If you’re a fan of “Yellowstone,” you know that the show and its spin-off prequel series are filled with beautiful landscapes, seriously dramatic events and scene-stealing characters that you’ll love to hate or love to hate. Are. But what you might not know is each character’s past and their lineage, specifically the Dutton family. There are nephews, friends, enemies, sons, adopted sons, daughters, aunts and uncles taking care of the legacy-changing events, and we still don’t officially know who John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) grandfather is. !
And with the end of “Yellowstone” Season 5 coming later this year — which will also mark the end of the series — now is the perfect time to straighten out the “Yellowstone” timeline, especially because the franchise-expanding spin-off is yet to be released. are starting.
Note: This article contains spoilers from “Yellowstone” Season 5.
1883
While “Yellowstone” tells the modern history of the Dutton Ranch, the series “1883” covers how the ranch initially took root and began what we know as the Seven Generations of Duttons. So this makes it the perfect place to start. And it’s worth noting that while we don’t yet know for sure who John Dutton III’s (Kevin Costner) grandfather is, chances are we’ve already met him.
In “1883” we meet the post-Civil War generation of the Dutton family in James (Tim McGraw), his wife Margaret (Faith Hill), their daughter Elsa (Isabel May), and young son John. After reaching Fort Worth, Texas from Tennessee, they joined an entire wagon train headed west, part of America’s westward expansion.
Oregon is the initial desired destination for the Dutton family, but the journey west proves too dangerous, difficult and even deadly. So much so that after a run-in with Lakota warriors, Elsa discovers what appears to be a fatal injury. After being asked to choose their own burial site, an indigenous man points Elsa and Dutton to an area in Montana called Paradise Valley. And in encouraging foreshadowing, the man says that in seven generations his people will take the land back from the Dutts.
The second season of “1883” will shift its focus away from the Duttons and instead follow the legendary lawman, Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo), a former slave who became the first black US Marshal. No word yet on whether members of the Dutton or Rainwater families will pop up, but it seems likely.
1894–1923
There may not be an entire series about the year 1894, but that doesn’t make it any less important in the “Yellowstone” timeline. Because in the pilot episode “1923,” we learn that Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford), the older brother of James Dutton (Tim McGraw), was called in by Margaret (Faith Hill) to help out on the farm. and after the deaths of James and Margaret, their sons John and Spencer – the latter of whom was born after the events of “1883” – were taken in and raised by Jacob and his wife Cara (Helen Mirren), who have no children. their own.
And in the two decades leading up to the events of “1923”, Jacobs turned Yellowstone into a small ranching empire, something James and Margaret had not been able to do. And not only did this help keep things going during the darkness and depression the 1920s brought, it ultimately set the family up economically and politically for generations to come.
1923
When we are brought into the world of the Duttons in “1923”, we see that Jacob has built up enough power to become Commissioner of Livestock, which would be the start of a long-lasting political empire for the Duttons.
Meanwhile, his oldest nephew John (James Badge Dale), who by this time had become John Sr., was Jacob’s right-hand man on the ranch and had a son named Jack Dutton (Darren Mann), also an adult. . Tragically, John Sr. is ambushed and killed by the sheep herders the family is feuding with.
And Jacob’s other nephew, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Schellner), is not there to help protect the ranch in the wake of his brother’s death as he hunts big game to try and escape the horrors of fighting in the Great War in Africa. Used to be. As things escalate back home in Montana, Kara Dutton writes Spencer a letter begging him to come home and protect the family land. We won’t know whether or not he comes back before the season ends, but with so much emphasis on Spencer over John Sr. in this series, it’s likely that he’s more directly tied to John III than John Sr.
1944
Not much is known about another prequel series potentially coming from the Yellowstone canon, “1944,” but it’s safe to assume it will follow up on “1923” and “1944,” focusing on John Dutton III’s (Kevin) father. Yellowstone” can fill the gap between. Costner), John Dutton Jr., as a young man alongside the older characters we know from “1923”.
1997
Flashbacks during the first season of Yellowstone show the death of John III’s wife Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol) while horseback riding with children Beth and Kayce. We learn that an inexperienced Beth scared the horses, causing Evelyn to fall on top of her. This event is something that greatly shaped the person Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) would become, and something that John III still mourns decades later.
2018 – present time
The current timeline of “Yellowstone” began with the death of John III’s eldest son, Lee Dutton (Dave Annable), due to territorial disputes with the nearby Broken Rock Reservation.
John’s son Kayce (Luke Grimes), a former Navy SEAL, had been living on the reservation with his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbill) and son Tate (Bracken Merrill), but returned home to the ranch. The third son in the family, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), pursues a political career and is evicted from the farm. and John’s only daughter, Beth Dutton, was working for a large bank and handling farm business deals.
As the season went on the number one adversary for Dutton has been the general threat of people wanting to take their land – from developers to indigenous people and everyone in between. And these threats, mainly from a company called Market Equities, include attempts on the lives of various members of the Dutton family and, in turn, Dutton family vendettas.
The relationship between John and Jamie has been an interesting journey, especially when we learn that Jamie actually has a different biological father, Garrett Randall (Will Patton), who ultimately tries to bring down the Dutton family himself but doesn’t succeed. Happened. Instead, Beth blackmails Jamie into killing Garrett and takes video evidence of Jamie dumping the body. Definitely a dark moment in the “Yellowstone” timeline.
In addition to dealing with constant threats, the Dutton family has also grown up a bit. Beth is married to longtime ranch hand Rip (Cole Hauser) and they have taken in an orphaned boy and are raising him as their own. Caius participated in a ritual to become a member of his wife’s tribe and during that event, he saw some dark visions concerning the future of the farm. He and his wife Monica became pregnant with a second child, John, but she died before she could give birth after a car accident on the way to the hospital. The child was buried in an Indigenous American ceremony at the Dutton ranch.
Politically, despite Jamie yearning for the role of governor of Montana, John unexpectedly throws his hat into the ring and, of course, wins the election, all with the sole focus of saving his land by placing it in a conservation facility. Gave. But it could be blocked if the state learns that farm hands killed protected wolves from the national park.
Meanwhile, tensions continue to rise between Jamie and the rest of her family. So much so that both Beth and Jamie seem to be plotting each other’s death as we head into the final episodes of the series. Yes.
And last we saw, Rip and a few other ranch hands had brought the herd to Texas for the winter. They will be at the 6666 ranch where former Yellowstone employee Jimmy (Jefferson White) works. No doubt this will help set up the “6666” spinoff series, adding yet more drama and beloved characters to the “Yellowstone” timeline.
