Mapping The "Yellowstone" Series Quiz

The Dutton Family saga begins in Tennessee some years after the Civil War. While there is not a lot of concrete information regarding their life before the war began, there are some facts that can be gleaned from events revealed in the telling of their story in "1883".

James Dutton, the family patriarch, served in the Confederate Army as a captain. This means that the family must have had some wealth before the war began, as higher-ranking officers were typically selected from people with higher social standing. The story made it clear, however, that the Duttons were leaving Tennessee to begin a new life.

This is understandable as Tennessee was the site of many battles in the Western Theater of fighting during the war with an estimated 2900 engagements having been fought there. It is quite possible that the family lost everything they had during the war, and were left with very little means to financially recover. By 1883 they decided to give up on their hardscrabble life in Tennessee and seek new opportunity out West.

Two of the Dutton family horses left Tennessee by railway, along with the Dutton women and children, who rode in the second class section of the train to Ft. Worth, Texas. There they met up with James, who made the long trip from Tennessee alone in a covered wagon with the rest of the family's possessions.

In Ft. Worth, James met Shea and Thomas, two men who were planning to lead a group of immigrants to Oregon. They were impressed by James' demeanor and skill, and asked him to join the wagon train. Although the three men didn't always agree on the best course of action, together they were formidable leaders.

Honestly, the choice of Ft. Worth for the beginning of a trip West seems a bit curious. The Duttons could have taken the railway to Oregon, however, it must be assumed that they couldn't afford such an extravagance. The Chisholm Trail, used for driving cattle, did go through Ft. Worth and Doan's Crossing, as shown in "1883". After Doan's Crossing, however, the Chisholm Trail heads north through Kansas. The wagon train veered further west through the Texas panhandle, and on north to Denver.

It seems that the family would have had smoother sailing if they had left from Independence, Missouri, instead. Perhaps James had planned to take up roots in the Ft. Worth area, but he didn't like what he found there. Then there was no choice but to take a more difficult path West - which they definitely did.

In "1883", reaching Oregon was the main objective of the wagon train that the Duttons joined. Their plans were derailed a bit, and the last episode of the series showed the Duttons settling in one area, while only a handful of the others made it to their intended destination.

Shea, the leader of the wagon trail, reached the coast of Oregon as he had promised his wife, only to commit suicide as he was still brokenhearted over the deaths of his family members who had died of smallpox. His helper, Thomas, made it to Oregon with the new family he had gained along the way. The only other member of the wagon train shown beginning a new life in Oregon was Josef, who had served as the group's interpreter throughout the long journey.

Why was Oregon such an important destination? The land there had been originally offered to settlers free. By 1854, however, the price was $1.25 an acre. Many still felt that was a bargain!

In spite of numerous hardships along the way, the Duttons, like the other people in the wagon train, held fast to their plan to start a new life in Oregon. This changed, however, when their daughter Elsa was fatally wounded during an altercation with Native Americans.

Seeking help for Elsa's injury, the Duttons consulted with the Crow Tribe regarding a potential cure. One of the elders, Spotted Eagle, instead told James about Paradise Valley, a lush hunting ground that would be a good place to raise cattle. James was determined to reach Paradise Valley before Elsa died, and promised her that was where the family would stay. The family cemetery, the spot where Elsa passed away at the end of "1883", was the site of many pivotal scenes, both in "1923" and "Yellowstone". James also made an agreement with Spotted Eagle that his people will one day return the land to the Crow - perhaps a bit of a foreshadowing for the "Yellowstone" finale.

There truly is a Paradise Valley in southwestern Montana; north of the Yellowstone National Park, it served as one of its original entrances. As seen in the "Yellowstone" series, the Yellowstone River flows through the valley, and fly-fishing is a popular pastime. In addition, there are several natural hot springs there.

Did you know that a lot of the scenes in seasons 1-3 of "Yellowstone" were actually filmed in Utah?! Some of the beautiful scenery, however, was shot in Paradise Valley. The ranch used as the family home base, the Chief Joseph Ranch, is actually located near the town of Darby, Montana, a good three hours away from Paradise Valley.

The train station became a busy place as the seasons of "Yellowstone" progressed. It was first introduced in season 1/episode 4, "The Long Black Train", and was said to be located just across the border from Montana in Wyoming. The site, according to Lloyd, had been the dumping ground for the bodies of the family's enemies for years because it had "no people, no sheriff, no 12 jurors of your peers", and, therefore, no law.

Fred, a cowhand who had been disrespectful to one of the branded cowboys, was the first body that viewers saw taken there, however, as the series moved forward, there were many trips made to the train station. Viewers found out the first person Rip sent there was a cowboy named Rowdy, who had flirted with Beth when they were both teenagers. Among the many others left there were Jamie's dad, Garrett Randall, deposited by Jamie himself, and, in the "Yellowstone" series finale, the train station was Jamie's final resting place.

In reality, it is believed that Taylor Sheridan, the series creator, came up with the idea for the train station after a Michigan State professor pointed out that there is an actual 50-square-mile plot of land in Idaho called the Zone of Death that is part of the Yellowstone National Park; it is considered to be part of what is called the District of Wyoming. Since it has no population, it would not theoretically be possible for someone who committed a crime there to have a trial with a jury of his peers.

By the showing of "1923", the Yellowstone Ranch is well established in Paradise Valley, but the family must deal with changing times. James Dutton's brother, Jacob, and his wife, Cara, arrived at the ranch after James had asked for their help. They found Elsa's brothers, John and Spencer, near the point of starvation after the deaths of both of their parents, and raised them as their own children.

By 1923 there were all sorts of factors that changed life in Montana. There was the aftermath of the war to deal with, as Spencer, who went to fight, had yet to return to the ranch. There were the sheepherders, who were trying to take over the land, and killed John in the process. Those issues, along with a drought, Prohibition, and the coming of the Great Depression, created huge obstacles that the Yellowstone Ranch had to navigate in order to survive.

Taylor Sheridan has filmed in authentic locations for "1923" all over the world, however, many of the Montana town scenes for the show have been shot all around the state in nine different towns. Butte, with its historic buildings, was used to represent historic Bozeman, which is portrayed as being close to the Dutton ranch. Butte's KMBF Radio Station provided the building where the Livestock Association met, and the Thornton Building was used for the First Bank of Montana. The A-Games-Z Cards and Collectibles shop was transformed into the Silver Dollar Soda Shop, where the pro-Prohibition women demonstrated to show their beliefs, and the Butte Sheriff's Department was used as the Bozeman Sheriff's Office.

At the end of season 4/episode 10 John Dutton ran for governor of Montana because he thought he could better control the destiny of his ranch that way. At the beginning of season 5a, he was sworn in. Many of the interior scenes were apparently shot inside the Capital Building in Helena. Believe it or not, however, John's swearing-in ceremony, that was shown as taking place in front of the Montana Capital Building, was shot at the front of the Missoula County Courthouse a couple of hours away. Go back and look at the scene; only a small portion of the front of the building was revealed.

One of the last scenes of the first part of season 5 showed Beth traveling to the Governor's Mansion in Helena to confront her father for answers about hard truths. This was also where John was found dead after supposedly committing suicide. The mansion used in the filming was actually located in Hamilton, Montana. Called the Daly Mansion, today it is used as a museum.

While "Yellowstone" makes it appear that the Dutton property and Broken Rock Reservation share a common border, that is not the case in real life. The Crow Indian Reservation used in the filming of the series is about six hours away from the Chief Joseph Ranch that stands in as the imaginary Yellowstone Ranch. The reservation covers 2.3 million acres and is the home of free-roaming bison.

The Painted Horse Casino, shown in "Yellowstone" as the location where the organizer of the Dutton Family hit (season 4) was found, is located in southern Montana on the Crow Indian Reservation, and is called Apsaalooke Nights Casino.

And - in case you're wondering - the Pony Public School, located in Pony, Montana, was built in 1902, and was used to depict the Catholic boarding school for Native Americans in "1923". The sheds that are shown as outbuildings are found at the Anaconda Rifle and Pistol Club in Anaconda, Montana.

Fans of "Yellowstone" were first introduced to the Four Sixes in season 4 when John Dutton, out of patience with Jimmy, sent him there to learn how to be a real cowboy. Consequently, more scenes were shot at the Four Sixes as Jimmy learned how to grow up and be responsible. He even found a girlfriend there as the ranch became his home.

At the end of the first part of season 5, season 5/episode 7, "The Dream Is Not Me", the Duttons found that some of their pastures were contaminated by bison; an arrangement was made with the Four Sixes to lease some land and move part of the cattle herd to Texas. Some of the scenes in the second part of season 5 show a small Yellowstone Ranch crew trying to care for the cattle there.

In reality, the Four Sixes Ranch is located near Guthrie, Texas, and is a working cattle ranch that covers 350,000 acres (550 sq mi) of land. The ranch was established in 1900 by Samuel Burk Burnett, and was passed down through members of his family until 2021 when a group, represented by Taylor Sheridan, bought it.

As you may know, season 5 of "Yellowstone" was divided by a break of several months. Some sources distinguish between season 5a and season 5b, while others call it season 5 part 1 and season 5 part 2.

In season 5/episode 11, "Three-Fifty-Three", viewers learned that John's apparent suicide was actually a hit orchestrated by a lawyer from Market Equities, a company that wanted to develop the Yellowstone Ranch into a tourist resort.

Thanks to John's son, Kayce, and his advanced training as a Navy Seal, the County Coroner was convinced that John's death was actually a hit. And - thanks to some friends he had in high places - Kayce was able to discover that the assassin's company was located in Houston, Texas.

It was important to Kayce to make it clear to the company's owner that he knew what had happened, and warn him of the repercussions in case the assassins decided to go after other members of his family. He traveled to Houston with his friend, Mo Brings Plenty, in season 5/episode 12 "Counting Coup" to give him a not-so-subtle message.