Museum showcases relics from Hatfield & McCoy feud

Items on display include bullets fired by the warring families, a gun found at a battle site and fragments of Randolph McCoy's cabin, destroyed by the Hatfield clan in an infamous 1888 New Year's attack, said the museum's curator, Bill Richardson.

Many believe the backwoods blood feud was rooted in the Civil War, but the bitterness was perpetuated by disputes over timber rights and even a pig.

Summer bus tours take visitors to some of the key feud sites in both states.

Interest in the cross-border fighting surged five years ago following a History Channel miniseries that starred Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton as the families' patriarchs — William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield in West Virginia and Randolph "ole Ran'l" McCoy in Kentucky.

Other museum items include the burial records for "Devil Anse" Hatfield and other Hatfields, the deed for a contested 5,000 acres of land that some believe started the feud and arrest warrants for the Hatfields.