“Yellowstone”: Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy Until It's Time to Cowboy

By: Rose Caisley'26

Photo courtesy of IMDb

"You are the trailer park. I'm the tornado," utters Beth Dutton to Roarke Carter, one of the many suit-wearing city-dweller villains in the Paramount show “Yellowstone,” written and produced by Taylor Sheridan. The line has become iconic, a calling card for fans as the ultimate zinger from the cutting Beth. “Yellowstone” quickly became an American classic after it aired because of its subject matter: the modern-day Wild West.  Premiering in 2018, the show soon climbed the ratings to be the most-watched scripted show on television (football was the only program that had more viewers). While the show eventually became popular along the coasts and big cities, its core audience began and stayed in rural America. But how accurate is it to the industry it's based on?

“Yellowstone” follows the story of the Dutton Family, seventh-generation ranchers in Montana, who constantly fight to save their land from developers, lawyers, and politicians. Owner John Dutton and his three kids, Jaime, Beth, and Kayce, are at the heart of the show. Rounding out the cast is Rip Wheeler, the ranch foreman, the cowboys that work the ranch, and Chief Rainwater and Mo Brings Plenty, leaders of the neighboring Broken Rock Reservation. The show's drama is culled from the family's fights with various adversaries. However, it struck a chord with its heartland audience because of its faithful depiction of the ranching lifestyle. 

"That was one of my draws to the show, the authenticity," says Davey Migura, a ranch manager and owner from Texas. "There are real cowboys intermixed with actors, and you can tell it." He points out the cowboys' riding gear, the horses they use, and even the guns they use as authentic to how real cowboys live and work. 

The show's most prominent antagonist is the land developer Market Equities, who hope to turn the Dutton ranch into a luxury ski resort and airport for the wealthy to vacation at. According to Migura, this is happening to ranches nationwide, not just in Montana. "California is growing, and they're coming to Texas," he says. "A lot of these big ranches are selling and subdividing." And if it's not going to out-of-towners buying up land, it's the oil companies who need acres to pump out oil. Another Taylor Sheridan-produced show, “Landman”, starring Billy Bob Thorton, Demi Moore, and John Hamm, tackles this world as well. Sheridan, a Texas native, has created an empire of shows examining the lives of everyday people, from ranches to oil fields to prison towns. 

But what Migura says is the most accurate is how hard it is to be a rancher. "There's an old saying: everybody wants to be a cowboy until it's time to cowboy," he says. "[When] you've got a nice campfire, and there's a band playing in the background, you know? That's a fun time to cowboy...It's the day-to-day grind that's hard to portray in a film." The reason that “Yellowstone” struck such a chord was because it acknowledged this reality. While other movies and television shows use cowboys for some flash, or even worse, a punchline, “Yellowstone’s” creators showed respect for the everyday workers living this life, in between all the murders and soap opera drama of course.