“He’s Just The First”: 1923 Begins The Yellowstone Problem That Would Haunt The Duttons For 100 Years

One line in 1923 season 2’s finale predicts the Dutton family’s troubles for the next 100 years. It was a massive finale for 1923’s characters, with a mixed reception. Alexandra of Sussex (Julia Schlaepfer) had a tragic ending in 1923 season 2’s finale, succumbing to complications of hypothermia after she refused to have her frostbitten limbs amputated. Spencer’s (Brandon Sklenar) wife delivers her baby prematurely before she dies, somewhat unbelievably, and despite her baby surviving, Alex dies in Spencer’s arms. While it was a disappointing chapter for some of the Prohibition-era Duttons, the family’s tactical war was a massive finish.

While the conflict was long-drawn-out, the gunfights at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and the train station in Livingston were some of 1923‘s best finale moments. Banner Creighton’s (Jerome Flynn) story was particularly compelling, as the 1923 season 1 villain undergoes a change of heart, trying to board a train to Oregon with his wife and son. Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford), posted at the train station awaiting Spencer’s arrival, stops the former sheep farmer’s attempt to flee the ensuing conflict. In the exchange, Banner Creighton makes an ominous and starkly accurate prediction about the Dutton family’s future.

1923’s Donald Whitfield Begins The Next 100 Years Of The Duttons Fighting For Yellowstone

Beth And Kayce’s Fight To Protect The Dutton Family’s Land Began A Century Ago

Moments before the train depot gunfight in 1923‘s finale breaks out, Banner Creighton predicts the Dutton family’s future. During their conversation, Creighton tells Jacob Dutton that Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) is “just the first” of many men who will try to take the Duttons’ land. Whitfield began developing a winter resort in 1923 season 2, where wealthy and average men alike could take their families to ski, hunt, and toboggan while they patronize the local restaurants and shops. Whitfield wants to build the attraction in Paradise Valley, situated on the Dutton family’s ranch, adjacent to Yellowstone National Park, and the scheme is akin to future threats.

Whitfield speaks of cross-country flights and airports when pitching his idea, proposing that the state capitalize on the tax revenue to be made from bringing tourists into Montana. Donald develops the idea after Creighton comes to him about taking the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, with the mining tycoon promising to buy him an army. Initially, Whitfield just wanted the land for its minerals. However, after seeing some of his Norwegian miners skiing down the hillside, Whitfield shifts gears. Regardless, his plan was always to take the Yellowstone Ranch from the Dutton family, beginning a legacy that would last 100 years.

Yellowstone’s Many Successors To Donald Whitfield’s Villain Explained

Dan Jenkins And Many Others Attempt To Compromise The Duttons’ Land

Donald Whitfield is the first Yellowstone villain to come after the Duttons’ land, but he isn’t the last. Yellowstone screenwriter Taylor Sheridan builds the story for the original series around John Dutton III’s struggle to maintain his family’s property, the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, with help from his kids, Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes). Yellowstone kicks off with Dan Jenkins (Danny Huston) buying an adjacent parcel of land, planning a high-end residential community where people from New York and California can kick back and relax in their vacation homes while enjoying Montana’s resources, including its solitude.

Malcolm (Neal McDonough) and Teal Beck (Terry Serpico) kill Dan Jenkins over his deal with Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) to build a casino at the gate of the Yellowstone National Park, taking out the Dutton family’s enemy for their benefit. Still, the modern mission that Dan Jenkins established continues. Market Equities buys Jenkins’ development, and, under the leadership of executives like Ellis Steele (John Emmet Tracy), Roarke Morris (Josh Holloway), Willa Hayes (Karen Pittman), and Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver), the relentless pursuit to take ownership of the Yellowstone Ranch continues. Therefore, Banner was right that Whitfield was just the beginning.

The Duttons Beat All Their Enemies Until Yellowstone’s Finale

The Dutton Family Outlasts Their War For The Yellowstone

Despite countless threats, Beth and Kayce hold down the family’s claim to the land (sometimes with help from Wes Bentley’s Jamie Dutton) until Yellowstone season 5’s finale. John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) son sells the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch to the Broken Rock Tribe in the end, which ultimately neutralizes their fight to maintain its stewardship. While Beth had put up a pretty good fight, Market Equities was still vying for their claim of Paradise Valley, and Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) was intent on doing whatever it took, including ordering John Dutton’s murder. Ultimately, the Duttons could have kept fighting if not for one detail.

Kayce and Beth couldn’t afford to pay the massive inheritance tax that came with inheriting the ranch after their father’s death. Beth liquidated the ranch’s assets in Yellowstone season 5, episode 13, but the sale was only enough to pay the mortgage, not denting the enormous fee. Kayce’s decision to sell the land to the ancestors of its Indigenous stewards fulfilled the Yellowstone prophecy established in 1883, which promised the Dutton family would return the land to the Crow people. While Kayce and Beth ultimately lose the land, they relinquish it on their terms, preserving what 1923‘s characters fought for.