In 1923 season 2, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) will make up for missing his family’s journey in 1883. Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel is off to an ominous start in the 1923 season 2 premiere, with Spencer literally fighting his way back to Montana on an Italian freighter as danger arrives at the Duttons’ doorstep back at home in Paradise Valley. The World War I veteran was off hunting big game in Africa until he met his wife, Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), who convinced him to read his backlog of letters from his aunt Cara (Helen Mirren).
When Spencer gets word that the fate of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch is in peril, he begins the long journey home to Montana. While Spencer and his new wife are initially on a British liner in 1923 season 1, episode 8, “Nothing Left to Lose,” heading for London, Spencer is forced to take a detour after being removed from the King’s ship. Alex and Spencer are separated after Dutton throws Arthur (Rafe Soule), Alex’s former fiancé and the Earl of Sussex, off the ship’s side. 1923 season 2 reveals that Alex will leave for Montana as Spencer arrives in Galveston, Texas.
The Dutton Family’s Oregon Trail Journey In 1883 Explained
Spencer’s Family Appears In Taylor Sheridan’s 1883 Show
Before 1923, Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan wrote 1883, the first prequel about the Dutton family. 1883 introduced the earliest-known members of the Dutton family tree. James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) and their children Elsa (Isabel May) and John (Audie Rick) traversed a northwest variant of the Oregon Trail from Texas to Montana. While the family initially planned to follow the patriarch’s dream to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, tragedy cut their journey short, and the Duttons took a detour to Paradise Valley. There, James and Margaret established a new life.
The Dutton family’s journey ends with Elsa’s death in 1883t.
1883 follows James and Margaret’s family as their daughter, Elsa, narrates the epic journey. As an 18-year-old having a coming-of-age experience on the Oregon Trail, Elsa’s insights are as profound and insightful as they are naive. Elsa has an intuitive connection to the wilderness. She explores it as her family forges rivers in Texas and dodges tornadoes and bandits on the Great Plains in their prairie wagon. The Dutton family’s journey ends with Elsa’s death in 1883, which is the result of a heartbreaking misunderstanding that paints the misfortunes of westward expansion and settler colonialism in the American West.
Why Spencer Wasn’t Included In The Duttons’ 1883 Journey
Spencer Was Born After The Events Of 1883
Despite Spencer being James and Margaret Dutton’s child, he didn’t attend his family’s journey along the Oregon Trail. That said, there’s a simple explanation for why Margaret’s youngest child didn’t join the family’s journey: Spencer Dutton was born after 1883’s ending, after the family settled in Paradise Valley, Montana. Yellowstone first introduces Spencer in a flashback in Yellowstone season 4, showing James with his sons on the ranch. They ride down to a group of Crow people who ask to bury their dead on their former land. Charlie Stover appears again as young Spencer in Yellowstone season 4, episode 8.
It’s hard to say whether Margaret planned to have another child. The Dutton matriarch could have planned to have more children when the family settled in their new home. That said, it could also be that the tragedy of Elsa’s death along the Oregon Trail inspired Margaret to expand her family in Paradise Valley. Since Spencer was born after the family completed their journey, he never met his sister, Elsa, who defined the Dutton family’s story in 1883. While Spencer isn’t present in the titular year to witness his family’s Montana origins, Yellowstone flashbacks set up Spencer’s story for 1923.
How Spencer’s Journey Can Connect Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Prequels
Spencer Will Travel From Texas To Montana In 1923 Season 2
In 1883, James guided his family from Fort Worth to the Paradise Valley after they arrived in Texas from Tennessee. James traveled with his family from Texas to Montana as 1883 progressed. Spencer is about to recreate his family’s journey in 1923 season 2. At the end of 1923 season 2’s premiere, Spencer’s ship arrives at the port in Galveston, Texas, where he will continue his journey north to the mountains. Therefore, Spencer will make a Northwest journey from Texas to Montana in 1923, roughly the same one his family made 40 years ago.
Spencer’s journey in 1923 can highlight how much has changed outside Montana.
Still, Spencer’s trip will look different from his family’s experience. James and Margaret Dutton traveled from Texas to Montana in a green covered wagon and on horseback, traveling without modern means. In 1883, a train line was completed from Galveston, Texas, to California, comprising the second transcontinental railway and making the territories more accessible. 1883 talked about the last of the Oregon Trail because they were putting in a railroad, and Spencer’s journey in 1923 can highlight how much has changed outside Montana, with Dutton potentially taking the train.