The Hatfield–McCoy feud Hostile_encounter , also described by journalists as the Hatfield–McCoy war , involved Cause_to_be_included two rural families of the West Virginia–Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River in the years 1863–1891 .

The family , led by grandson Randolph McCoy , lived mostly on the Kentucky side of Tug Fork ( a tributary of the Big Sandy River ) .