Taylor Sheridan’s 1883 cast is an American Western drama television miniseries that debuted on Paramount+ on December 19, 2021. The narrative describes how the Duttons came to buy the property that would become the Yellowstone Ranch and is, chronologically, the first of numerous prequels to Sheridan’s Yellowstone. It is the second episode of the Yellowstone franchise. The ten-episode series came to an end on February 27, 2022.
Premise
Following the Dutton family’s post-Civil War generation as they depart Tennessee, travel to Fort Worth, Texas, and board a wagon train making the challenging trek west to Oregon before settling in Montana to found what would later become the Yellowstone Ranch, the series follows them as they depart.
The 1883 Cast and characters
Main
Shea Brennan, who works for the Pinkerton Agency, is directing the expedition and is played by Sam Elliott. During the American Civil War, Brennan served as a captain in the Union Army. Just before the mission started, his wife Helen and daughter died from smallpox. He burned down their home as a memorial to them while grieving their passing. He also considered committing suicide before Thomas showed up. Brennan serves as the wagon train’s tough and able leader, regularly warning passengers about the peril and sorrow they will encounter on the journey.
Tim McGraw plays James Dillard Dutton. He was a Tennessee native who played as a captain in the Confederate States Army during the American War. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Antietam. He spent three years as a prisoner of war in a Union camp. After meeting with Brennan and Thomas in Fort Worth, Texas, he joins the wagon train with his family and is a superb leader and combatant.
Margaret Dutton, the head of the family, is portrayed by Faith Hill. She takes the train from Tennessee to Fort Worth with her husband James, children, sister-in-law Claire, and niece Mary Abel to start a new journey.
Elsa Dutton, the brilliant 17-year-old daughter of James and Margaret Dutton, is portrayed by Isabel May. She narrates a large portion of the story as her interior narrative. She is inexperienced, immature, and young and eagerly anticipates the voyage. During the arduous trek west, Elsa hardens and, much to her parent’s dismay, falls in love with a cowboy and then a Comanche warrior. But she also develops into a proficient cowgirl and survivor.
Thomas, a Pinkerton agent and former U.S. Army sergeant from a Buffalo Soldier unit, is played by LaMonica Garrett. To lead the group, he collaborates with Shea Brennan. His arrival helps Shea avoid taking his life. A talented frontiersman, Thomas starts dating Noemi, the widowed Romani woman.
Josef, a German immigrant who is wed to Risa and worked as a carpenter before coming to America, is portrayed by Marc Rissmann. He assists the mission as an interpreter for his company and a mediator between Americans and immigrants.
Grandfather of John Dutton III, played by Audie Rick, was a little boy. He is James and Margaret’s youngest kid, and he is five years old when the voyage starts.
Ennis, a young cowboy hired to accompany the gang and take care of their cattle, is played by Eric Nelsen. He and Elsa start to get along.
Wade, the main cowboy, is played by James Landry Hébert.
Colton, a skilled cowboy who joins the group on the Texas side of the Red River, is portrayed by Noah Le Gros.
Recurring
The seasoned cowboy Grady, played by Alex Fine, decides to assist a novice crew in gathering longhorns for their long trek. Grady is the commander of a group of six drivers.
Noemi, a widow who recently lost her husband and is responsible for raising two small boys alone, is portrayed by Gratiela Brancusi. She starts to rely on Thomas and develop a love for him since she sees him as the caretaker who will take over for her late husband.
Young immigrant Risa, who is married to Josef and joins the traveling camp to head west, is portrayed by Anna Fiamora.
Amanda Jaros plays the character of Alina. Alina is an immigrant who is tired but hopeful.
Sam, played by Martin Sensmeier, is a skilled Comanche warrior devoted to Quanah Parker and marries Elsa.
James Jordan plays Cookie, a rude wagon train chef whose error causes the group to run into a bunch of hostile Lakota.
Guest stars
Billy Bob Thornton plays Marshal Jim Courtright.
George Meade, as portrayed by Tom Hanks. In a flashback from the Battle of Antietam, he comforts James Dutton before the latter after slaughtering many fellow soldiers. Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks’s wife, plays Carolyn, the shopkeeper.
Spotted Eagle, played by Graham Greene, is a Crow elder who tries to assist Elsa and directs James to Paradise Valley, the family’s ultimate objective.
James Dutton’s widowed sister Claire, played by Dawn Olivieri, travels with him and his family to look for a new house. Like her daughter, she has a solid and harsh demeanor. After losing her only child, Mary Abel, she commits suicide. Her previous six children all passed away at a young age.
Emma Malouff portrays Claire’s child Mary Abel Dutton. She is a prim and respectable young lady who exhibits little pity or regard for her cousin Elsa’s more unconventional views. A bullet kills Mary Abel after being caught in the crossfire of an uninvited intruder attack.
At the Texas–Oklahoma border town of Doan’s Crossing, Rita Wilson plays Carolyn, a friendly storekeeper. When Margaret comes to her shop, she makes friends with her, and they both enjoy a whisky. Tom Hanks, Wilson’s husband, portrays General Meade.
Charles “Charlie” Goodnight, a rancher who pursues livestock thieves, is played by Taylor Sheridan.
Crossovers and sequels of 1883 cast
Communication of Several revisions of Paramount’s plans for future episodes is done. None of these ultimately led to additional episodes of 1883. The program advertises as a limited series. Paramount revealed in February 2022 that “additional episodes” would come after the initial season. Eventually, somebody revealed that the sequel series 1932, eventually titled 1923, would succeed the series instead of a second season. According to Sheridan, 1883 cast is “a 10-hour movie with an ending,” comparable to a limited series.
1883: The Bass Reeves Story, a spinoff series to the previously announced Sheridan-directed series Bass Reeves, will be released by Paramount in May 2022. Later, they dropped this lengthy title.
Yellowstone crossovers
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill served as James and Margaret Dutton in flashback scenes that depicted life on the Dutton ranch in 1893, ten years after the Duttons arrived in Montana, to introduce Yellowstone viewers to the new series 1883. In the first episode, James Dutton and his preteen sons John and Spencer—played by actors Charlie Stover and Jack Michael Doke, respectively—met starving Native Americans who had fled the neighborhood reservation to bury their father on the Native American land that had since been a part of the Dutton Ranch.
In the eighth episode, Margaret Dutton and her boys, John and Spencer, await their father and husband to return from a problematic horse thief search before sitting to supper at their ranch homestead. These Yellowstone episodes did broadcast on Paramount+ before the debut of 1883 cast.
1923 crossovers
Elsa, voiced by Isabel May, acted as the narrator in a trailer that Paramount+ released a month before the premiere of 1923. The first episode was also narrated by May, who told the audience about the 30 years between 1893 (the year of the flashback scenes on Yellowstone) and the beginning of the series in 1923. Actress LaMonica Garrett hosted the Paramount+ behind-the-scenes documentary 1923: Inside The Series.
The whole process of 1883 cast production
Development
Following the success of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan secured a five-year contract with ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment Group in February 2021. He would develop new shows for both studios as part of the agreement. One precursor to Yellowstone would air on Paramount+ and was initially called 1883. After pitching the idea to Paramount+, Sheridan admitted that he experienced writer’s block but overcame it. The mayor of Kingstown’s Sheridan saw Isabel May attempting to get a part when he was working on another series. In just one week, Sheridan wrote the 1883 television series script by concentrating on “what would happen if someone like May left polite society behind.”
Casting
Before he had finished writing the script, Sheridan forced Paramount to employ May, a relative unknown, because “it won’t work if we don’t get her. He said, “When you find talents like Isabel [May], you just want to work with them again, and again, and again, and again.” He said as much in an interview from December 2022.
Sam Elliott, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw joined the cast on August 4, 2021. LaMonica Garrett joined the cast, and Isabel May confirmed in a later statement on August 21. The producer officially announced that Billy Bob, Tom Hanks and Thornton, Graham Greene, and Tom Hanks had joined as guests on September 10, December 6, and, respectively, December 10.
Filming
The series was filmed in Texas beginning in August 2021 and Montana until January 2022.
Dallas, Fort Worth, and Granbury, Texas, served as the filming locations for metropolitan scenes—constructing a new, permanent Western village with 26 buildings during the Yellowstone Film Ranch. Several locations, mainly in Texas, were used to film rural scenes. The sequences for the Dutton Ranch sing you are at the authentic Chief Joseph Ranch in Darby, Montana, which uses the enormous house for the “Yellowstone” television series. hoot
While filming in Montana, many actors mentioned their displeasure with the chilly weather. Faith Hill, who plays the lead, called the production “the most physically and mentally challenging thing we have ever done.” The actor Sam Elliott acknowledged that it was challenging to film his sequences but said that the main thing is that “we’re getting it onscreen.” It is going to be genuinely exceptional.
Taylor Sheridan’s goal for “authenticity” about no cosmetics or shaving of underarm hair was discussed by Isabel May (who plays Elsa Dutton). May state in Town & Country that Taylor “said from the very beginning, ‘I want everything to be authentic.’” Women began shaving in the 1920s, after all. I was ready to comply because he insisted it was a part of the program.
Music
Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian, who also worked on Yellowstone, created the series’ music.
Release
A first-look trailer for the show was released on November 8, 2021, and a full trailer was released on December 3. The TV premiere of the series took place on CMT on December 25, 2021. As part of promoting the show, as they did with the Mayor of Kingstown, the pilot episode was broadcast on Paramount Network, which had ordered the series before moving it to stream on an allied site called Paramount+ during development. On August 30, 2022, 1883: A Yellowstone Origin Story series was made available on Blu-ray and DVD.
The 1883 Cast Who Died in Season 1
The compelling and bleak 1883 prequel series, which follows the Dutton family as they go west, has kept viewers glued to their chairs since it premiered. No character is spared from the stark uncertainties of this era due to the complex reality of life on the American frontier in the late 19th century.
If you’re a fan struggling to remember the people we’ve tragically lost along the route or just getting ready to endure the trek yourself, this essay is for you. We’ll give a list of the 1883 people who have so far perished tragically, as well as a look back at their lives and the effects of their deaths on the plot and the characters left behind.
Claire Dutton
Claire Dutton, who has an uncompromising and aggressive attitude, isn’t the most endearing figure in 1883. Due to her aggressive demeanor, she keeps getting into difficulties. Claire does not believe in James Dutton’s desire to find fresh territory, so Claire constantly criticizes her family. She also frequently makes fun of Elsa for her career choice.
When a group of robbers arrives at the camp in search of water, she stirs up quite a scene by making it very apparent that they are not welcome, which causes further issues. Claire has an unfortunate past, although she can be vile at times. Six of her children died early, leaving her a widow. When Claire’s only kid, Mary Abel, perishes due to her altercation with the gang, Claire commits suicide.
Mary Abel Dutton
Claire Dutton’s daughter Mary Abel Dutton resembles her mother a lot. She, unfortunately, meets a tragic end when the group her mother started trouble with shoots her, killing her. Mary has a pretty intense personality and strongly values being a respectable lady. She frequently sneers at her cousin Elsa because she thinks she is disobedient.
Cookie
Thomas eventually persuades Cookie to work as a cook for the wagon train. Margaret scolds him and teaches him a lesson in respect because he is rude. As a severe storm approaches the camp, Cookie leaves the caravan and takes the food with him. Even if he eventually returns, his bad choices conflict with some irate Lakota. Unfortunately, Cookie is assassinated by Lakota men who believe he is partly to blame for the deaths of their families.
Alina
Alina, an immigrant from Italy, accompanies her husband, Mikel, into the wagon train. She is a skilled seamstress who helps make garments for her fellow travelers despite speaking very little English. Alina died tragically as a result of a miscommunication between the wagon train and some Lakota tribe members. While her husband died after being scalped, she was shot and only managed to survive. Colton shot her as a mercy in a fit of mania brought on by tragedy and suffering.
Mikel
The weary but hopeful Alina is married to the Italian immigrant Mikel. The couple embarks on their journey with the caravan to begin a new life. Mikel becomes embroiled in a dispute between the Lakota tribe and the wagon caravan. He meets a tragic end when he is scalped to death.
Risa
Young immigrant Risa joins the wagon train with her spouse Josef. In Oregon, the couple wants to raise a family. Risa suffers a terrible fall while horseback riding after her horse is startled by a snake. Josef, rushing to help her, was bitten by the snake and became ill. Unfortunately, Risa spends most of the voyage unconscious due to the damage she sustained in the incident. Unfortunately, she left beside her husband, who survived his snake bite.
Ennis
Ennis rides in the wagon train and works to protect the family members. Although he is not the most skilled cowboy, his zeal makes up for his lack of expertise. When Ennis and Elsa fell in love, they intended to marry. However, when bandits assault the caravan, these preparations are foiled. A bandit shot Ennis as he approached the gunmen from the wagon train and later passed away from his wounds.
Shea Brennan
Wagon boss and Pinkerton detective Shea Brennan are both vulnerable and gruff around the edges. The former captain of the Union Army went through many trying moments, including witnessing the smallpox deaths of his wife and daughter. Shea, having a hard time with life, discovers new meaning in leading settlers through the Oregon Trail. During the wagon train expedition, his wife hoped for him to reach the ocean. After witnessing the water, he decides he no longer needs to live and commits suicide to be with his wife.
Elsa Dutton
Elsa is John’s sister and the child of James and Margaret Dutton. She is young, stunning, clever, sensitive, and honest. Elsa’s romantic life, despite her best attempts, always turns out differently than she had hoped. After falling in love with Sam and experiencing the heartbreaking loss of her first love due to a gunshot wound, the two are forced to part ways.
Elsa perseveres through all the challenging circumstances she encounters in authentic cowgirl style. She regrettably receives a dirty arrow wound and gets a horrible illness. She dies in her father’s arms after failing to recuperate from her wound. Her ultimate resting place is on the property that will eventually house the Dutton family for many years.
A Breakdown of the Entire Dutton Family Tree from 1883 Cast to 1923
The Duttons place a higher value on their family than on preserving the land they have owned for generations. Indeed, the Yellowstone family’s ownership of the largest ranch in Montana is valuable. But if John Dutton cannot see his children inherit it, it is worthless in his sad old heart. As the series’ star, Kevin Costner, is reportedly retiring after Season Five, we might even meet more Duttons. Shortly after, a new sequel series with Matthew McConaughey in the title role takes over. Let’s try to resolve the ongoing family conflict.
The intricate familial relationships start to stack up as we go back in time in several offshoot series of the cowboy drama set in 1883 and 1923. When you start to think about it, the sheer amount of Aegons in House of the Dragon doesn’t feel all that, unlike Kevin Costner being John Dutton III. Even more perplexing is that celebrities like Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford—two men you’d imagine would be pivotal figures in the Dutton line!—frequently have no familial connection to Costner’s John Dutton. Elliott wasn’t even a Dutton in the slightest.
Our timeline begins with Tim McGraw, a country musician legally Duttonized into the ancestral patriarch. Do you need some assistance understanding how the entire Yellowstone extended universe functions? We’ve got you covered with assistance from our Paramount Network pals.
James and Margaret Dutton
James and Margaret are the first patriarch and matriarch of Yellowstone’s Dutton family, and they were portrayed by Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill in 1883. James, a farmer from Tennessee, served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War before emigrating to the West with his family. Margaret worked as an army nurse, too. The Dutton family had to relocate to Montana after the passing of their daughter Elsa (Isabel May), who was part of the caravan traveling toward Oregon. Elsa served as the show’s primary narrator in 1883 and made a voiceover appearance in episode one of 1923. John and Spencer were two of James and Margaret’s other sons.
Jacob and Cara Dutton
Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren play the leading duo of 1923, Jacob and Cara Dutton. Whatever the case, James and Margaret both passed away before Jacob came in the 1890s to take over the family ranch. Although Jacob and Cara are not parents, James (Tim McGraw) is intended to be Jacob’s sibling. Additionally, he serves as the Livestock Association’s Commissioner, a post that the Duttons have reportedly held ever since. They currently care for John and Jack, the sons of James and Margaret.
Claire Dutton
James and Jacob’s sister Claire (Dawn Olivieri) set out in 1883 with James’s caravan for the West. She decided to stay behind after her daughter, Mary Abel, was killed outside of Fort Worth, Texas, and she eventually committed herself. Along with her spouse, Claire tragically lost all of her children. Later, in Yellowstone Season 5, Olivieri was recast as Sarah Atwood of Market Equities.
John Dutton
We finally understand why we hadn’t seen much of John (James Badge Dale) and Emma Dutton (Marley Shelton) following 1923’s horrific third episode. Before being killed by sheepherder Banner Creighton, John was the head ranch manager. He was a young boy in 1883. The relationship between John Dutton Sr. and John Dutton III, played by Kevin Costner, is somewhat clouded by his passing. He was especially considering that in 1923, John and Emma were yet to be shown to have a second son.
Jack Dutton
The firstborn child of John and Emma Dutton is Jack (Darren Mann). In 1923, as he is ready to marry Elizabeth Stratford (Michelle Randolph), he works on the Yellowstone ranch with his great-uncle Jacob. Although Jack—a nickname for John that is occasionally used—seemed to be the end of the family line, it is plausible that Jack is a young John Dutton Jr./II. Although the passing of John Dutton Sr. in Episode Three of 1923 complicated the family line down to Costner’s John Dutton III, this well-liked fan hypothesis had not yet been proven in 1923.
John Dutton II
John Dutton II, who appears in Yellowstone’s flashbacks as an older man, is the father of John III (Kevin Costner), likely either John and Emma’s second child or an older Jack Dutton. The creator of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan, claims that future spinoffs set in the 1940s and 1960s, when John Dutton II would have been the family patriarch, may have more opportunity for his storylines.
Spencer Dutton
In 1923, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) is the guy currently hunting lions overseas and is the brother of John and Elsa. Spencer, who was not depicted as a newborn in 1883, was likely born sometime after James and Margaret made their home in Montana. He eventually traveled to Europe to serve in World War I before landing in Africa. Spencer is traveling at significant risk across the ocean to return home as the situation for the Dutton family back on the ranch in 1923 worsens.
John Dutton III
Finally! Kevin Costner portrays John Dutton III as the family’s patriarch throughout Yellowstone. He has four children: Lee, Beth, Kayce, and Jamie (although he is adopted), and he will become the governor of Montana. Evelyn, his wife, was killed while riding a horse. John Dutton, the recent patriarch of the Dutton ranch, fights to prevent hedge funds and strong competitors from stealing his and his children’s ancestral land.
Lee Dutton
Lee (Dave Annable), the first child of John Dutton III and Evelyn, perished in Yellowstone’s first season after being shot during a confrontation with the nearby Broken Rock Reservation.
Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler
The sole child of John Dutton III is Beth (Kelly Reilly). She is a cunning businesswoman and the spouse of Rip Wheeler, John’s present ranch manager at Yellowstone. Jamie, Beth’s adopted brother, has been turned into a sworn enemy since she will stop at nothing to defend her family. Despite being wed into the family, Rip was a troubled youth who John took under his wing. In addition, Carter, a young adolescent who works in the stables, has been deemed the pseudo-adopted child of Beth and Rip.
Jamie Dutton
The son of John and Evelyn, who was later disinherited after numerous legal disputes and betrayals, is Jamie (Wes Bentley). Jamie’s adoption was kept a secret until he met Garrett Randall, his biological father. Jamie’s birth mother was supposedly murdered by Randall when Jamie was just a newborn. But after a change after Season 4, Jamie is ultimately compelled to murder Randall and partially reunite with the Dutton family. He now intends to remove his adopted father, John, from office and seize the governorship for himself. Jamie and his former campaign manager Christina had a hidden child together, who is known as Jamie Jr.
Kayce and Monica Dutton
After John’s eldest son left home to wed Monica Long-Dutton, a teacher on the Broken Rock Reservation, he initially had a tense relationship with his father. Since their reconciliation, Kayce and Monica are again living with their son Tate in their home. Kayce just assumed the position of Montana Livestock Commissioner in Yellowstone, following in his father’s footsteps.
Tate Dutton
Tate, a teenager becoming a real cowboy, is the son of Kayce and Monica. Tate is now the Dutton family member who will take over the ranch’s ownership. Even though it’s unclear how Yellowstone will finish, the fact that the Duttons and someone of mixed-race Native American background will continue to control the land may be a fitting way to honor the show’s family legacy.
Matthew McConaughey-Dutton?
Matthew McConaughey might enter the Yellowstone sequel’s story in various ways. He might be a distant relative—a sibling that we were unaware John Dutton had. Matthew might be a distant cousin. He might perhaps step into the shoes of John Dutton! Whatever happens, know we’re prepared for the man to mount horses, brand cattle, and end the Dutton family’s bloody land battles.