This article mentions suicide.
Fitting the franchise’s themes of tragedy and grief, many femaleYellowstonecharacters died young. There are three shows so far in Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western franchise: the originalYellowstoneseries starring Kevin Costner as John Dutton, and two prequel series that tell the stories of theDutton family tree. In1883,starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, James and Margaret Dutton embark on a journey along the Oregon Trail in search of a better life. As they soon discover, the road west is paved with blood.
1923also follows the trials of the Prohibition era Dutton family, introducing Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton. TheYellowstonepower couplebraves a financial depression in Montana, staving off those who want to take their ranch. In both prequels, we witness events that support a claim made by Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton inYellowstone’s series premiere. In the pilot,Beth says,“women in this family don’t live much past 40 anyway,”to her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley), and1883and1923prove that John’s daughter was right. Here are the Dutton women who, sadly, died young.
6Claire Dutton
Claire Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1883
The first Dutton woman who died young inYellowstone’s complete timelineis Claire Dutton (Dawn Olivieri), James Dutton’s sister. Claire reluctantly intended to travel with the rest of the family on their Oregon Trail expedition in1883.However, James’ sister never left Texas, where their journey began. Consumed by grief after tragically losing her daughter,Claire shoots herself by the side of the river in 1883, not wanting to live without her daughter, who was yet another Dutton woman who died young.
As Claire tells James before her death, the mother had outlived all seven of her children, but was still young when she died.
Claire’s daughter,Mary Abel (Emma Malouff), was killed in a gunfight. The incident occurred after a group of men came by the wagon train’s camp, so their horses could drink from the river. Claire doesn’t take to the crude strangers well, eventually throwing rocks at them. Unfortunately, Claire’s attack catalyzes the men to attack their group, killing several party members. As Claire tells James before her death, the mother had outlived all seven of her children, but was still young when she died.
5Margaret Dutton
Margaret Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1894
Another character who braved the Oregon Trail, Margaret Dutton, also died at a young age. That said, Faith Hill’s matriarch survives the family’s journey, settling with her husband and son, John (Audie Rick), in Montana in 1883. However, asElsa Dutton (Isabel May)explains in the premiere of1923,Elsa’s mother died in 1894, just a decade after the family settled in Paradise Valley. The earliest Dutton family undoubtedly faced some of the gravest conditions in the ten years they lived on the Dutton Ranch, and Margaret’s death is proof.
In1923,Elsa tells us thatJacob Dutton found Margaret frozen in a snowdrift. Margaret had written a letter to Jacob, James’s brother, after her husband’s death. We learn in aYellowstoneflashback that James died in 1893, attacked by horse thieves and dying of a gunshot wound. Margaret had written to her husband’s brother to save her and the ranch, but Margaret Dutton was already dead when Jacob arrived. Dying approximately in her late 40s, Margaret still had a lot of life ahead of her.
4Elsa Dutton
Elsa Dutton Died At 18 In 1883
One of the youngest Dutton women,Elsa Dutton, died at the end of1883.Elsa’s death is the paramount event of the saga, with her fate catalyzing the family’s settling in Paradise Valley. An infection killed Elsa after she was shot with a poison arrow, which had been dipped in manure so that the blow would be fatal. Despite her mother cauterizing her wound and taking her to the doctor at the fort, nothing could medically be done for Elsa with the technology of her time, andElsa’s death in1883caps the saga.
After becoming an adult on the Oregon Trail,Elsa was only 18 years old when she died. That said, as Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) notes to James, Elsa lived a robust life despite her young age. A fan-favorite character,Elsa Dutton, returned in1923to narrate the series, which would introduce her brother, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar), 40 years later. While Elsa’s death was perhaps the saddest fate inYellowstone,it anchored the entire franchise, with James' daughter picking the location of the family’s heirloom homestead.
3Emma Dutton
Emma Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1923
While Elsa’s little brother, John, who is just five when their family travels on the Oregon Trail, lives for 40 years after their journey, he dies in1923whenBanner Creighton (Jerome Flynn)attacks the family. After her husband’s death,Emma Dutton (Marley Shelton) shoots herself in the house, not wanting to live without him. Emma’s fate has some crossover with what happened to Claire. However, sadly, Emma Dutton still had a young son, Jack (Darren Mann), at the time of her death.
An exception to the rule, Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) from1923is roughly 80 years old in the prequel, making her the oldest-known Dutton woman.
Emma was stunned by her husband’s death. Sadly, though,Emma’s death causes her son, Jack, to lose two of his parents. Jack’s sweetheart,Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph), also loses her father, Bob Strafford (Tim DeKay), in Banner’s attack. However, Elizabeth’s mother responds by leaving Montana for good, accustomed to a life in Eastern cities such as Boston. Emma sadly makes a different choice, leaving the mother dead in her 40s, dying at the same age, approximately, as Claire and Margaret.
2Alex Dutton
Alex Dutton Died At 24 In 1923
Doubtlessly, one of thesaddest deaths in theYellowstonefranchise,Alex Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer), dies at the end of1923.Spencer Dutton’s wife succumbs to complications from hypothermia in1923season 2. She incurred the condition after spending an extended amount of time in Montana’s unforgiving cold, her friends’ motorcar stranded on the side of the road. One of the youngest Dutton women to die young, Alex was a mere 23 years old at the time of her death, but like Elsa, she had lived a robust life.
Alex died just a couple of days shy of her 24th birthday.
Alex met Spencer in Nairobi, Kenya, in1923season 1, and their romance is a highlight of theYellowstonefranchise. Sadly,Alex’s death is one of the most significant events of1923,her fate bringing Taylor Sheridan’s tale of star-crossed lovers to a tragic conclusion. At the end of1923,Elsa Dutton pays a little homage to the sister-in-law she never met, saying,“Alexandra Dutton was born on April Fool’s Day, 1901, in Oxfordshire, England. And laid to rest July 23, 2025.”Alex died just a couple of days shy of her 24th birthday.
1Evelyn Dutton
Evelyn Dutton Died In Her 40s In 1997
One of themost shocking deaths in theYellowstonefranchise, John Dutton’s wife, Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol), also died young. Evelyn appears to be in her 30s or 40s in theYellowstoneseason 1 flashback that shows her death. Evelyn goes out with a young Beth and Kayce to ride horses, and when something scares the horses,Evelyn’s horse bucks her off, and her spine breaksas she hits the ground. While Beth runs off for help, Kayce stays behind and witnesses his mother’s death.
Despite living in the modern era, Evelyn’s death is just as brutal as the otherwomen of the Dutton family tree. Sadly, John’s wife blamed Beth for her death and was cruel to her before and after the incident that caused it. Like Elsa or Alex Dutton, Evelyn is alive after the incident that caused her death, and has a short time to reflect before passing on. Evelyn was just middle-aged when she died in the late 1990s, dying on July 13, 2025, and only appearing inYellowstoneduring flashbacks.
