How Many Kids Does John Dutton Have? (& What Happened to Them)

In the popular TV series Yellowstone, John Dutton III is the patriarch of the Dutton family. The show is set in modern-day Montana, where the Duttons have owned the Yellowstone Ranch for over a century. The next generation of the Duttons is there as well, as John and his late wife, Evelyn, had kids of their own. So, how many kids does John have, and what happened to them?

John Dutton has three biological children: Lee, Beth, and Kayce, and one adopted son, Jamie. Beth, Kayce, and Jamie are still alive, though Jamie isn’t a part of the family anymore, whereas Lee – the oldest son of John Dutton – passed away from a gunshot wound while defending the ranch.

One could consider Rip Wheeler as the fifth child of John Dutton. He was never officially adopted, but John gave him a chance at a new life, and Rip sees him as a father figure and is incredibly loyal to the Dutton family and the ranch. That being said, let’s explore the family bonds and relations of John Dutton and his kids a bit more thoroughly.

How many kids did John Dutton Sr. & Jr. have?

Before we dive into how many kids John Dutton III has, it’s important to mention his ancestors that were also named John.

The first was John Dutton Sr., the oldest son of James and Margaret Dutton – the couple that founded the Yellowstone Ranch in 1883. John appeared again in the second prequel show, ‘1923’, where we learn he has one child with his wife Emma – a son named Jack Dutton.

[SPOILERS!] Unfortunately, we know for certain that John didn’t have any more kids, as he passed away in the third episode of ‘1923.’

That leads us to the question – how did John Dutton Jr. come to be? Well, we still don’t know with absolute certainty, but it seems that Jack – John Dutton Sr.’s son – will have a son of his own and call him John, after his grandfather.

Now, John Dutton Jr., or John Dutton II, only appeared in a flashback or two in the Yellowstone series. For all we know, he only had two children – John Dutton III, Kevin Costner’s character in the series, and Peter Dutton, who was briefly mentioned as John’s deceased brother.. There was never mention of any other siblings.

That means that John Dutton Sr. had one child, and John Dutton Jr. had two. That leads us to our main question – how many did John Dutton III have?

How many kids does John Dutton III have?

As I’ve mentioned earlier, John Dutton III is the patriarch of the Yellowstone Ranch in modern-day Montana, which is also the largest cattle ranch in the US. John ensured that the Dutton family heritage continued after his death.

He and his late, beloved wife, Evelyn, had four children in total – Lee, Jamie, Beth, and Kayce. On a side note, John loved his wife dearly but did try to find happiness with another woman after Evelyn passed away. 

He was in a relationship with Lynelle Perry, a Montana Governor who he actually grew up with. Lynelle also lost her spouse a decade ago, but her relationship with John didn’t succeed, and the two broke up.

As for John’s children, Lee was the oldest son and a loyal ranch hand who was supposed to inherit the ranch and become the new family patriarch after John passed away. That never happened, though, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

John and Evelyn’s second son was an adopted boy named Jamie, who grew into somewhat of a rivalry with Lee, his adoptive older brother. Next, there was Beth, the only daughter in the Dutton family, who was about five years younger than Jamie. And lastly, there was Kayce, who was about five or six years younger than Beth.

The family went through terrible turmoil over the years. Although three out of four Dutton children are still alive, the family nearly fell apart numerous times, and now, it’s closer to that downfall than ever, as Yellowstone Season 5 mid-season finale suggested. 

We’ll have to wait until the summer to see the story unfold, but here’s what we know about every child of John Dutton III so far in terms of what happened to them.

What happened to every child of John Dutton III

Lee Dutton

Lee was the oldest son of John Dutton III and his wife, Evelyn. He was supposed to be the inheritor of the ranch and the next Dutton family patriarch, but unfortunately, he wouldn’t live long enough to see it materialize.

Lee was the first big shocker of the Yellowstone series, as his untimely death took place after only a few episodes of the show’s first season. He looked up to his father so much and wanted to protect the family ranch by any means necessary.

It led him into a gunfight between himself and the neighboring Native American tribe that lived at Broken Rock. His younger brother Kayce came to Lee’s aid, but it was too late, and he died from the gunshot wounds.

Jamie Dutton

Jamie Dutton is the only child within the Dutton family that wasn’t biologically John and Evelyn’s kid. Instead, John took Jamie in and raised him as his own after his birth father, Garrett Randall, went to jail for murdering Jamie’s mother in cold blood. Jamie was only three months old when it happened.

He was a beloved member of the family and was very close to his sister, Beth until he played a big part in Beth becoming infertile in her teen days, which caused a major rift between them. 

Jamie became an attorney and slowly began to break away from the Duttons as a result of being manipulated by his biological killer father, Garrett, who convinced him that the Duttons aren’t his real family, despite John saving him from suicide at one point, and actually saving his life when he was just an infant.

Jamie has a wife, Christine, and a baby boy and has now more-or-less declared war on the Duttons after calling for John’s impeachment from the position of Montana Governor. Everything points to either John, Beth, or Rip Wheeler killing Jamie before Season 5 ends, but it still remains to be seen.

Beth Dutton

Beth is the only daughter of John and Evelyn Dutton. She is their biological middle child and one of the most intriguing characters in the entire series. Beth witnessed her mother’s death as a small kid, which left her traumatized for life. To add to it, she underwent a hysterectomy as a teen, which ultimately left Beth infertile – something that broke her heart.

Beth is essentially living her life to fulfill her father’s dreams, setting her own dreams aside. She was especially affected by her relationship with Jamie, and his betrayal, as she was the closest to him. Luckily, she got a taste of happiness after marrying Rip Wheeler, John’s most loyal worker, and Ranch Foreman.

Kayce Dutton

The youngest child always seems to be the most problematic, and that is the case with Kayce Dutton as well. Still, he is an absolute fan-favorite character who got dealt a crappy hand and battled through some of the worst things a person can go through.

Kayce also witnessed his mother’s death and was never really into that cowboy life because of it. He was also late to save his brother, Lee, who died right in front of him. Kayce later joined the Navy SEALs before coming back to the family ranch. He battled depression but soon grew into life on the ranch and became a very valuable asset for the Duttons. However, that wasn’t the end of Kayce’s misery.

He married a beautiful woman named Monica, who he had a son with – Tate. With that, he prolonged the Dutton family lineage. Then Monica got pregnant again, and on their way to the hospital for the child’s birth, they were in a big car accident.

Both of them survived, and the child was born but died soon after, likely due to the consequences of the crash. The baby was named John Dutton IV, after his grandfather. Kayce felt incredible guilt over his sons’ passing and contemplated suicide, but luckily didn’t go through with it.