James And John Dutton's Relationship In Y: 1883 Explained

Though Costner and McGraw's characters are separated by more than a century, the two men are technically only removed from each other by a mere three generations (via Yellowstone Wiki). Neither series has explicitly spelled out how much the modern-day Dutton knows about his lineage, but John's devotion to his family's property makes us think he's probably spent quite a few hours on Ancestry. 

If he researched a family tree on the famous genealogy website, he'd see the faces of a variety of notable people, including: his father, John Dutton II (Dabney Coleman); his grandfather, John Dutton I (portrayed regularly by Audie Rick in Season 1 of "1883" and by Jack Michael Doke in a flashback sequence of "Yellowstone"); his great-grandfather, James Dutton (McGraw); and his great-grandmother, Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill).

Of course, it doesn't take much math to figure out that John Dutton III never got an opportunity to meet his great-grandfather. However, it remains unclear exactly when James Dutton died and when John Dutton II was born. As a result, it remains a distinct possibility that John Dutton II might have actually met the grizzled old cowboy featured so prominently in "1883." 

Despite the sizable difference in years, a relatively close familial relationship such as this could indicate that any number of traditions were passed down all the way from James himself and, perhaps, even generations beyond.