Reflection on Feud: Hatfields, McCoys, and Social Change in Appalachia, 1860-1900

The main problem that I had with Feud: Hatfields, McCoys, and Social Change in Appalachia, 1860-1900, was that it was impossible for me to follow all the names and what family each person. Because of the fact that it was so difficult to follow, I quickly lost interest in the book. I think that either a more interesting book, or even a film would do a better job than this book. Another possibility would be to have students do individual research on the feud and then discuss it in class. This would let people exchange notes and allow them to pick up on anything that they might have missed.
I read the review of this book by Georgann Eubanks in the November 1988 issue of Washington Monthly, and it really helped to clear up what this book was about. I used to think the Hatfield-McCoy feud was just about a stolen hog, but as Waller points out, the media hype for this feud may have been one of the initial causes to the stereotype of Appalachian lawlessness and violence. Also something that I never knew before was that both families sought to solve the problem civilly through the courts, even as high as the Supreme Court of the United States, but this did not work. This review also mentions Waller’s viewpoint that this feud shows how the judicial system failed in this case because it did not take into account close relationships between families and neighbors. I think that if the courts had taken these relationships into account, the case would have been even more complicated. Overall, I thought that this article really helped me to understand the information that Waller was trying to portray in this book.
I was surprised at how much the state was involved in trying to stop this conflict. The governor of Kentucky tried to extradite that Hatfields and even hired a special deputy to fix the problem. There were private detectives and bounty hunters everywhere in the region. When nine Hatfields were brought to trial in 1888, and eight of them received life sentences while the ninth was hanged. The fact that Ellison Mounts was the only one hanged and he happened to be the illegitimate, retarded son of Ellison Hatfield, seems a little suspicious to me.
After attempting this book and reading about it on the internet later, I do not think that this book is necessary for this course. I think that the Hatfield-McCoy feud is an important issue, but I think that there must be other books out there that are easier or more interesting to read. I also think that I could have gathered the same information from this book on the internet. Another idea would be to find a documentary about the feud. Not only does this have the possibility of being more interesting, it also may help other people learn if they see the events and people visually than if they just read the descriptions in the book.