Tag: Feud

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Dean King okum Hatfield & McCoy Hokum in Books

A Church house, a Smokehouse and a Cat house—and a Bounty Hunter, Too!

Once one has read my 2013 book, “The Hatfield & McCoy Feud after Kevin Costner: Rescuing History,” one can get some real laughs from reading the feud books.

Dean King’s “True Story.” has almost all of the most comical yarns from earlier feud tales, and he gives the prior author credit occasionally.

Unfortunately, some of the best guffaws in King’s book are not apparent to someone who was not raised in the hills before about 1970, or who hasn’t read the Foxfire books.

King starts out with one of those Foxfire howlers.

This story can be read in my book, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Feud Tales.”  https://tinyurl.com/ycqlg3oy

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Dean King Hokum Uncategorized

We Got Guns! The Little Newspaper that Wasn’t

A recent post on a popular Facebook page devoted to “The Hatfield and McCoy Feud” caught my eye. The poster wrote:  “The story in its basic form will never really change despite efforts to uncover new evidence in documents.”

That is an absolutely true statement. The basic story will never change for one simple reason–it is a STORY! It has not changed materially since John Spears first wrote it in 1888.

This story can be read in my book, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Feud Tales.”  https://tinyurl.com/ycqlg3oy

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Hatfield-McCoy Feud Hokum Real Hatfield-McCoy History Uncategorized

More Feud Markers for West Virginia

Until recently, West Virginia had no markers for feud events on the West Virginia side of the Tug River. Bill Richardson has started to rectify that deficiency by placing markers at sites where “feud events” occurred, or where feud characters lived.

Bill Richardson is a student of history, and it shows in the markers he has placed. Richardson’s markers adhere closely to actual historical fact, and, as a result, might not be as effective in drawing tourists as are the ones in Kentucky.  The super-sized feud story evident in the Kentucky markers, based largely on the feud fable as it is presented in the feud books, is much more titillating than are the historical markers being erected in West Virginia.

This story can be read in my book, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Feud Tales.”  https://tinyurl.com/ycqlg3oy

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Hatfield-McCoy Feud Hokum Uncategorized

A Tale of Two Jims

The above sketch is by Tug Valley’s own Vera Kay Fink Hankins.

As I wrote in my book, there were no heroes in the Hatfield and McCoy feud. Some partisans—yes, there are still partisans today—go to great lengths to find heroes.  These same partisans also have villains.

Feud writers concentrate on Ran’l McCoy and Anse Hatfield, but the actual history is presented much better with the stories of two men named Jim–Jim McCoy and Jim Vance.

This story can be read in my book, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Feud Tales.”  https://tinyurl.com/ycqlg3oy