Hatfield–McCoy feud
Between 1880 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of the two families. On one occasion, the governors of West Virginia and Kentucky even threatened to have their militias invade each other's states. In response, Kentucky Governor S. B. Buckner sent his Adjutant General Sam Hill to Pike County to investigate the situation. More than a dozen people died and at least 10 people were wounded. A few days after the New Year's Massacre, a posse led by Pike county deputy sheriff Frank Philipps rode out to track down Devil Anse's group across the border into West Virginia. The posse's first victim was Jim Vance, who was killed in the woods after he refused to be arrested. Philipps then made other successive raids on Hatfield homes and supporters and captured three before cornering the rest in Grapevine Creek on 19 January. Unfortunately for Philipps, Devil Anse and other Hatfields were waiting for them with an armed group of their own. A battle ensued between the two parties, and the Hatfields were eventually apprehended. Two Hatfield supporters were killed, and a deputy, Bill Dempsey, was executed by Frank Philipps after they surrendered. Wall Hatfield and eight others were arrested and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of Alifair McCoy (sometimes spelled Allaphare, Randolph's young daughter), killed during the New Year's Massacre.
Robert John Sholl
Conflict between settlers and local indigenous people peaked during 1868–69. On the night of 6–7 February 1868, Police Constable William Griffis and his Aboriginal assistant Peter, along with a pearler called George Breem, were killed by members of the Jaburara (or Yaburara) people on the shores of Nickol Bay, near the Jaburara heartland of Dampier Peninsula (later renamed Burrup Peninsula). Another pearler, Henry Jermyn disappeared shortly afterwards. In response, Sholl organised, armed and supplied two groups of mounted men, sworn in as special constables. On 14–15 February, a party led by Alexander McRae travelled overland to the peninsula, while another, led by John Withnell sailed on a ship chartered for the purpose, to the tip of the peninsula. The two mounted parties attacked Jaburara people on the peninsula and the nearby islands of the Dampier Archipelago. The number and identity of those killed by the special constables in the "Flying Foam Massacre" is unknown; estimates range from two to 150, although a figure of 30–40 dead is often cited. The Jaburara population collapsed soon afterwards, in part because of their recruitment by pearlers. Sholl was criticised by other officials and at least one northern pastoralist, WA Taylor, who claimed that Griffis had attracted animosity by seducing and/or raping a Jaburara woman; Taylor's claim is also supported by oral tradition among indigenous people in the area. The following year, the killing of station workers, both white and Aboriginal, by indigenous hunter-gatherers at ET Hooley's station, the only one in operation on the Ashburton River, resulted in RJ Sholl overseeing further expeditions by armed, mounted police and settlers, culminating in the so-called "Battle of Minderoo" (18 July 1869). However, these reprisals came too late to prevent the abandonment of Hooley's station.