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| Alleged Pig Trial Cabin |
Virtually all of the feud legends agree that the alleged stealing of a pig by a Hatfield was a pivotal event in leading to the hostilities between the families. It was relatively common at the time in this area for pigs to be allowed to freely range for feeding purposes - neighboring land boundaries were often crossed by the animals and as long as their was clear identification by the owners of their livestock, disputes were minimal.
Feud legend maintains that a pig owned by Randolph McCoy was discovered on land farmed by Floyd Hatfield. Randolph confronted Floyd, a huge trial with twelve jurors was held with large crowds gathering to watch the legal wrangling and McCoy loses the trial, thus setting up more bad blood between the families.
The record shows several issues with this claim. Pictured above is the cabin where the supposed trial was held. It is small, barely large enough to contain the plaintiff and defendant, there is no way that a large crowd squeezed into this building to watch a trial over a hog.
Also not mentioned is that the land the supposed pig was rooting on was owned by Uriah McCoy, a cousin of Randolph who leased the land to Floyd Hatfield. Wouldn't Randolph have gone to his cousin and let him know that his renter had one of his pigs? There is no court record of a pig trial, both Randolph McCoy and Anderson Hatfield had been involved in much larger law suits over much larger sums of money and both had won and lost cases.
Plus, this is revealing in that if Randolph was the clan leader claimed, why was Uriah leasing land to a Hatfield, why did a McCoy family member testify against Randolph in the trial (Bill Staton, related to the McCoys), and once the case was decided in favor of Floyd Hatfield, why did the McCoy family continue to coexist peacefully with Hatfields for over two more years?
Finally, Randolph McCoy never charged Floyd Hatfield with stealing a hog. Had a charge been brought, it would have been brought into Circuit Court, because hog stealing was a felony under Kentucky law. Had the charge been litigated, it would be in Pike Circuit Court records, and no such case appears in the record. The pig trial is a myth.