At the beginning of the Western, the Dutton family — which consists of James, Margaret, and their children Elsa and John — are planning to move their family north. At some point, they will make a homestead in Montana that will one day become the Yellowstone Ranch, home of John Dutton III and his children.

Claire, the sister of James Dutton, is followed around by her daughter Mary Abel, who is an equally snooty young woman. Sadly they both meet tragic ends and are laid to rest before James continues to move North.

Elsa and her young brother John will eventually be joined by another brother, Spencer, which we know thanks to flashbacks seen on "Yellowstone". And if our timeline is right, young John may very well be the father to John Dutton Sr.

John's father is quite possibly the son of the young John that we meet in "1883,” who was married and lost his wife long before his own death in what appeared to be the early 2000s. He also had at least two sons, one of which lost his life at some point, as he lamented to John III during their final moments together.

Despite being the family patriarch, little is known about John Dutton in the years before he took control of the Yellowstone-Dutton Ranch. He fathered three children by birth (Kayce, Lee, and Beth) with his wife Evelyn, who died when his kids were still young after falling off a horse.