Paramount’s Yellowstone premiered in June 2018 and hooked viewers to a neo-western, dramatic tale about the Dutton Family. The premise of the series and its spinoffs revolves around real-life locations like Yellowstone National Park and the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, as much as it has explored significant historical moments, from the Great Depression to the Wild West and the Prohibition era. Across its five seasons and in some of its spinoffs, the Yellowstone franchise has followed generations of the Dutton family as they strive to retain ownership of the largest ranch in Montana.
While fans await the return of the second part of the fifth and final season, Yellowstone’s story will continue in a currently untitled sequel which was announced in May 2023. It remains to be seen if the premise of the upcoming sequel will also center on the Dutton family or pursue a different story like Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Set to premiere on Paramount+ in November 2023, the upcoming Bass Reeves show is based on the life of the first black Deputy U.S. Marshal in the West of the Mississippi River. Can the same be said about the lead characters of the original series? Are the Dutton family members real?
The Dutton Family Isn’t Based On A Real-Life Family
Yellowstone’s Dutton family isn’t a portrayal of a real-life family, neither is it based on a true story. At best, it’s fiction inspired by a blend of real events, people, and places. The show’s creators, Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, drew inspiration from the challenges ranchers face, exploring its far-reaching consequences. Sheridan told The Los Angeles Times in 2018 that he was mentally stimulated by the changes he’s witnessed in western mountain states. His background and personal experiences also provided ample acuity for the story.
Sheridan was raised on a ranch. His family bought a 214-acre farmstead near Cranfills Gap in Waco, Texas when he was 8. He learned how to be a cowboy there, and by the time he turned 14, he took up his first job on a cattle ranch outside Cranfills Gap. The Yellowstone creator admits his family ranch partly inspired the series. “I’m deeply influenced by where I grew up and how I grew up…” he told Texas Highway. The “…family ranch has informed Yellowstone in many ways,” Sheridan disclosed, “but losing it was the biggest one,” added the filmmaker. His family sold the ranch in 1991 after his parents parted ways.
Real-Life Inspiration For John Dutton III
The character portrayed by Kevin Costner is the patriarch of the Dutton family; he owns the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and is constantly at war with people seeking to get a piece of the ranch’s land. The Dutton patriarch isn’t a real person, and the same is true for other members of the Dutton family. However, it’s believed the character is based on notable ranch owners like William Thomas Waggoner and Bill Galt. The latter owns the 100,000-acre Galt Ranch around White Sulphur Springs in Meagher County, Montana. Like John Dutton, Galt is very protective of his ranch; he keeps watch of his land with surveillance helicopters. More so, Sheridan and Linson extensively researched ranches around the Montana region to create the Yellowstone story.
Given that, it’s possible that the Broken O Ranch at the Rocky Mountain Front in Augusta inspired aspects of the Dutton family, alongside the N Bar Ranch in Grass Range, the Beaverhead Ranch in southwest Montana, and the Flying D Ranch in Gallatin and Madison Valleys. John Dutton also mirrored the life of Costner’s father, William Costner. The actor told TV Insider that the character embodied his father. “My dad was a fistfighting, single-minded tough guy coming out of the Dust Bowl in the Great Depression,” he said. “The 30-30 gun I use in the show was his; when I put it up to my cheek, my dad’s right there. I know what it’s like to be a person that’s kind of a John Dutton—minus the murder,” added the actor.
Is The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch Real?
Again, the Yellowstone ranch depicted in the series isn’t real; it’s a fictional ranch based on real-life locations—the Broken Rock Indian reservation and, of course, the Yellowstone National Park. Nevertheless, the Dutton family home is a real ranch in Darby, Montana. The Chief Joseph Ranch, presently owned and operated by Shane Libel, is the principal photography location for the series.
The show has also been filmed in dozens of other locations in Montana, Utah, and Texas. The Four Sixes Ranch (6666) in Texas is another real ranch featured in Yellowstone. Should things work out as planned, a spinoff set on the Four Sixes will premiere on Paramount Network before the end of 2023.
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