50 free Yellowstone TV Show trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
40 free Yellowstone TV Show trivia questions with answers. This Yellowstone show trivia quiz is about the Paramount Network drama, not the national park (we have a separate quiz for Old Faithful). It covers all five seasons of the Dutton family saga: John Dutton and his children Beth, Kayce and Jamie, Rip Wheeler and the bunkhouse crew, Chief Rainwater and the Broken Rock reservation, and the parade of enemies from Dan Jenkins and the Beck brothers to Market Equities. It also digs into how the show got made: Taylor Sheridan's 'Godfather in Montana' pitch that HBO turned down, the real Chief Joseph Ranch that plays the Dutton home, the move from Utah to Montana, Kevin Costner's exit, the ratings climb, and the prequels 1883 and 1923 with Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. About a third of the questions are easy for anyone who watched; the rest will test the fans who know which ranch hand carries the brand. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's articles on the series, its characters and cast, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Yellowstone was created by John Linson and which writer, who also directed several episodes?
Taylor Sheridan
He began developing it in 2013 after tiring of acting, drawing on years spent living in rural Texas and Wyoming.
Q 02How many episodes did Paramount Network order for Yellowstone's first season in May 2017?
10
HBO had passed on the project; it became the channel's first scripted series.
Q 03In which Montana town did Yellowstone's creator write the first scripts, pitched as 'The Godfather in Montana'?
Livingston
The story itself is set in Darby, and HBO passed on the pitch before Paramount picked it up.
Q 04Which network turned Yellowstone down before Paramount Network picked it up?
HBO
Paramount's president later joked about the timing when the show became a hit.
Q 05How many seasons of Yellowstone were made before it concluded in December 2024?
5
The run totalled 53 episodes, with the fifth season split into two parts.
Q 06Who plays ranch patriarch John Dutton III?
Kevin Costner
It was the first regular TV series role of his career; he initially agreed to one season and left midway through the fifth.
Q 07The actor who plays John Dutton won which award for the role?
A Golden Globe
A 2025 Hollywood Reporter story described the set as rife with power struggles before his exit.
Q 08Which English actress plays John's ferocious daughter, Beth Dutton?
Kelly Reilly
She went on to star opposite Cole Hauser in the spin-off Dutton Ranch.
Q 09Cole Hauser plays which loyal ranch foreman, raised by John Dutton and eventually married to Beth?
Rip Wheeler
Hauser had earlier played cops in High Incident and Rogue.
Q 10Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) served in which military branch before returning to the ranch?
Navy SEAL
He later becomes a livestock agent, then commissioner, and is eventually given the ranch by his father.
Q 11Wes Bentley plays Jamie Dutton, the lawyer-politician who differs from his siblings in what way?
He is adopted
His biological father, Garrett Randall, is played by Will Patton in seasons 3 and 4.
Q 12Who plays Garrett Randall, Jamie's biological father?
Will Patton
Randall's arrival in season 3 sets up the family's most poisonous betrayal.
Q 13Which of John Dutton's sons, head of ranch security, dies in the first season?
Lee
Played by Dave Annable, he was also a sworn agent of the Montana Livestock Commission.
Kayce's wife Monica is from which neighbouring community?
Q 21Jimmy leaves the Yellowstone in season 4 to work at which famous Texas outfit?
The 6666
Taylor Sheridan later bought the real Four Sixes and spun off a series set there.
Q 22Which musician plays Walker, the ex-convict ranch hand recruited by Rip?
Ryan Bingham
Bingham won an Oscar for co-writing 'The Weary Kind' from Crazy Heart.
Q 23Forrie J. Smith plays which longest-serving ranch hand, who has worked with John for decades?
Lloyd Pierce
Smith is a real-life cowboy and stuntman who grew up on ranches.
Jennifer Landon plays Teeter, the pink-haired ranch hand who dates which colleague?
Broken Rock
Kelsey Asbille plays her; the reservation borders the ranch along with Yellowstone National Park.
Q 15Gil Birmingham plays which tribal chief, alternately John Dutton's rival and ally?
Thomas Rainwater
He teams up with Dutton and Dan Jenkins against the Beck brothers in season 2.
Q 16What is the name of Kayce and Monica's son, John's only grandson?
Tate
Played by Brecken Merrill, he is heir to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.
Q 17Danny Huston plays Dan Jenkins, the seasons 1-2 antagonist who is what?
A billionaire land developer
He, Dutton and Rainwater end up joining forces against the Beck brothers.
Q 18Which actor plays Malcolm Beck, one of the villainous Beck brothers of season 2?
Neal McDonough
He joined the cast in a recurring role in September 2018.
Q 19Which corporation, represented by Roarke Morris and later Sarah Atwood, tries to seize the ranch?
Market Equities
Josh Holloway played the fly-fishing rancher Roarke, and Dawn Olivieri arrived as Atwood in season 5.
Q 20Jefferson White plays which bumbling ranch hand and amateur bronc rider?
Jimmy Hurdstrom
In season 4 he is sent to a Texas ranch, where he meets his fiancée Emily.
Colby Mayfield
Landon and Kathryn Kelly were promoted to series regulars for the fifth season.
Q 25Finn Little plays Carter, the troubled orphan who is taken in by which Dutton?
Beth
He becomes a ranch hand and something of a surrogate son to Beth and Rip.
Q 26Wendy Moniz plays Lynelle Perry, John's love interest, who holds which office when the show begins?
Governor of Montana
She later moves to the US Senate as John himself takes over the governorship in season 5.
Q 27At the start of season 5, John Dutton takes which political office?
Governor of Montana
He later hands ownership of the ranch to Kayce.
Q 28Which actor plays the young John Dutton in 1990s flashbacks?
Josh Lucas
Kylie Rogers, Dalton Baker and Rhys Alterman play the young Beth, Jamie and Kayce.
Q 29Which real property near Darby stands in for the Dutton home?
Chief Joseph Ranch
Its 5,000-square-foot log mansion was built in 1914 for a glass tycoon and a federal judge from Ohio.
Q 30Before production moved fully to the show's home state in 2020, much of Yellowstone was filmed in which state?
Utah
The production used all three soundstages at Utah Film Studios in Park City and shot at the Salt Flats and Spanish Fork.