Kentucky's Famous Feuds and Tragedies

The citizens of Kentucky, a state already known as the "Dark and Bloody Ground," did much to substantiate the state's reputation, judging from accounts of the region's violent feuds reported in the nation's newspapers of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The New York Times of July 26, 1885 stated, "The savages who inhabit this region are not manly enough to fight fairly, face to face. They lie in wait and shoot their enemies in the back....One can hardly believe that any part of the United States is cursed with people so lawless and degraded."