The main Yellowstone series revolves around John Dutton III (one of Kevin Costner’s best performances), a sixth-generation rancher who rises to power as the series progresses. The modern-day patriarch of the Dutton family and owner of the Dutton Family Ranch in Yellowstone National Park, John increased his influence in the region by becoming the Livestock Commissioner of Montana and eventually the state governor. Throughout the main series, John Dutton’s past continues to inform his future.
As revealed in the main series and the spin-offs 1883 and 1923, John Dutton III is the son of John Dutton II (Dabney Coleman) and grandson of John Dutton Sr. (James Badge Dale). While very little is known about his mother, John Dutton III also descends from Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol), his grandmother and the family matriarch who was married to John Dutton Sr. until she died in 1997 following a horseback accident.
John Dutton Sr.’s father was James Dillard Dutton (Tim McGraw), the patriarch and founder of the Dutton Family Ranch in the 19th century. He is married to Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill). James Dutton was born in Tennessee before moving to Fort Worth, Texas, and eventually settling along the Montana/Wyoming border. Therefore, James Dutton is John Dutton III’s great-great-grandfather and Margaret Dutton is his great-great-grandmother.
