Indeed, Yellowstone rarely reveals the names of those buried in the ranch, which, apart from Patience, also includes 1883's Margaret Dutton and John Dutton's wife Evelyn. Like these women, Patience could have also played a huge role in the history of the ranch.
Elsa's death is a catalyst for a much bigger story about the Duttons and how they found paradise valley. Despite how hard it was for fans, she had to die because her final resting place became the iconic Yellowstone Dutton ranch.
When an attack broke out in 1883's penultimate episode titled "Racing Clouds," the show caught up to its opening sequence, where Elsa got shot with an arrow. By the series finale, her wounds were unable to heal and though she managed to endure for a while, she died in Montana.
Elsa Dutton - John's great aunt
As John Dutton Junior came into the mix, Elsa is Costner's character's great aunt. Elsa's personality traits are evident in some of the Yellowstone characters, including Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Tate (Brecken Merrill).
James and Margaret Dutton
The caravan was heading toward Oregon, but the Dutton family had to settle in Montana after the death of their daughter, Elsa (Isabel May). Elsa was the main narrator of 1883 and appeared via voiceover in the first episode of 1923 as well.
Viewers saw this moment play out in a flashback during season four, episode eight of "Yellowstone," although the severity of his wounds and his fate were left ambiguous. As Elsa explains in her voiceover, after this, her mother "wrote to his brother begging that he bring his family to this wild land and save hers."
Yellowstone fans know that Duttons have been buried in the same spot in Montana for over a century. The Dutton family cemetery makes more sense after 1883 revealed that Elsa was the first person to be buried on the land.
Sam (Martin Sensmeier) is a Comanche warrior who encounters the Dutton family along their journey in 1883. He and Elsa fall in love and marry in an unofficial ceremony.
Elsa Dutton
Spirited Elsa (Isabel May) was the eldest child of James and Margaret Dutton and served as the narrator of 1883. Passionate and willful, Elsa was a skilled horseback rider and cowgirl, much to her mother's chagrin.
We found them. My father's hunting their killers right now, and if he's hunting them, he'll find them,” Elsa tells the men. Taking in the news, the leader asks Elsa her name. She responds, “Lightning with the yellow hair,” in Comanche.
Meanwhile, fan-favorite Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) made good on his promise to see the Pacific Ocean so his late wife could “use [his] eyes to see the world” — then promptly shot himself.
And because this is one of the few shows in which that phrase might be taken literally, allow me to clarify: Elsa gets married in Sunday's episode. The groom? Handsome Sam, the Comanche man she met [checks notes] last episode.
Elsa Dutton surrendered to death and picked the spot in Paradise Valley where he wanted James to bury her.
'Yellowstone' Reveals Gravestones of James, Margaret, and Elsa Dutton, Solidifying Their Fates. Fascinatingly, this sequence also reveals the gravestones of 1883's James, Margaret, and Elsa Dutton to us as Summer discovers them.
1883 & 1923: John Dutton I
Audie Rick portrayed the young John in 1883. In 1923, John works alongside his uncle Jacob, who maintains the ranch after his father's death. He eventually inherits it himself either on or after the time featured in the upcoming prequel series.
While that might just be a detail for ... However, despite getting the parents' approval, Sam and Elsa do not marry, at least not in a traditional sense. During her conversation with Margaret, Elsa states that she believes God has sent Sam into her life, and she already considers him a husband.
The Yellowstone prequel never clarified whether Elsa (Isabel May) and Ennis (Eric Nelsen) consummating their relationship in 1883 season 1, episode 5 “The Fangs of Freedom" resulted in Elsa getting pregnant.
Jacob is the brother of James and Claire Dutton, who both set out on a northward journey in 1883, James with his wife Margaret, son John and daughter Elsa, Claire with her daughter Mary Abel.
One of the newest Yellowstone spinoffs is a prequel previously called 1932, but Paramount+ later announced that the title was changed to 1923. The new series previously planned to focus on Prohibition will now encompass the aftermath of World War I and beginning of Prohibition.
It is unknown who Chance and Ned Dutton are. A popular theory circulates that Ned Dutton is likely a nephew of James Dutton from 1883 and Chance Dutton is either another of James Dutton's nephews or the brother of John Dutton III.
Spencer Dutton is the younger son of James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) from the 1883 series. He is also the younger brother of John Dutton Sr (James Badge Dale). As James Dutton from 1883 was John Dutton's great-grandfather, this makes Spencer one of John's grandfathers.
But returning savior nephew Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) displays his killer instinct in the Paramount+ "Yellowstone" prequel. In the finale, Spencer wins a sword duel on yet another ship trying to return home to his embattled Montana family.
I'm not scared, Daddy.” Then, she dies. So, why were these Elsa's final words? Prior to spotting the bird before her death, she tells James her first memory involved seeing a flock of birds “in the field behind the house.” She saw the birds picking at the soft earth after it rained to easily get to the worms.