Chapter 13 Exercises: The Feud Mythology
Exercise 1: Primary Source Analysis — Newspaper vs. Court Records
Read the following two sources carefully and answer the questions below.
Source A — T.C. Crawford, New York World, February 1888:
"The people of this wild region live much as their ancestors did a hundred years ago. They are a fierce, untamed people, who know no law but the law of the rifle. Education is unknown, and religion is a superstition mixed with violence. The children of the mountains grow up in an atmosphere of suspicion, hatred, and violence from which there is no escape save by death or exile."
Source B — Pike County, Kentucky, Circuit Court records, 1882–1888:
[The court records from this period show the following: Over forty separate civil and criminal cases involving members of the Hatfield and McCoy families were filed in Pike County courts between 1882 and 1888. These included lawsuits over property boundaries, timber rights, and livestock ownership; criminal indictments for assault, murder, and arson; motions for extradition from West Virginia; and appeals to the Kentucky governor for intervention. The legal documents were prepared by licensed attorneys, signed by literate parties, and processed through standard legal procedures.]
a) What image of the Tug Fork community does Source A create? List the specific claims Crawford makes about education, religion, and law. What evidence does he offer for these claims?
b) What image of the same community does Source B create? What does the existence of extensive court records tell you about the community's relationship to legal institutions?
c) How do you explain the contradiction between these two sources? Is one simply wrong, or are they describing different aspects of the same reality? What factors might have led Crawford to produce an account so different from what the court records suggest?
d) If you were writing a history of the Hatfield-McCoy feud and could use only one of these source types — newspaper accounts or court records — which would you choose, and why? What would you lose by relying on each source alone?
Exercise 2: Mapping the Economics of the Feud
This exercise asks you to connect the timeline of the Hatfield-McCoy feud to the economic transformation of the Tug Fork region.
a) Create a two-column timeline. In the left column, list the major incidents of the Hatfield-McCoy feud (1878 hog trial, 1882 Election Day killings, 1888 New Year's Night Attack, 1890 execution of Cotton Top Mounts). In the right column, research and list the major economic developments in the Tug Fork / Big Sandy River region during the same period — specifically, the progress of the Norfolk and Western Railway, land purchases by outside companies, and timber and mineral-rights transactions. (Sources: use library databases, the West Virginia Archives, or Ronald Eller's Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers for economic data.)
b) What patterns do you observe when these two timelines are placed side by side? Is there a relationship between the timing of feud violence and the pace of economic change in the region?
c) Devil Anse Hatfield sold his timber rights to outside investors in the 1890s. What does this timing suggest about his understanding of the changing economic landscape? Was the sale a retreat from the feud, a victory, a defeat, or something more complicated?
d) How does placing the feud in its economic context change your understanding of what the conflict was "about"? Write a paragraph explaining the feud to someone who has only heard the popular version.
Exercise 3: Comparing Feuds — Elite Conflict in Three Counties
Research one of the following feuds in addition to the Hatfield-McCoy conflict. Use the sources suggested or find your own through library databases.
- The French-Eversole Feud (Perry County, Kentucky, 1887–1894)
- The Martin-Tolliver Feud (Rowan County, Kentucky, 1884–1887)
- The Baker-Howard Feud (Clay County, Kentucky, 1890s–1900s)
a) Who were the principal figures in the feud you researched? What were their positions in the community — their occupations, their political roles, their economic status?
b) What economic transformation was the county undergoing during the period of the feud? Was the railroad approaching? Were timber or mineral-rights agents active?
c) How was the feud covered by newspapers? Was the coverage consistent with the "feuding hillbilly" stereotype, or did any reporters describe the economic and political context of the violence?
d) Write a brief comparison (500–750 words) of the feud you researched and the Hatfield-McCoy conflict. What structural similarities do you find? What does the comparison tell you about the causes of post-Civil War violence in the Appalachian interior?
Exercise 4: The Stereotype in Modern Media
Select one of the following modern media representations of the Hatfield-McCoy feud:
- The History Channel's Hatfields & McCoys miniseries (2012)
- The Travel Channel's or History Channel's coverage of the Hatfield-McCoy feud tourism industry
- A recent newspaper or magazine article about the feud (search major newspaper databases for articles from the last decade)
- The marketing materials of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail system or feud-related tourism businesses
a) Describe the representation you selected. How does it portray the feudists and the community? What aspects of the feud are emphasized? What aspects are minimized or omitted? Pay particular attention to how the physical setting is depicted — is the landscape shown as beautiful, menacing, or both? How does the visual framing of the mountains contribute to the narrative?
b) Does the representation acknowledge the economic and political context of the feud (timber, railroads, the state boundary, the role of Perry Cline)? Or does it present the feud primarily as a family conflict driven by personal grudges? If the economic context is absent, speculate about why the producers or writers chose to omit it.
c) Who is the intended audience for this representation? What does the audience want from the feud story — entertainment, education, confirmation of existing beliefs, or something else? How does the medium itself (television, print, marketing material) constrain what kind of story can be told?
d) Apply the concept of the outsider gaze (from Chapter 14) to the representation you analyzed. In what ways does the representation serve the interests and expectations of an audience outside the Tug Fork community? How might a person from the Tug Fork Valley respond to this representation?
e) Write a 300-word alternative media summary — a paragraph that could appear in a TV guide or article preview — that describes the Hatfield-McCoy conflict in a way that foregrounds the economic and political context rather than the family violence. What would the "hook" be for an audience that is accustomed to the traditional narrative?
Exercise 5: Debate Framework — Was the Feud "Really About" Economics?
Organize a debate (or write a debate essay) on the following resolution:
Resolved: The Hatfield-McCoy feud was fundamentally an economic conflict over land and timber, and the narrative of "primitive clan violence" is a fiction created by the media.
For the resolution: Draw on Altina Waller's scholarship, the economic timeline of the Tug Fork region, and the evidence that the feudists were members of the local elite engaged in property disputes and political maneuvering. Argue that the "primitive violence" interpretation is not just inaccurate but serves the interests of the people who exploited the region.
Against the resolution: Argue that while economic factors were important, the feud also involved genuine personal grievances, family loyalties, and cultural norms about honor and revenge that cannot be reduced to economics alone. Challenge the assumption that all human behavior can be explained by material interests. (Note: being "against" this resolution does not require accepting the "feuding hillbilly" stereotype — it requires arguing for a more complex, multi-causal explanation.)
For both sides: Consider the following questions: - What evidence would change your mind? - Is it possible for the feud to be both an economic conflict and a personal one? - Does acknowledging the cultural dimensions of the feud necessarily mean accepting the "feuding hillbilly" stereotype, or is there a way to take culture seriously without stereotyping?
Written component: After the debate, write a 500-word synthesis that explains why this question matters beyond the Hatfield-McCoy feud specifically. How does the way we explain historical violence — as cultural or structural, as character-driven or condition-driven — affect how we understand and respond to violence in the present?
Exercise 6: The Feud and the Community History Portfolio
Return to the county you selected for your Community History Portfolio.
a) Research whether your county experienced any violent conflicts that were described as "feuds" in the post-Civil War decades. If it did, apply the analytical framework from this chapter: Who were the parties? What were the economic stakes? How was the violence covered by outside media?
b) If your county did not experience a major feud, research why. Was the county's economic transformation less disruptive? Were its political institutions stronger? Was the state boundary issue absent?
c) Regardless of whether a feud occurred, consider how the broader "feuding hillbilly" stereotype may have affected your county. Has the stereotype shaped how outsiders perceive the county? Has it influenced local self-image? Has the county's history been distorted by association with the feud narrative?
d) Write a 500-word reflection on how the feud mythology has or has not affected your county's story.
Exercise 7: Whose Voice Is Missing?
The historical record of the Hatfield-McCoy feud is dominated by the voices of men — specifically, the male leaders of the feuding factions and the male reporters who covered them. This exercise asks you to consider the missing voices.
a) Sarah McCoy survived the New Year's Night Attack, in which her children were killed and her home was burned. Imagine that a reporter had interviewed Sarah McCoy and had written her story sympathetically and in her own words. What questions would you want asked? What aspects of the feud might Sarah McCoy's perspective illuminate that the existing accounts miss?
b) The vast majority of Tug Fork Valley residents were not members of either the Hatfield or McCoy families. How might the feud have affected these families — disrupting their communities, dividing their allegiances, threatening their safety, and defining their home in the eyes of the nation? What would a history of the feud look like if it centered the experiences of non-feuding families?
c) African Americans lived in the Tug Fork Valley during the feud period, though their numbers were small. Research what you can about Black residents of Pike County, Kentucky, and Logan County, West Virginia, in the 1880s. (Census records and county histories are useful starting points.) How might the feud and its aftermath have affected these community members?
d) Write a brief (300–500 word) account of the Hatfield-McCoy feud from the perspective of one of these missing voices. This can be creative (imagined first person) or analytical (discussing what the historical record reveals and what it conceals). Be clear about what is documented and what is speculative.