The infamous murderous feud between the Hatfields and McCoys families has taken a new turn as the real-life descendants wage a war of bitter words 150 years later.
What began as a late 19th-century war tinged with violence, marriage and betrayal in the Appalachian foothills culminated in barroom shouting and allegations of bullying and harassment in a new series of his Fox Nation show.
McCoy descendant Courtney McCoy DeProspero and her husband, Derek, are a fixture on the series and made an appearance in fox and friends on Tuesday to promote the second season of ‘The Real Hatfields & McCoys: Forever Feuding.’
While the feud has taken a contemporary turn (with guns and arson abandoned in favor of sarcastic banter and corporate one-upmanship), Courtney and Derek insisted the rivalry is “real.”
“We can’t seem to get away from them,” Courtney exclaimed.
Derek DeProspero, left, and Courtney McCoy DeProspero, right, appeared on Fox & Friends to promote the second season of ‘The Real Hatfields & McCoys: Forever Feuding.’
In the photo: The Hatfields who star in the reality show. From left to right (Chad Bishop, married couple Chris Hatfield and Casandra, née McCoy, and Amber Hatfield Bishop, who is married to Chad)
The bloody history of the decades-long dispute, which has also been memorialized in a miniseries starring Kevin Costner, dates back to the Civil War.
The dividing line between the families was the valley of the Tug River, with most of the Hatfields live on the West Virginia side and most of the McCoys settled further west in Kentucky.
Most of the male members of each family fought for the Confederacy, with the exception of Asa Harmon McCoy, who was aligned with Union troops.
The Logan Wildcats, a Confederate militia led by family patriarch William Anderson ‘Devil Anse’ Hatfield, He allegedly shot Asa dead while returning from the war on January 7, 1865.
Although no one was prosecuted for the murder, the feud did not really begin until years later, when Hatfield was accused of stealing a pig from Randall McCoy, who would become Devil Anse’s archenemy.
This would begin decades of revenge killings that claimed many lives, with historians offering a range of casualties from a dozen to as many as 60.
Kevin Costner (center) as ‘Devil Anse’ Hatfield in the 2012 series ‘Hatfields & McCoys’
A group photo of the Hatfields circa 1899 in front of their home in West Virginia.
This map shows approximately where the skirmishes between the Hatfields and the McCoys occurred. The Hatfields lived primarily east of the Tug Fork River, while the McCoys lived primarily to the west.
In one of the most horrible confrontations, The Hatfields burned a McCoy cabin in an attempt to expel them into the public light. Two of Randall McCoy’s children were shot to death as they tried to escape the flames, while his wife, Sarah, was beaten and left with a crushed skull.
Nowadays, the problems between the families are decidedly less violent and more focused on outdoing each other in business, whether it’s ruining the grand openings of their respective restaurants or competing to build lodgings next to the popular Hatfield-McCoy off-road trails.
“You’ll see our problems with the Hatfields, what they’ve been putting us through, how they tried to stop us from growing, stop us from moving,” Courtney said, adding: “They don’t even want us in the region.”
The general premise of the show is that the Hatfields have their territory in West Virginia and the McCoys have theirs. Throughout the show, each family tries to invade and gain advantages however they can to expand their regional empires.
This inevitably leads to clashes between the dueling clans.
Derek, who between seasons married Courtney and had a daughter with her, claimed that members of the Hatfield family harassed him at a Sam’s Club.
‘It was wild. “I mean, I like a little bit of harassment, but at the same time I keep it moving,” he said.
In a clip from an upcoming episode, Courtney kicks the Hatfields out of the bar she runs called McCoy Station.
This is how Amber Hatfield Bishop, Devil Anse’s third great-granddaughter, reacted when she was asked to leave for making too much noise
A highlight of the new season comes when the Hatfields crash a Veterans Day event at McCoy Station, a bar in Logan, West Virginia.
Courtney, who runs the bar, approaches a group of Hatfields and tells them, “Sorry, this is a place of business.” I asked you to relax. I think you have to go.
The camera then focuses on Amber Hatfield Bishop, Devil Anse’s third great-granddaughter, whose mouth is open in shock.
The show also attempts to tap into bits of family rivalry that have become American folk legends.
For example, Casandra McCoy and Chris Hatfield, both seventh-generation descendants, get married in the first season, which was the focus of much of the drama.
In true Romeo and Juliet style, Devil Anse’s son, Johnse Hatfield, and Randall’s daughter, Roseanna McCoy, began a passionate love affair in 1880 that resulted in them having a daughter together.
Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy’s relationship ended in tragedy, much like the story of Romeo and Juliet.
The screenwriters saw the similarities between this real-life romance and Romeo and Juliet. In 1949, Hollywood released a film simply titled Roseanna McCoy, which focused heavily on the forbidden relationship between Johnse and Roseanna.
Roseanna fled from the McCoys and lived with the Hatfields for months, but Devil Anse reportedly refused to give his blessing to allow the marriage between his son and his son’s mother.
Roseanna eventually returned to her family when it became clear that getting married would never happen.
Like Romeo and Juliet, another tragedy would befall Roseanna.
Their daughter Sally died of measles and pneumonia just a few months after being born. Roseanna later died at the young age of 28.
Shown above is a group of Hatfield gunmen in the late 19th century stopping men, possibly McCoys, on the side of the road.
The feud between the Hatfields (pictured) and the McCoys ended informally in the 1890s, but the families did not officially make peace until 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Johnse emerged from the love affair relatively unscathed, remarried and turned 60 before dying in 1922.
The feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys ended informally in the 1890s, but the families did not officially make peace until 2003, according to the US Census Bureau.
On the show, Cassandra and Chris successfully merge the Hatfields and the McCoys without bloodshed, but certainly not without incident.
The second season is expected to have 10 episodes, each lasting approximately 22 minutes.
The first four episodes are available to stream on Fox Nation and the fifth episode will air on Monday, September 23.