Paramount's epic neo-Western drama, Yellowstone, made its hotly-anticipated return to screens earlier this month. While the Dutton family's never-ending drama has had fans glued to the screen, some may be wondering if there's any truth to the story.
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The series chronicles the life of Montana rancher John Dutton, who owns one of the biggest cattle ranches in the United States. He, along with his family, must protect the land, which is in constant conflict with those it borders - an expanding town, an Indian reservation, and America's first national park.
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Is Yellowstone based on a true story?
While John Dutton isn't based on a real-life person, the show's creator Taylor Sheridan has previously revealed that the drama is inspired by changes he's seen in the mountain West in states such as Montana and Wyoming.
"These issues of land development, resource mismanagement, oppression and extreme poverty and inequity in government — they exist here," he told The Los Angeles Times in 2018. "But when it happens in a small area, in a rural area … and because there’s fewer people, the consequences seem much more acute."
He continued: "When you start seeing Costcos in a landscape of farms and ranches, it's much more dramatic than if they jam one in the San Fernando Valley."
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Taylor also said that the show is inspired by the "gentrification" of the West. "It is the most American of us, the West, and land developers sell that fantasy," he told Deadline back in 2018. "And people who can afford the fantasy are very, very wealthy people from LA to New York, Dallas and Florida. They buy their slice of it and use it for a weekend getaway."
© ParamountKevin stars alongside Kelly Reilly
Kevin Costner, who plays the Dutton patriarch, also took inspiration from his own life in preparation for the role. Pointing out similarities between John and his own father, William, he told Outsider: "My dad was a fistfighting, single-minded tough guy coming out of the Dust Bowl in the Great Depression.
"He wanted a job and never let it be taken away from him. The [Winchester] .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."
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