The series of violent events that erupted in southern Appalachia in the 1870s and 80s, known as the “Hatfield-McCoy Feud,” evokes stereotypes of backwoods blood feuds and caricatured “hillbillies” with loaded shotguns. This episode will offer a very different version of the Hatfield-McCoy story that uncovers clues to the real reason for the feud and how the caricatured image of the hillbilly was born.
The rugged borderland between West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky are famous for its rich veins of anthracite coal, which have profoundly shaped its national image and regional landscape. But our story will take place in the era just before the coming of the mines and the company towns; it will describe the series of violent events that erupted in this region in the 1870s and 80s that have come to be known as the “Hatfield-McCoy Feud.” The mention of that feud evokes stereotypes of Appalachian blood feuds and caricatured “hillbillies” with loaded shotguns, but we’ll tell a very different version of the Hatfield-McCoy story that uncovers some clues to the real reason for the feud and how the caricatured image of the hillbilly was born.

Music and FX Credits

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