Peter Johnson Related This Story In The April 14, ...

Peter Johnson related this story in the April 14, 1988, issue of USA TODAY.

“Have you ever noticed that sometimes we get angry and remain bitter with people and actually forget why we’re so upset? Take, for example, the notorious Hatfield-McCoy feud.

“It hit newspaper front pages in the 1880’s, when the Hatfield clan feuded with the McCoy clan from across the border in Kentucky. Historians disagree on the cause of the feud—which captured the imagination of the nation during a 10-year run. Some cite Civil War tensions: McCoys sympathized with the Union, Hatfields with the Confederacy. Others say it began when the McCoys blamed the Hatfields for stealing hogs. As many as 100 men, women, and children died.

“In May 1976, Jim McCoy and Willis Hatfield—the last two survivors of the original families—shook hands at a public ceremony dedicating a monument to six of the victims.

“McCoy died February 11, 1984, at age 99. He bore no grudges—and had his burial handled by the Hatfield Funeral Home in Toler, Kentucky. [SOURCE: --Peter Johnson, USA TODAY, 4-14-88.]