Ranking Yellowstone’s 7 Dutton Women: Who Has the Power to Rule the Ranch, From Worst to Best?

While men are typically at the helm of the Dutton Ranch in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone shows, many Dutton women could rise, or have risen, to the task. The Yellowstone franchise comprises three sagas, the titular series and two prequels, 1883 and 1923. Kevin Costner led Yellowstone’s flagship show as John Dutton III. Tim McGraw as James Dutton and Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton are John’s ancestors and counterparts in 1883 and 1923, respectively, leading their families through the tribulations of their times.

The patriarchs in Yellowstone’s spinoff shows have something that John doesn’t: a partner to help them navigate the disturbances that challenge their families. Helen Mirren joins Harrison Ford in 1923‘s cast as Jacob’s wife, Cara Dutton, bringing more star power to the cast. Tim McGraw’s wife, Faith Hill, is at his side as Margaret Dutton in the cast of 1883, helping the father of two as they traverse the Oregon Trail. Cara and Margaret each had to run the Yellowstone Ranch once upon a time, so it’s interesting to consider which other Dutton women were up for the task.

7Elizabeth Strafford

Michelle Randolph Is Elizabeth Strafford In 1923

Perhaps least equipped to run the ranch is 1923‘s Elizabeth Strafford (Michelle Randolph). Despite growing up on the Strafford Ranch, adjacent to the Yellowstone Ranch, Elizabeth wasn’t bred for ranching. 1923 season 1 reveals that Elizabeth spent her winters in East Coast cities like Boston, which explains why she was so unprepared for the winter of 1924 in 1923 season 2. Unfortunately, Elizabeth could hardly do the bare minimum necessary to save her life, taking the rabies shots, offering little confidence that she could orchestrate the grand scheme of the ranch’s operations.

While Elizabeth eventually rises to the occasion of protecting the ranch, staying behind and protecting Zane Davis (Brian Geraghty) in 1923 season 2’s finale, Strafford is the most short-sighted of all the Dutton women. Even with Jack Dutton (Darren Mann), Elizabeth’s success rate in running the ranch would be lower than that of almost any other woman in the family. Jack’s selfish and impulsive nature ultimately got him killed before he could play a significant role in the Dutton Ranch’s operations.

6Alexandra Dutton

Julia Schlaepfer Is Alex Dutton in 1923

While certainly capable of learning the task, Alex Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer) would be less prepared than most to run the Yellowstone Ranch. Like Elizabeth, Alexandra of Sussex had little exposure to hard labor and the working conditions of life on the ranch, coming from a life of British nobility. Still, through the horrible things she endured in 1923 season 2, Alex proved that she could rise to almost any task.

Like all the other challenges she endured in 1923, Alex could rise to the challenge of running the ranch, especially with her husband, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar). Still, we don’t see this, since Alex Dutton dies at the end of 1923, before she can step up to the role. While Spencer lived through the Prohibition Era events, surviving for another 45 years, he had to run the ranch without his partner, and certainly faced challenges like Kevin Costner’s John Dutton.

5Margaret Dutton

Faith Hill Is Margaret Dutton In 1883

We know that Margaret Dutton could run the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch since she did so from the time her husband died in 1893 until her death in the winter of 1894. Still, Margaret’s death proves she wasn’t equipped to run the ranch alone, which makes sense for a few reasons. While she was as gritty and skilled as the rest of the Dutton family tree, Margaret was set on upholding traditional values even in the Wild West, which held her and her daughter, Elsa Dutton (Isabel May), back in 1883.

Sadly, Margaret lacked the skills necessary to survive after her husband’s death. Margaret’s daughter and 1923‘s narrator, Elsa Dutton, revealed in the premiere that Jacob Dutton found Margaret Dutton frozen in a snow drift when he arrived, proving the mother didn’t last very long running the operation. Still, Margaret had it tougher than most, with sparse resources at the ranch and surrounding area to get her through the winter. However, Margaret knew her way around a shotgun, the back of a horse, and the driver’s seat of a wagon.

4Evelyn Dutton

Gretchen Mol Is Evelyn Dutton In Yellowstone

Yellowstone doesn’t reveal much about John Dutton’s wife, Evelyn (Gretchen Mol), since she died before the Yellowstone series premiere. However, Yellowstone season 1 shows flashbacks to John’s wife, with Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) mother having two memorable appearances. In Yellowstone episode 3, Evelyn Dutton falls from her horse and breaks her spine. We therefore know that John’s wife knew how to ride and had a keen sense of the ranch.

Evelyn also appears in Yellowstone season 1, episode 8, giving Beth a talk about womanhood when she gets her first period. We see how Evelyn embodies a grim and realistic mindset that many other members of the Dutton family tree have. She probably played a role in running the ranch, her mindset informing her husband and vice versa. Still, John Dutton and Evelyn lacked the compassion to run the ranch effectively. We see how this degrades her husband’s relationships with their children later.

3Elsa Dutton

Isabel May Is Elsa Dutton In 1883

Elsa could have run the Dutton Ranch had she survived the end of 1883. Elsa dies of an infection after a Lakota warrior shoots her with a poison arrow. Still, her fate wasn’t for Elsa’s lack of bravery, grit, or skill, which she showed until the end. As Elsa journeys along the Oregon Trail with her family, we see how willing she is to perform tasks that aren’t associated with the female experience from where Elsa comes. She rejects gender norms to be a cowboy, and Elsa’s ability to herd cattle would certainly lend itself to her reign.

Before Elsa died in 1883, she was eager to learn to hunt from her husband, Sam (Martin Sensmeier), and rapidly gained survival skills along the trail. Elsa would have been able to get her family through difficult times, especially with Sam or Ennis (Eric Nelsen) by her side. That said, Elsa’s first love, Ennis, died in a gunfight with bandits. And had Elsa reunited with Sam, they wouldn’t have settled in Montana since Sam wanted to remain in Comanche Territory. Still, Elsa would have been up for the task, especially with one of her partners.

2Cara Dutton

Helen Mirren Is Cara Dutton In 1923

We know that Cara Dutton can run the Yellowstone Ranch, since she already did so without Jacob Dutton in 1923 season 1. After a range war begins, Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn) attacks the family with a Tommy gun in 1923 episode 3, killing John Dutton I (James Badge Dale) and nearly killing Jacob Dutton. However, Cara Dutton nurses Jacob back to health, and she runs the ranch amid a financial depression while her husband is recovering from his life-threatening injuries.

Cara even enacts new legislation that her husband hadn’t thought of, calling the association’s members to vote on creating a police force.

Cara shows up for Jacob, the Livestock Commissioner, at the Livestock Association meeting in 1923 season 1, episode 4. By doing so, Cara saves the entire family’s reputation, giving the impression that her husband is staving off thieves in Wyoming rather than fighting for his life back at the ranch. Cara even enacts new legislation that her husband hadn’t thought of, calling the association’s members to vote on creating a police force to more lawfully prosecute cattle crime in Montana, successfully.

1Beth Dutton

Kelly Reilly Is Beth Dutton In Yellowstone

Beth Dutton is most capable of running the Yellowstone ranch, with her skill set perfectly attuned to protecting it in the modern era. Beth has a degree in finance, and her savvy business skills pair perfectly with protecting the ranch from developers who want to take it from them. While not a lawyer or a ranch hand, Beth possesses a sharp legal mind and understands what must be done to protect the ranch until John Dutton’s death in Yellowstone season 5 nullifies her reason to do so.

Still, despite the original Yellowstone series ending, Beth’s story will continue alongside Rip Wheeler’s (Cole Hauser) in Dutton Ranch, an offshoot that will continue the couple’s saga. Yellowstone season 5 showed us that Beth had keen ideas about how to run a ranch and succeed while making a profit. We can assume that she will continue to apply her sharp mind to running her and her husband’s operation on Dutton Ranch, further proving that, in her time, Beth is the most capable of upholding the family’s Yellowstone legacy.