The Dutton family tree grows with each Yellowstone iteration, and the generations reach back even further in 1923. In this version of the Taylor Sheridan-created TV family, Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford play the family’s leaders, which premieres on Paramount+ on Sunday, December 18, and marks Ford’s first-ever series regular role.
The 1923 characters adhere to the familiar structure that franchise fans have grown accustomed to expecting. The Duttons, with their various spouses and children, are there, as are workers on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch who are as close as blood relatives.
Then there are the capitalistic foes drooling at the prospect of acquiring Dutton’s land. Some dare to enter Dutton territory for their purposes, but unlike one particular villain, they are not out to make a fortune. They’re just trying to survive without limits during the Great Depression.
Then there’s the story’s Indigenous people’s narrative. In 1923 and will be symbolized by a Residential Boarding School. Whose histories constitute a horrific, gloomy, and brutal chapter in American history.
In the gallery below, please get to know the characters of 1923, including where they fit into Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone family tree.
Sunday, December 18, 1923, Series Premiere, Paramount+
Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton After his brother, ranch founder James Dutton (Tim McGraw’s character in 1883), died, Jacob became the patriarch of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Claire Dutton, Jacob and James’s other sibling, died in 1883. (played by Dawn Olivieri, now in Yellowstone Season 5 in a new role).
Jacob is thus the great-granduncle of Costner’s John Dutton III. Jacob and Cara do not have biological children.
Helen Mirren plays Cara Dutton.
Cara Dutton (Marley Shelton), the Dutton family matriarch and Jacob’s wife, runs the Dutton home with Emma Dutton (Marley Shelton) while the cowboys tend to the land and livestock.
By marriage, she is the great-grandaunt of Costner’s character. Jacob and Cara adopted John Dutton, Sr. (James Badge Dale) and Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) after their parents, James and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill), died.
John Dutton, Sr. is played by James Badge Dale.
John is Jacob and Cara’s oldest nephew and right-hand man, as well as the son of James and Margaret. In the Season 4 episode of Yellowstone that introduced McGraw and Hill’s characters, a flashback showed Spencer Dutton and his older sister Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) as kids in 1883. The episode took place after the events of 1883 and showed McGraw’s character James’ death.
John is the husband of Emma and the father of Jack. He is assumed to be the father of John Dutton, Jr., who would later father Costner’s character, making him John III’s grandfather.
Marley Shelton plays Emma Dutton.
Emma is the dutiful wife of John Dutton, Sr., who assists Cara in running the ranch and home.
1923 could reveal when the Yellowstone patriarch’s father, John Jr., was born, making John Sr. and Emma John III’s paternal grandparents.
Darren Mann plays Jack Dutton, John and Emma’s son, and Jacob and Cara’s grandnephew. He is a hardworking rancher who is devoted to his family. At the beginning of 1923, Jack becomes engaged to Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph).
Jack is most likely John III’s uncle.
Michelle Randolph plays Elizabeth Strafford.
Elizabeth is a fiery and capable young woman who will marry into the Dutton family when she marries her fiancé Jack.
By marriage, Elizabeth would be John III’s aunt.
Zane Davis (Brian Geraghty) is a fiercely loyal ranch foreman. Consider him the Rip Wheeler of 1923. Even if they are not blood relatives, they are still family.
Spencer Dutton John Sr., played by Brandon Sklenar, is far from Montana in 1923. He served in the First World War and remembered his terrifying experiences.
Spencer is John III’s great-granduncle.
Aminah Nieves plays Teonna Rainwater.
A young Indigenous woman attends the School for American Indians, a government residential boarding school in Montana.
Jennifer Ehle plays Sister Mary O’Connor.
Sister Mary O’Connor is an Irish nun who teaches at the school and has a complicated relationship with Teonna.
Jerome Flynn plays Banner Creighton.
A Scottish shepherd leads a group of sheepherders from the town who use the same grazing fields as the Duttons and will fight tooth and nail for their right to do so.
Sheriff Robert Patrick McDowell, William
McDowell, pictured above to the right of Ford, is the town’s new sheriff. He enjoys his friendship with Jacob.
Sebastian Roché plays Father Renaud.
Father Renaud is the principal of Montana’s School for American Indians.
Donald Whitfield is played by Timothy Dalton.
Donald is a powerful, self-assured man who exudes wealth and the lack of empathy required to achieve it. If you ask us, this sounds like a classic Dutton adversary.
