine men

01:12:27would stand trial.

01:12:28Once the Supreme Court case

01:12:29was finished,

01:12:30they began to prosecute

01:12:32the Hatfields

01:12:33that were arrested.

01:12:34Devil Lance

01:12:34was not one of those.

01:12:35Many of his sons

01:12:36and many of his friends

01:12:37were, but he was not

01:12:38one of the people

01:12:39that was put on trial.

01:12:40They were facing

01:12:41life sentences

01:12:42for the New Year's Day raid

01:12:44in which they beat

01:12:46his wife nearly to death

01:12:47and they killed

01:12:49a daughter and a son.

01:12:50But these guys

01:12:51honestly thought

01:12:53that they would get off.

01:12:54After two and a half weeks

01:12:56of often intense discussion

01:12:57and deliberation,

01:12:58the jury returned its verdict

01:13:00against the Hatfield Nine.

01:13:02Guilty.

01:13:04Eight were sentenced

01:13:05to life in prison.

01:13:07One would receive

01:13:08the death penalty.

01:13:09The only person

01:13:11given a life sentence

01:13:12who actually died in prison

01:13:13was Valentine Hatfield,

01:13:15who was Devil Lance's brother.

01:13:17He also was the only person

01:13:19who was completely innocent

01:13:20of any of the charges.

01:13:22Really, in addition

01:13:24to Ellison Mounts,

01:13:24came out the worst

01:13:25of anybody.

01:13:27He ended up getting convicted.

01:13:28He ended up getting

01:13:29a life sentence

01:13:30and he wasn't a man

01:13:31who could last in prison.

01:13:32He died within two years.

01:13:34The toughest verdict

01:13:35handed down

01:13:36was against Ellison

01:13:37Cottontop Mounts.

01:13:39Mounts was considered

01:13:40to be slow,

01:13:41of less than average

01:13:42intelligence.

01:13:43And unlike the other men

01:13:44on trial,

01:13:45Mounts gave a full confession.

01:13:48Detailing his actions

01:13:49during the execution

01:13:50of the McCoy boys

01:13:51in 1882

01:13:52and the murder

01:13:53of Alifair McCoy

01:13:54in 1888

01:13:55during the New Year's Day

01:13:57massacre.

01:13:58Some say that his accounts

01:14:00of both murders

01:14:01provided the prosecuting

01:14:02attorney's key evidence

01:14:03against the other men.

01:14:05Because of his

01:14:07relationship

01:14:08to the Hatfields,

01:14:09because he was

01:14:09a Hatfield,

01:14:10even though his last name

01:14:11was Mounts,

01:14:12he was related

01:14:12to the Hatfield family.

01:14:14Getting him

01:14:15to confess

01:14:17to the murder

01:14:18of Alifair

01:14:18and to the attack

01:14:19on the McCoy family,

01:14:21that allowed

01:14:23the McCoys

01:14:24to point

01:14:25at the Hatfields.

01:14:26And so,

01:14:27he was

01:14:28the perfect

01:14:29scapegoat.

01:14:30But the jury

01:14:31had a detailed

01:14:32confession from Mounts,

01:14:34the only confession

01:14:35it had,

01:14:35and it sentenced

01:14:36him to death

01:14:37by hanging.

01:14:39It's really impossible

01:14:40to know the real motivation,

01:14:42but it just seemed

01:14:43as though so many people

01:14:44thought someone

01:14:45should be hanged.

01:14:46It was obvious

01:14:47that people wanted blood,

01:14:49and he just happened

01:14:51to be the person

01:14:51that became

01:14:51the sacrificial lamb.

01:14:53There was a newspaper

01:14:54article where he

01:14:55was interviewed

01:14:56at the time period,

01:14:57and he said

01:14:57he was forced

01:14:58by the Hatfields

01:14:59to go on this raid

01:15:00with the rest of them,

01:15:01and, you know,

01:15:02he was just a product

01:15:04of circumstances.

01:15:09Crowds from the

01:15:10Pikeville, Kentucky area

01:15:11gathered on a hillside

01:15:13to witness the hanging

01:15:14of Ellison Mounts,

01:15:15the first hanging

01:15:16in the county

01:15:17in over 40 years.

01:15:19It would also be the last.

01:15:21It was an event

01:15:22that was sort of

01:15:22made for the media,

01:15:23made for the people,

01:15:25and it was,

01:15:26as you might expect,

01:15:27a pretty momentous occasion.

01:15:29And hundreds of people

01:15:30came from all over.

01:15:31It was a cold winter day.

01:15:34The officials there

01:15:35wanted to make

01:15:36a statement, however,

01:15:37so what they did

01:15:38was they set up

01:15:39the gallows

01:15:40in a hollow,

01:15:41but if you were

01:15:42sitting on the hill,

01:15:43you could see

01:15:44the scaffold.

01:15:46There was all

01:15:46these rumors

01:15:48after he'd been sentenced

01:15:49and before he was hanged

01:15:50that, oh,

01:15:51the Hatfields

01:15:52are going to ride

01:15:52into Pikeville

01:15:53and shoot up the place

01:15:54and rescue him,

01:15:56and everyone was waiting

01:15:57for that to happen,

01:15:57and it was just,

01:15:59no.

01:16:00Some accounts claim

01:16:01that Mounts

01:16:02wasn't fully aware

01:16:03of the gravity

01:16:04of the situation

01:16:05and that he met

01:16:06his fate

01:16:06in a confused state.

01:16:08He seemed very confused

01:16:10as to what was

01:16:11happening to him.

01:16:14He seemed surprised.

01:16:16Am I going to die?

01:16:18You know,

01:16:19and am I going

01:16:21to go to hell?

01:16:22And all of those things

01:16:23seemed to be

01:16:23a surprise to him.

01:16:25At the very last moment,

01:16:27he shouted out,

01:16:29the Hatfields

01:16:30made me do it.

01:16:31That was kind of

01:16:31his parting words.

01:16:55Ellison Mounts

01:16:56was hanged

01:16:56on February 18, 1890.

01:16:59He was the only person

01:17:00in the entire

01:17:0125-year-long

01:17:02Hatfield-McCoy feud

01:17:03who would be executed

01:17:05for any of the murders,

01:17:06and it was the last

01:17:08official death

01:17:08attributed to the battle

01:17:09between these two clans.

01:17:13The idea that possibly

01:17:15an innocent man

01:17:16was executed

01:17:18has lived in the psyche

01:17:20of this area

01:17:22for quite a while.

01:17:23There is a historic marker

01:17:25for the execution

01:17:26of Ellison Mounts.

01:17:29It is still controversial.

01:17:31Following the hanging death

01:17:32of Ellison Mounts

01:17:33in 1890,

01:17:34the feud all but stopped.

01:17:37He sort of took the fall

01:17:38for the Hatfield clan,

01:17:40and, you know,

01:17:42I think it was an event

01:17:43that was sort of made

01:17:45for the media,

01:17:45made for the people,

01:17:46and it brought

01:17:48a sort of closure

01:17:49to the feud.

01:17:50After nearly 25 years

01:17:52of on-again,

01:17:53off-again raids,

01:17:55murders,

01:17:55intimidation,

01:17:56and attacks,

01:17:58the Hatfield and McCoy

01:17:59families gradually

01:18:00began to go about

01:18:01their respective lives

01:18:02in West Virginia

01:18:03and Kentucky.

01:18:05There are various stories

01:18:07about what sparked

01:18:08the feud

01:18:08between the families,

01:18:09headed by Devil Ends

01:18:10Hatfield and Randall McCoy.

01:18:12Many believe it grew

01:18:14out of the Civil War

01:18:15resentments

01:18:15with the murder

01:18:16of Randall's brother,

01:18:17Asa Harmon,

01:18:17setting off two-and-a-half

01:18:19decades of revenge

01:18:20and retribution.

01:18:22I think it's clear

01:18:24when you research

01:18:25the record

01:18:26that the Hatfield-McCoy

01:18:27feud,

01:18:28along with the White feud,

01:18:30the Hall feud,

01:18:31many other feuds

01:18:32in this area,

01:18:33they were just a continuation

01:18:34of the Civil War.

01:18:36The Civil War ended,

01:18:37and we came back together

01:18:39as a nation pretty quickly,

01:18:40except for this area.

01:18:42Others claim

01:18:43it didn't really begin

01:18:44until the killing

01:18:44of Ellison Hatfield

01:18:46and Devil Ends' revenge

01:18:47on the three McCoy brothers.

01:18:50The 25 years of feuding

01:18:51brought the deaths

01:18:52of 11 Hatfield

01:18:53and McCoy family members

01:18:54and their supporters.

01:18:56Asa Harmon McCoy,

01:18:58murdered.

01:18:59Bill Staten,

01:19:01murdered.

01:19:04Ellison Hatfield,

01:19:06stabbed 27 times,

01:19:08then shot to death.

01:19:09Tolbert McCoy,

01:19:11executed.

01:19:13Farmer McCoy,

01:19:14executed.

01:19:16Randolph Bud McCoy Jr.,

01:19:18executed.

01:19:21Alifair McCoy,

01:19:22murdered.

01:19:24Calvin McCoy,

01:19:26murdered.

01:19:28Jim Vance,

01:19:29shot at point-blank range.

01:19:32Ellison Mouse,

01:19:33death by hanging.

01:19:35But an untold number

01:19:37of bounty hunters,

01:19:38private detectives,

01:19:39and others went missing

01:19:40during this feud era,

01:19:42rumored to have been

01:19:43bushwhacked and buried

01:19:44in unmarked graves

01:19:45and sporadic fringes

01:19:47of mountain justice.

01:19:48The legend is hundreds

01:19:50of people over years

01:19:51with no reason.

01:19:53And, you know,

01:19:54even 12 people,

01:19:56from thinking the legend,

01:19:58is like,

01:19:59well, that's nothing

01:19:59compared to the hundreds.

01:20:01But, you know,

01:20:02I would argue that

01:20:03for the people

01:20:04living in that region

01:20:05at the time

01:20:05to have 12 murders

01:20:08or people killed

01:20:10was astounding.

01:20:11You still had the matter

01:20:12of the outstanding warrants

01:20:14for Bad Frank Phillips,

01:20:15for John C. Hatfield,

01:20:16for Cap Hatfield,

01:20:17Devil Lance.

01:20:18So you still had

01:20:19bounty hunters,

01:20:20and there were prices

01:20:21on the heads of these men.

01:20:23So they were hiding

01:20:25out in the hills,

01:20:25or some of them

01:20:26fled out west.

01:20:27John C. Hatfield

01:20:28went out west,

01:20:29and he was hunted

01:20:30down out there

01:20:31and came all the way

01:20:32back to Kentucky,

01:20:35West Virginia area,

01:20:36and he was arrested there

01:20:38and tried and put in prison.

01:20:40He was actually

01:20:42a fairly model prisoner,

01:20:44and one day,

01:20:46one of the inmates

01:20:47had attacked the warden,

01:20:48and John C. tackled him

01:20:50and actually killed the attacker.

01:20:53And so the warden

01:20:55went to bat for him,

01:20:57and John C. was given a pardon

01:21:00and left prison

01:21:02after, I think,

01:21:03six or seven years.

01:21:05Frank Phillips,

01:21:06who was living

01:21:07sort of a wild life,

01:21:09he had two wives

01:21:10living in the same house

01:21:12with kids from each

01:21:14of the marriages,

01:21:14and he finally got

01:21:16in a battle

01:21:16with a young man

01:21:18over another woman

01:21:19that both of them

01:21:20were pursuing,

01:21:21and that guy shot him,

01:21:23and he died

01:21:24from that wound.

01:21:25The patriarchs

01:21:27of the two clans,

01:21:28men who had seen

01:21:29so much violence,

01:21:30both lived well

01:21:31into their old age.

01:21:33Randall McCoy

01:21:34spent the rest of his life

01:21:35in Pikeville, Kentucky,

01:21:37working as a ferryboat operator.

01:21:40Haunted by the deaths

01:21:41of his children

01:21:41and relatives,

01:21:42he was often seen

01:21:43wandering the streets

01:21:45raving about his losses

01:21:46and his hate

01:21:47for the Hatfields.

01:21:49Well, Randall

01:21:50never stopped

01:21:51trying to convince

01:21:53the authorities

01:21:54that more should be done

01:21:56against the Hatfields,

01:21:57but he never moved back

01:21:59to the Tug Valley region.

01:22:00He stayed in Pikeville,

01:22:02and through the offices

01:22:04of Perry Klein,

01:22:05he got various jobs.

01:22:06He ran the ferry

01:22:07that went across the river.

01:22:09After being severely burned

01:22:11in an accidental fire,

01:22:12Randall McCoy

01:22:14died March 28, 1914,

01:22:16at the age of 79,

01:22:18and was put to rest

01:22:20with a small private ceremony.

01:22:23He was actually buried

01:22:24in the cemetery

01:22:25that's known

01:22:26as the Dills Cemetery,

01:22:28that is,

01:22:28John Dills,

01:22:29who was one of the leaders

01:22:31in Pikeville

01:22:32and who was actually

01:22:33one of Perry Klein's supporters

01:22:34when he was also very wealthy.

01:22:36So he was supporting

01:22:38a lot of what went on,

01:22:39and he was,

01:22:40so he had Randall McCoy,

01:22:42who was virtually destitute

01:22:43by the end of his life,

01:22:44buried in that cemetery.

01:22:47Devil Ann's Hatfield

01:22:48led a more solid

01:22:49in public life,

01:22:50even going on speaking tours

01:22:52and posing for formal

01:22:53press portraits.

01:22:54He continued to prosper

01:22:56even later in life.

01:22:58Devil Ann's, however,

01:22:59was a very different story.

01:23:01He lived to a very old age,

01:23:03and in this very big house

01:23:05he built on Main Island Creek

01:23:08with his family,

01:23:09and he had a fort

01:23:10to watch out for people

01:23:12who might come after him,

01:23:13but he was very peaceful.

01:23:15On January 6, 1921,

01:23:19Captain William Anderson Hatfield

01:23:21died at the age of 81.

01:23:23With more than 5,000 people

01:23:25at his funeral,

01:23:26Devil Ann's was buried

01:23:27in a family cemetery

01:23:29in Island Creek,

01:23:30Logan County, West Virginia.

01:23:37He lived a pretty peaceful life

01:23:41and died of old age.

01:23:43When he died in 1921,

01:23:45they had a huge funeral.

01:23:47His family commissioned

01:23:49a marble statue,

01:23:51Italian marble statue,

01:23:52which imported from Italy

01:23:54to put in this graveyard,

01:23:57which is an incredible place.

01:23:59When I first went there,

01:24:01practically all of the stones

01:24:02are very primitive,

01:24:04small stones

01:24:05with handwritten etching

01:24:07on the tombstones

01:24:08about the name and date.

01:24:10And his is there

01:24:12this huge, grand marble statue,

01:24:15life-size statue.

01:24:17So it's very interesting.

01:24:19And there's pictures of him,

01:24:21the dedication of the statue,

01:24:23the memorial service.

01:24:24So to the end,

01:24:26he was, you know,

01:24:27venerated by his family

01:24:29and treated with great respect.

01:24:30And Randall McCoy died

01:24:33pretty much in poverty.

01:24:35And there is

01:24:36a tremendous difference.

01:24:38And that rivalry,

01:24:39I think, is very important.

01:24:48I think the feud

01:24:50is a sad part of our history,

01:24:52but I think it is a part

01:24:52of our history

01:24:53that we need to understand.

01:24:56I think also, though,

01:24:59it is merely a dispute

01:25:01between a few individuals.

01:25:04You know, I like to look

01:25:05at the people involved

01:25:09in this story

01:25:10as part of our fabric

01:25:14of what it means

01:25:15to be an American

01:25:16and who we are.

01:25:17I mean, these people came here

01:25:18looking for an opportunity.

01:25:20They struggled

01:25:21and fought for their opportunity.

01:25:23They seized it.

01:25:25You know,

01:25:26they pulled themselves up

01:25:27by their bootstraps.

01:25:28It wasn't always pretty.

01:25:29You know,

01:25:30there was conflict.

01:25:32But for me,

01:25:34they're sort of

01:25:34American archetypes.

01:25:36You know,

01:25:37they're the people

01:25:37who enlist in the armies.

01:25:39They're the people

01:25:39who do our work.

01:25:40They've also become leaders.

01:25:42You know,

01:25:42they've become political leaders,

01:25:43labor leaders.

01:25:45So I think they speak

01:25:47to who we are as Americans.

01:25:50They're good, tough people.

01:25:52They're moral people.

01:25:53And at that time,

01:25:55in that day,

01:25:55they were in a place

01:25:56where there was

01:25:57a lack of infrastructure.

01:26:00And that's why

01:26:01the violence resulted.

01:26:03But I don't think

01:26:03the violence is who they are.

01:26:05but the violence

01:26:06you just have a work

01:26:06and if you can do it

01:26:07You're afraid that it's

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