Tom Dotson

Photos courtesy of Pike County KY Tourism Commission ("Devil Anse" Hatfield photo courtesy West Virginia State Archives)
Hatfields & McCoys, Revisited, Part 11: "It's The Pigs! "
I am sure that many intelligent readers of feud books wonder, as I did for several decades, why people believe the cartoonish feud yarns. Read more

Photos courtesy of Pike County KY Tourism Commission ("Devil Anse" Hatfield photo courtesy West Virginia State Archives)
Hatfields & McCoys, Revisited, Part 10: "Hounds, Geese and Gunshots"

Photos courtesy of Pike County KY Tourism Commission ("Devil Anse" Hatfield photo courtesy West Virginia State Archives)
Hatfields & McCoys, Revisited, Part 8: Reexamining The Infamous Hog Trial
As this series is proving, much of the feud story is illogical, impossible or downright ludicrous. A surprising amount of it is also in clear conflict with official public records. Read more

Photos courtesy of Pike County KY Tourism Commission ("Devil Anse" Hatfield photo courtesy West Virginia State Archives)
Hatfields & McCoys, Revisited: Part 6 – Examining Justice in the "Lawless" Tug Valley
Many fables posing as “Feud history” begin with a few basic premises. Chief among these is the claim that the Tug Valley in the 1870’s-‘80’s was a lawless place. But court records for Pike and Logan Counties refute this contention entirely. Read more

Photos courtesy of Pike County KY Tourism Commission ("Devil Anse" Hatfield photo courtesy West Virginia State Archives)
Hatfields & McCoys, Revisited: Part 3
By Tom Dotson, author of "The Hatfields & McCoys after Kevin Costner: Rescuing History." Read more