How the ‘Hatfields and McCoys’ Feud Ruined the Image of Rural America [View all]
As the History miniseries “Hatfields and McCoys” wraps up tonight, viewers will likely be left with some questions. A few of them: What kinds of liberties did the fictionalized drama take with the real-life story? What surprising stories did the show leave out? And what is the status of the Hatfield-McCoy feud today?
To get some answers, the Journal talked to Lisa Alther, author of “Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance.” She’s not just an expert on the subject of the feud, her family has marriage connections to the McCoys. (If any Hatfields are reading this, let’s hope her responses don’t spark a new beef.) Alther answered our questions via email.
What do you think of the “Hatfields & McCoys” so far? Were there any scenes that stood out to you?
On the whole, I think the miniseries is doing a great job of conveying the complexities that fueled the feud and the contradictions of the personalities involved.
How accurate is the miniseries in depicting the Hatfield-McCoy feud?
Several scenes stood out for me because of their historical inaccuracies. Some characters are murdered in the miniseries who weren’t murdered in reality, or by people other than their actual murderers. Also, the Tug Fork Valley at that time was a remote rural area, so the existence there of a classy Wild West saloon and brothel startled me. The depiction of Perry Cline was especially surprising to me because he lived in Pikeville, 25 miles away from the feud area, with his wife and five children and wasn’t actually roaming the Tug Fork trying to persuade Roseanna to marry him or manipulating the McCoy sons into attacking the Hatfields. He wasn’t even a lawyer until the final years of the feud. But this is how historical fiction works, and the miniseries is a fiction, not a documentary. And of course many of the feudists weren’t as physically attractive as the Hollywood actors who are portraying them.
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