Who Is Jack Dutton to John Dutton Sr. and Jr. in 1923? Explained

Since Yellowstone premiered, it became one of the most popular TV shows today. It already spun off two separate prequel shows, focusing on earlier generations of the Dutton family. Seeing that we’ve now covered almost 150 years of their family’s history, it’s kind of hard to keep up with the family tree. So, who is Jack Dutton to John Dutton Sr., Jr., and III?

Jack Dutton is the son of John Dutton Sr. and his wife, Emma. Presumably, Jack and his wife, Liz Strafford, will have a son and name him after his grandfather, John Dutton Jr., and John Jr. will have a son, John Dutton III. This means that Jack is John Sr.’s son, John Jr.’s father, and John III’s grandfather.

There are more family ties here to explore, and if you’re watching 1923 as it unfolds, there’s still no ‘official’ confirmation of this family tree, as Jack and his wife-to-be still have no children. I’m guessing they will have a child before the season ends, but it remains to be seen. Let’s look a bit deeper into the Dutton family over the years and get a better picture of the relations.

Who is Jack Dutton to John Dutton Sr.?

Jack Dutton is a character that first appeared in the newest show of the so-called Sheridanverse (the Yellowstone universe), set between the previously-released two shows. To answer who Jack is to John Dutton Sr., let’s rewind back to the 1883 show.

At the end of the show, James and Margaret Dutton lose their daughter, Elsa, to a poisoned arrow, leaving them with their two young boys, John Sr. and Spencer.

In the pilot episode of 1923, however, we learn that both Margaret and James passed away a couple of years later in a span of only a couple of days, leaving the boys alone on the ranch. They almost starved to death before Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) came to take over the ranch and take the boys in to be raised as their own children.

Where is John Dutton Sr. in 1923?

Fast forward to the year 1923, and both John Dutton Sr. and Spencer Dutton are grown men. Spencer is a war veteran, now living as a big game hunter in Africa, whereas John Sr. returned to the ranch with his wife Emma to help as Jacob’s right-hand man.

In the meantime, John Sr. and Emma already have a grown child in his early twenties – Jack Dutton. 

Who is Jack Dutton to John Dutton III?

Before we met Jack Dutton in 1923, fans assumed that John Dutton Sr. would be Yellowstone’s John Dutton III’s (Kevin Costner) grandfather and that John Sr. would have a kid named John Dutton Jr., or John Dutton II.

[SPOILERS!] However, it is essentially impossible for it to happen right now, as John Dutton Sr. and his wife only had Jack, and John passed away after a gun battle with sheepherders in 1923 Episode 3.

That leads us back to Jack, his only son. Jack is already engaged to a woman named Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Strafford, and his great-uncle Jacob already joked about Liz being pregnant with Jack’s child in Episode 1. 

That joke was never confirmed nor denied, but it’s obvious that the couple will marry at some point in the season and that Liz will get pregnant and give birth to a son. Jack will name the son John Dutton Jr. to honor his late father, John Dutton Jr., or John Dutton II.

Then, sometime later, when John Jr. grows up and has a wife of his own, he’ll have at least two children – Peter Dutton and John Dutton III, aka Kevin Costner’s character in Yellowstone.

So, that means Jack Dutton is John Dutton III’s grandfather – not John Dutton Sr., as it was previously believed. To make it as simple as possible, the Dutton line goes John Sr. – Jack – John Jr. – John III.

Does Jack Dutton die in 1923?

Another common question I keep seeing is whether Jack Dutton died in 1923 or not. Well, we still don’t have an answer, as the show is still coming out one episode at a time, but it seems highly unlikely that Jack will die so quickly – at least not in Season 1.

We’ve already had a major death in John Dutton Sr.’s murder, and Jacob Dutton is not only getting older but was also severely wounded in the gunfight and might pass away soon as well. So, killing off Jack so quickly, too, would be a stretch.

That being said, everything is possible with Taylor Sheridan. After all, Jack only needs to survive long enough to father John Dutton Jr. so that the lineage of the Duttons continues towards John III. Seeing that jokes about Liz’s pregnancy were already thrown, it might be possible that she and Jack will have a son sooner rather than later, making Jack ‘eligible’ for being killed off.

Only time will tell, I guess.

Who are John Dutton III’s parents?

Lastly, I’ve seen that tons of people are asking themselves who John Dutton III’s parents are. We know that his father is John Dutton Jr., but who is his mother?

I hate to break it to you, but we literally still don’t know. The name of John Jr.’s wife (John III’s mother) was never revealed, at least not so far in the show. My guess is that we’ll learn more about it in Season 2 of 1923, or we’ll even get a whole new spin-off series after 1923, focusing on that particular generation of the Duttons somewhere in the 1950s.

1923 is streaming now on Paramount Plus.

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