hit western series has expanded into a sprawling family saga, stretching across generations of Duttons. The limited series 1883 follows the post-Civil War generation of the Dutton family as they undertake a perilous journey West, migrating from Fort Worth, Texas. They settled in what would later be known as Paradise Valley in Montana, close to what would eventually become Yellowstone, the first American national park. Their homestead would one day grow into the empire known as the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.

picks things up a few short years before the Great Depression, depicting Montana's economic struggles after World War I. The two-season prequel introduces another slew of Dutton characters and follows them as they fight against great enemies who seek to encroach on their land.

One of the biggest questions among fans of the franchise has been exactly how the characters in 1923 connect to the present-day characters seen in Yellowstone. The big finale revealed the link, giving the long-awaited answer to the mystery. To clear up any confusion, broken down below is how each main character in 1923 is related to Yellowstone.

The East Coast-educated Elizabeth "Liz" Strafford returned to Montana to marry her lifelong sweetheart, Jack Dutton. While the two were never officially married, they had a sweet ceremony of their own, declaring themselves husband and wife. Liz suffered a lot at the ranch, her biggest hardship being a miscarriage in Season 1. After being bitten by a rabid wolf in Season 2, she discovers she's pregnant again. Sadly, however, Jack ends up killed by the Duttons' enemies.

After his death, Elizabeth moves back to Boston. Michelle Randolph, who plays Liz, confirms that "Elizabeth walks away pregnant." Many fans have speculated that the child is possibly John II, John III's (Kevin Costner) father, but chances aren't likely. Liz was young, and probably made a new life for herself with someone new who took on that child as their own. Her heart was never in the ranch, so it seems unlikely she or her child would ever return.

Additionally, in Season 4, Episode 2 of Yellowstone, John tells Jimmy (Jefferson White) that his grandfather lost his leg and that it was "the worst pain he ever felt was in his toes." A dead Jack would never have been able to share that with him.

Teonna Rainwater is one of the greatest characters ever written by Taylor Sheridan. She shares a last name with Yellowstone's Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham). Although nothing has been confirmed, Aminah Nieves, who plays the strong, resilient girl, shared in an interview with People that she absolutely believes Teonna is Thomas' ancestor. The two have more in common than a last name. Just like Teonna, Thomas was proud of his people and their culture. Once he turned 18 and was able to open his adoption records, he discovered his true heritage. Afterward, he made it his mission to reclaim what those who came before him had lost.

Like many indigenous children of the time, the Crow native teen was kidnapped from her tribe and forcefully placed in a Native American boarding school. Inside the Catholic institution, Teonna suffered abuse and brutal horrors at the hands of monsters. Try as they did to break her and strip her of her identity, Teonna clung tightly to who she was, defying her oppressors. The freedom afforded to her in the finale was always her right. If anyone deserves a spin-off, it's her. On her fate, Nieves said, "I'm hopeful that she has a full-bodied life. I'm hopeful that she has children and is able to continue and stand and fight a good fight."

During the events of 1923, Jack was the youngest Dutton, son of Emma and John Dutton I (Marley Shelton and Audie Rick), and grandson of 1883's Margaret and James Dutton (Faith Hill and Tim McGraw). He was an honorable, wild-spirited cowboy who had infinite love for his family and the land, going out of his way to protect both. After the death of his parents, he becomes even more determined to take down those trying to squeeze his family out of their ranch. It was precisely this war that ended his life, when trigger-happy Clyde (Brian Konowal) fatally shot him in Season 2, Episode 6.

The headstrong Jack had what it took to carry on the Dutton legacy, and he should have been able to do so alongside Spencer, but this is a Taylor Sheridan show, after all, and tragic deaths are to be expected. Although he's not directly connected to the Duttons in Yellowstone, being only John Dutton III's first cousin once removed, he still played an important role during the ranch's formative years.

There are some fans, however, who speculate that Jack is John Dutton III's grandfather, theorizing that Liz was carrying a son who will come back to the ranch in 1944. They've cited the fact that when Jamie (Wes Bentley) introduced his father as Montana's next governor in Yellowstone's Season 5, he referred to him as a fifth-generation rancher, but Sheridan is notorious for big inconsistencies and plot holes in his writing.

Cara Dutton is the matriarch of the family in 1923, and one of the show's most compelling characters. An immigrant from Ireland, she and Jacob married sometime around the events of 1883. After the death of her brother-in-law and his wife, Cara stepped in to raise Spencer and John I as her own, and became crucial in the expansion of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. She's the great-grandaunt of John Dutton III by marriage. Although not a Dutton by blood, she shaped the family's ethos, which was passed down all the way to the characters in Yellowstone.

Throughout 1923, she stepped in countless times when the ranch and her family were in need of protection. When the audience first meets her, she shoots one of Creighton's (Jerome Flynn) men who's trying to escape after the attack on the Duttons, killing him with a shotgun. After her husband is wounded, she faces off with fellow ranchers and shepherds, taking on his stead on the livestock commission. She acted as the mother Liz needed throughout her difficult time living on the ranch, and even saved her from a mountain lion. After Alex dies, she steps in to help Spencer raise their child. Cradling baby John II, she solidifies her role as his caretaker and maternal figure as she bids farewell to Liz.

Jacob Dutton, played by the legendary Harrison Ford, became the family's patriarch in his brother's stead, after his death. He acted as a father to his nephews, John I and Spencer, stepping in to raise them. He managed and expanded the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch during one of the most challenging times in American history. Without him, it never would have grown into the empire it did by the events of Yellowstone. It was Jacob who laid the groundwork for the legacy and land wealth John Dutton III, his great-grandnephew, and his kids defended so fiercely in Yellowstone.

Jacob didn't make the sacrifices he made for himself, or his wife, or any children of his own. He did it for the descendants of his brother. Everything he worked and fought so hard for was meant to protect their patrimony. Spencer has a lot to thank him for, and so do the characters in Yellowstone. He went above and beyond what James and Margaret could ever hope for.

When the audience meets Alex, she's a British aristocrat engaged to Arthur II, a Viscount, and on a safari in Africa, where she meets Spencer. She can't help but find herself drawn to the rugged, brooding big game hunter. Longing for a fuller, more free-spirited life, away from the confines of the society she was raised in, she dumps her fiancé to embrace the unknown with Spencer, whom she quickly fell in love with. Deep in her bones, she knew the cowboy from Montana was her soulmate.

After cruelly being separated from Spencer, a pregnant Alex embarks on a dangerous, harrowing journey to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. When she finally reaches Montana, she becomes trapped in a frozen winter wonderland, suffering severe frostbite. Upon being rescued, she declines amputation of her extremities in a sacrifice to save her son, choosing a premature delivery. One of her final acts on this earth would be to name her and Spencer's child John, after his brother. Her baby, John II, is John Dutton III's father, making her his grandmother and great-grandmother to the siblings in Yellowstone.

When his brother John is killed by Creighton and his men, Spencer becomes the last surviving son of James and Margaret Dutton. After serving in World War I, the war veteran is haunted by what he saw on the battlefield. Instead of returning home to Montana, he becomes a big game hunter in Africa, where he meets the love of his life, Alex. The two have the franchise's most epic love story, and the most tragic. It wasn't all sadness, however, for they brought John Dutton III's father, John II, into the world.

After Alex's death, Spencer would go on to raise their son on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. For 45 years, he lived on after her. It was on the grave of his beloved wife that he took his last breath. His grandson, John III, became the owner of one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States, and head of the Yellowstone empire. After his death, John III would become the last Dutton to be laid to rest on the land.