The Hatfields and The McCoy’s II, Got to Watch It Finally.

I will stick by my phrase, get revenge in a book.  It helped to watch the two hour documentary before the series, so I spent the equivalent of a work day yesterday watching things Hatfield and McCoy.

My friend Paul watched it during the week and he was right.  Much of it was depressing.

The history buff in me was fascinated, otherwise, what would make a feud in an isolated Appalachian corner so interesting to the rest of the country.

Here is some more information about the region.

http://www.matewan.com/History/HM%20story.htm

This is my take on what I saw and read.

The two families were intertwined, no matter what.  Anse Hatfield’s family was the better off of the two.

I can only guess, but I wonder if Randall McCoy suffered from PTSD in the Union Army Prisoner of War camp.  Anse Hatfield was the more practical man, going home from the American Civil War to protect his family and build his lumber business.  The rest were subsistence farmers. Why the theft of the pig was such a big deal.

The fascination with the feud to outsiders seems to be the fact that two states, Kentucky and West Virginia were involved (I’ve never been in Kentucky, but have driven through West Virginia).  Rugged terrain.  Hard to farm and earn a living.  Have to be tough and accustomed to privation to live up there.

Then the outside world and the railroad came in.

It seems in the end, Randall McCoy lost everything.  Anse Hatfield came out ahead.  He just wanted to build a business and take care of his family.

I leave you with another good blog I found.

http://appalachianlady.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/johnse-and-roseanna/