AllMovie

Their epic skirmish claimed twelve victims over the course of eleven years and sparked headlines that would forever lock them into the annals of American folklore, but who were the Hatfields and McCoys really, and what transgression sparked the unquenchable bloodlust that raged between the clans for over a decade? In this documentary investigation from the filmmakers at The History Channel, the conflict of the families who lived on the Tug Fork River near the Kentucky-West Virginia border in the late 1800s is explored from Floyd Hatfield's abduction of Randolph McCoy's prized hog in 1878 until the final blow of the battle was struck in 1889. By traveling to the Appalachians and speaking with both the historians that have studied the case and descendents from both families, a modern day investigation reveals a forbidden romance that helped to fan the flames of the deadly fire, and takes a look at each fatal encounter that elevated the quarrel from family strife to immortal legend.