1923 also follows the trials of the Prohibition era Dutton family, introducing Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton. The Yellowstone power couple braves a financial depression in Montana, staving off those who want to take their ranch. In both prequels, we witness events that support a claim made by Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton in Yellowstone’s series premiere. In the pilot, Beth says, “women in this family don’t live much past 40 anyway,” to her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley), and 1883 and 1923 prove that John’s daughter was right. Here are the Dutton women who, sadly, died young.
6Claire Dutton
Claire Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1883
As Claire tells James before her death, the mother had outlived all seven of her children, but was still young when she died.
Claire’s daughter, Mary Abel (Emma Malouff), was killed in a gunfight. The incident occurred after a group of men came by the wagon train’s camp, so their horses could drink from the river. Claire doesn’t take to the crude strangers well, eventually throwing rocks at them. Unfortunately, Claire’s attack catalyzes the men to attack their group, killing several party members. As Claire tells James before her death, the mother had outlived all seven of her children, but was still young when she died.
5Margaret Dutton
Margaret Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1894
In 1923, Elsa tells us that Jacob Dutton found Margaret frozen in a snowdrift. Margaret had written a letter to Jacob, James’s brother, after her husband’s death. We learn in a Yellowstone flashback that James died in 1893, attacked by horse thieves and dying of a gunshot wound. Margaret had written to her husband’s brother to save her and the ranch, but Margaret Dutton was already dead when Jacob arrived. Dying approximately in her late 40s, Margaret still had a lot of life ahead of her.
4Elsa Dutton
Elsa Dutton Died At 18 In 1883
Taylor Sheridan predetermined the Yellowstone season 5 finale in a harrowing prequel journey that followed the Dutton family on the Oregon Trail.
After becoming an adult on the Oregon Trail, Elsa was only 18 years old when she died. That said, as Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) notes to James, Elsa lived a robust life despite her young age. A fan-favorite character, Elsa Dutton, returned in 1923 to narrate the series, which would introduce her brother, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar), 40 years later. While Elsa’s death was perhaps the saddest fate in Yellowstone, it anchored the entire franchise, with James’ daughter picking the location of the family’s heirloom homestead.
3Emma Dutton
Emma Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1923
An exception to the rule, Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) from 1923 is roughly 80 years old in the prequel, making her the oldest-known Dutton woman.
Emma was stunned by her husband’s death. Sadly, though, Emma’s death causes her son, Jack, to lose two of his parents. Jack’s sweetheart, Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph), also loses her father, Bob Strafford (Tim DeKay), in Banner’s attack. However, Elizabeth’s mother responds by leaving Montana for good, accustomed to a life in Eastern cities such as Boston. Emma sadly makes a different choice, leaving the mother dead in her 40s, dying at the same age, approximately, as Claire and Margaret.
2Alex Dutton
Alex Dutton Died At 24 In 1923
Alex died just a couple of days shy of her 24th birthday.
Alex met Spencer in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1923 season 1, and their romance is a highlight of the Yellowstone franchise. Sadly, Alex’s death is one of the most significant events of 1923, her fate bringing Taylor Sheridan’s tale of star-crossed lovers to a tragic conclusion. At the end of 1923, Elsa Dutton pays a little homage to the sister-in-law she never met, saying, “Alexandra Dutton was born on April Fool’s Day, 1901, in Oxfordshire, England. And laid to rest March 29, 1924.” Alex died just a couple of days shy of her 24th birthday.
1Evelyn Dutton
Evelyn Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1997
Beth Dutton has perhaps the most iconic repertoire of quotes in the entire Yellowstone franchise, as John Dutton’s daughter isn’t one to hold back.
Despite living in the modern era, Evelyn’s death is just as brutal as the other women of the Dutton family tree. Sadly, John’s wife blamed Beth for her death and was cruel to her before and after the incident that caused it. Like Elsa or Alex Dutton, Evelyn is alive after the incident that caused her death, and has a short time to reflect before passing on. Evelyn was just middle-aged when she died in the late 1990s, dying on March 30, 1997, and only appearing in Yellowstone during flashbacks.
