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Yes there was a dispute over a pig, but there was a lot more to it than that.  There is a lot more to the Hatfield clan than this telling implies as well.  It isn’t our main story, so I’m including a short summary of Devil Anse’s pertinent history here, rather than in the graphics.  As industrialists became interested in the coal and timber resources of West Virginia, they used legal maneuvers, old surrendered titles, and bribery to successfully seize the land of settlers–eventually owning large parts of the state in absentia.  Devil Anse Hatfield fought claims against his land in court, but ended up having to sell much of his land anyway to pay his legal fees.  

Where most farmers and local timberers eventually gave in and moved or became laborers when their land was gone, Devil Anse amassed political and economic influence similar to the way criminal organizations do, using his family to enforce, run moonshine, and ensure political and economic connections with industrial interests. The family had liquor businesses throughout the state–legal and otherwise.  

Some of his sons worked as mine guards.  At times he supported striking miners and at others the coal companies–even during the same strike.  Devil Anse appears to have primarily looked at situations through the lens of ‘What serves my family interests and punishes those who have crossed us?’.  (Rassmussen, Keeney, Corbin, Cavalier)

*The Wildcats were one of many pro-confederate guerilla organizations in the state.

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