Getty Faith Hill, who plays Margaret Dutton, with her husband, Tim McGraw.
Margaret Dutton, played by country music star Faith Hill, was the feisty and protective matriarch of the Dutton clan in the “Yellowstone” prequel “1883.” However, does she die in “1923”?
Fast forward to 1923, which picks up the trail of the Dutton family and the Yellowstone ranch in Montana.
Stop reading if you don’t want spoilers.
Margaret Dutton was the wife of James Dutton, the ancestor of John Dutton (Kevin Costner), who is the patriarch of the modern-day Duttons in the long-running series, “Yellowstone.” In real life, Hill is married to Tim McGraw, who plays James Dutton, Margaret’s husband.
The answer is that, yes, Margaret Dutton is dead. She doesn’t die in the show “1923,” but it reveals her fate: She died before that time frame.
The series “1923” stars Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton, the brother of James Dutton, who raised the sons of James and Margaret Dutton. Yes, that means that James Dutton, McGraw’s character, is also dead by the year “1923.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Margaret’s Cause of Death Is Revealed Through Narration by Her Daughter, Elsa
Elsa Dutton, the deceased daughter of James and Margaret Dutton, reveals through narration in “1923” that her mother met a tragic fate.
She says that Margaret’s cause of death was freezing to death “in a snowdrift.”
She says her uncle Jacob arrived “to find my mother frozen in a snowdrift and the two boys half-starved and barely able to speak.”
The two boys are the sons of James and Margaret Dutton. One of the boys was alive in “1883,” and the other was born after Elsa’s death. It’s not yet clear which boy will grow into the direct ancestor of Kevin Costner’s character.
Fans of “1883” know that Elsa Dutton died after being struck by a poisoned arrow in a wagon train ambush.
It was theoretically possible for James and Margaret Dutton to still be alive in the year 1923, but, sadly, they are not. In addition, a lot of people thought that Harrison Ford would play an older version of James Dutton, but the show takes the storyline in a new direction by having Ford play James’ brother.
Furthermore, a lot of people thought that Ford was playing an older version of Tim McGraw’s character but, instead, he’s playing his brother. James and Margaret still live on through the modern-day Duttons because they had two sons who were raised by Jacob and his wife, Cara.
James Dutton Dies Too
GettyHow did James Dutton, the character played by Tim McGraw, die?
Sadly, Margaret Dutton wasn’t the only character from “1883” to meet a tragic end.
James Dutton died about 10 years after the family made it to Montana. According to Cinemaholic, James Dillard Dutton’s death was already shown in a flashback in “Yellowstone,” which follows the present-day life of his descendant, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and family.
In a flashback, James Dutton is shown with gunshot wounds.
According to the Yellowstone Fandom site, James Dutton’s cause of death is being shot by horse thieves on the Yellowstone ranch.
The site reports that James Dutton died in 1893, meaning he only survived for 10 years on the Dutton ranch after arriving there.
James Dutton’s death was shown in the 8th episode of season 4, which is called “No Kindness for the Coward,” according to Cinemaholic.
The flashback shows James chasing horse thieves, while his wife and two children have dinner back home.
He kills all but one of the thieves and gets his horses back, but then he realizes that he’s been shot and he collapses when he returns home. Although his actual death is not seen on screen, the scream of his wife, Margaret, makes it clear that he doesn’t survive.
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