New Years Day 1888 was an especially bloody day in the historic, long-running feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Now, with the help of Dr. Kim McBride with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, National Geographic’s show “Diggers” is digging even up even more clues about the attack.
McBride’s work investigating the property believed to be the McCoy home in Pike County helped to identify nails and broken window glass.
"We found also lots of charred wood, which is very interesting because what happened in the culmination of this attack January 1st, 1888 was that the house and the attached kitchen and smokehouse were all burned," she says.
As a result, the exact location of the McCoy house, long the subject of speculation, has now been pinpointed, allowing archaeologists and visitors to get a clearer picture of how and where the McCoys lived. But McBride says it’s no mystery why the feud is back in the news.
"Some of the interest has really been heightened because of the miniseries that ran on the History Channel," she notes.
McBride says she hopes her work will help highlight the need for preservation of sites like the McCoy home. Her work will be featured on tonight’s installment of Diggers on the National Geographic channel at 10.
