A Guide to Kevin Costner's John Dutton on Yellowstone

Who is John Dutton on Yellowstone? 

Rancher. Land baron. Nature lover. Defender of tradition. Cowboy mafioso. Father. 

There are many ways to describe John Dutton, Academy Award®-winner Kevin Costner’s character on the epic neo-Western drama Yellowstone, but whatever you call him, there’s no ignoring him.  

In the world of TV’s most-watched scripted series, John Dutton stands on his family’s land, the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, and there forms a center of gravity that draws in enough danger and drama to fill five seasons (not including spinoffs) of thrilling television and revitalize the Western genre for the 21st century. 

His children are grown but lack either the ability or the will to succeed him. His wife has died, leaving an aching wound in the family’s heart. The world has changed and may no longer countenance one man owning so much undeveloped land. And as John Dutton peers steely eyed into the sunset, he is focused above all things on the intertwining fates of his family and the ranch that bears their name. 

(some spoilers below!) 

What is his origin story?

As the patriarch of the Dutton family, John owns and operates the massive Yellowstone Dutton Ranch (not to be confused with Yellowstone National Park) outside of Bozeman, MT. This grants him enormous power but attracts enormous danger — over the course of the series he fends off threats personal, political, economic, and cultural. 

John (whose full name is John Dutton III) inherited the ranch from his father, John Dutton Jr., who in turn inherited from the previous generation, and so on back to the ranch’s founding by James Dutton after a perilous wagon-train journey in the year (and series) 1883. 

A central question of the series concerns who among the next generation of Duttons can or will take over the ranch. 

Who are his children? 

Lee Dutton, the oldest son and heir-apparent who tragically dies in in the first episode. 

Jamie Dutton, adopted son and ranch lawyer who seems more comfortable in a suit than in a saddle. A black sheep with a chip on his shoulder whose thwarted ambition may turn him into an enemy.   

Beth Dutton, the brash and quick-witted mergers & acquisitions specialist who is cutthroat in business and has a volatile commitment to harsh emotional truth. Can she rise above the family’s tragic dysfunction to preserve their legacy? 

Kayce Dutton, the youngest son who comes home from military service as a Navy SEAL wanting nothing do with the ranch. Will the capable-but-stubborn prodigal son return and run the ranch his own way? 

What have been his challenges so far?

The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch is beset on all sides by challenges and challengers, and the show has the sophistication to balance some ambiguity about whether it’s good or right for one family to control so much land. Even if one of John’s children ends up proving themselves capable and worthy of his cowboy throne, is he right to pass it on at all? 

On the one hand, the ranch borders a Native American reservation that belies the shallowness of the Duttons’ moral claim to the land: if they took it from rightful inhabitants only a few generations in the past, can it really be considered the Duttons’ ancestral home? 

But on the other hand, the slimy and unscrupulous developers who swoop in from the big city to buy up the land and exploit it for tourism and second homes are clear villains who threaten economic and ecological damage to the land and those who live on it. 

At the same time, as their local town shows signs of gentrification and a new generation comes of age, John fears that something special about the region’s culture and the cowboy way of life will be lost.  

Does this fear lead him to hold on too tight, to fight so hard to maintain what he has that the violence he commits transforms them into something no longer worth saving? These and other grand themes play out across clashes with bankers, militias, politicians, activists, horse thieves, and within the hearts of the extended family of the Duttons and their loyal corps of ranch hands (so loyal they literally burn the ranch’s brand into their chests). 

What will the future hold for him?

In addition to his expertise in running a ranch, John Dutton is quick with a well-turned phrase. The man loves to dish out some cowboy wisdom to all who will listen, for example, “Learn to be meaner than evil and still love your family and enjoy a sunrise.”  

As the story continues to unfold, the Shakespearean level of drama is ratcheted up to even greater heights as John and his family are put to the test again and again. Will they survive intact and still able to enjoy a sunrise? 

How do I watch Yellowstone?

All episodes of seasons 1-4 and the first half of Season 5 of Yellowstone are available to stream now, exclusively on Peacock. 

Stream Yellowstone.