What is known about this time period in American history is 11 Southern States formed a confederacy, declared war on the United States in 1861 in order to preserve the enterprise of human trafficking.

The Civil War is America’s bloodiest war.  It is believed over 600,000 soldiers were killed among the Union and Southern troops. As relates to civilian casualties, exact numbers are not known.

The estimations for the casualties on the Northern side appear to be more accurate; the Southern numbers are undetermined as most of the records were destroyed when courthouses throughout the south were razed. Many historians believe the casualties on the southern side are much higher than documented.

When a recently raised South Carolina Militia attacked the United States Army at Ft. Sumter in South Carolina on April 12, 1861 the rage was loosed, lasting for four bloody years and ending on May 9, 1865.

In the border states of Tennessee and Kentucky many people were indifferent to the war and hoped to remain neutral; but the war came to their front door. For many families, particularly in the Border States, the destruction of the war and its tragedies linger and fester in the South still today.

The film Blood River The Reckoning is an account of one family from Puryear, TN in the chaotic decades following the total defeat of the Confederacy. 

To further understand these times and how we all, throughout the United States and the world, are still effected today the following links can be informative.

As the events unfolded, the South surrendered in 1865. President Lincoln was assassinated by JW Booth in Fords Theater, and the actions of VP Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's VP choice, now President, set the course for the next 150 years of Southern governance. The future of the South was set.  

Blood River Reckoning, now in post-production is a story of war, loss, reckoning, and then finally acceptance.  Blood River is a human, and uniquely American, family story.

--------------------------------

The Blood River flows south to north along the border of Tennessee and Kentucky today as it has done for millennial. The River drains deep ravines, lowland marshes, and many small creeks, ultimately draining into the Tennessee River. The Boyd family has lived and farmed in the fields of Blood River for generations throughout both the Revolutionary and Civil War years.

Abraham Lincoln's war success and his forward looking reunification and reconstruction plans earned Lincoln re-election to a second term. He was inaugurated to a second term in March 1865.

Four weeks after his inauguration President Lincoln is assassinated by a single shot to the back of his head from close range by the traitor, and failed actor John Wilkes Booth .   

Lincoln's assassination forced his Vice President, Tennessee Senator Andrew Johnson, into the office of the Presidency. Johnson immediately began to undermine Lincolns plans for Southern reunification. Johnson's actions condemned  the 11 Southern States to a chaotic future. 

Into the void rushed deserters from both sides, bounty-hunters. Uneven applications of martial law caused many villains to descend into the defeated South... a lawless frontier mentality preyed upon a war weary population of Southerners.

Our story is of one family, the Boyd family, who lived and farmed the rich fertile banks of the Blood River in the 1870's.  We are inspired by real events of the time.

We have recently recovered an entire unit of previously damaged footage.  We are re-editing to utilize this new footage.  Very excited.

Blood River