{"id":38061,"date":"2024-11-07T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=38061"},"modified":"2024-11-07T19:46:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T19:46:38","slug":"yellowstone-highlights-montanas-long-forgotten-connection-to-the-confederacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/yellowstone-highlights-montanas-long-forgotten-connection-to-the-confederacy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Yellowstone\u2019 highlights Montana\u2019s long-forgotten connection to the Confederacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
During and after the Civil War, thousands of Confederate soldiers resettled in the Big Sky State. Donovan Reese\/Photodisc via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Randi Lynn Tanglen<\/a>, University of North Dakota<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular \u201cYellowstone<\/a>\u201d TV series, set and filmed in Montana<\/a>, taps into a lesser-known chapter of the state\u2019s history: its settlement by Confederates and ex-Confederates during and after the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I come to this story with a unique perspective<\/a>. I\u2019m a fourth-generation Montanan<\/a>. I\u2019m also a scholar of U.S. Western literary and cultural studies<\/a> and left the state in my 20s to pursue a career in academia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Kevin Costner plays John Dutton III in \u2018Yellowstone.\u2019 Tommaso Boddi via Getty Images Entertainment<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then, during the pandemic, I returned to Montana for a time to lead a statewide cultural organization<\/a> that connects Montana\u2019s history and literature to its modern-day residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why, for me, the story of the show\u2019s protagonist, John Dutton III<\/a>, who heads a wealthy-but-embattled Montana ranching family, is not just a cultural phenomenon. Rather, \u201cYellowstone\u201d offers insights into the dynamics that are currently influencing a changing Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montana\u2019s little-known legacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the series\u2019 prequels, \u201c1883<\/a>,\u201d provides the crucial backstory for the Dutton family\u2019s journey to Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Dutton, portrayed by Tim McGraw, was a former Confederate captain; his wife, Maggie, was a nurse for the Confederate Army. In leaving behind their war-torn lives to seek new opportunities, they mirror the historical trend that saw Confederate settlers moving West during and after the Civil War<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Montana historian and scholar Ken Robison<\/a>, Confederate prisoners of war languishing in Union prisons<\/a> were paroled to western territories like Montana. By 1864, two such parolees had discovered gold in what is still called Confederate Gulch<\/a>, at the time one of the largest settlements in Montana Territory. Other settlements, such as Dixie Town<\/a> and Jeff Davis Gulch<\/a>, dotted the landscape. Montana\u2019s territorial capital was briefly called Varina, named after the Confederate president\u2019s wife<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there is no way to know for certain, it\u2019s possible that during the latter half of the war, half of Montana Territory\u2019s residents \u2013 maybe 30,000 \u2013 were pro-secession. Some had been in Confederate service; the rest shared their sentiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the war, many of those Confederates stayed. By the late 1800s, Montana was home to 13 United Confederate Veterans organizations totaling 176 members. In 1916, the Montana Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy erected a Confederate memorial in Helena, the state capital; it stood for a century<\/a>. The 1920s saw the rise of about 40 Ku Klux Klan chapters across the state<\/a> to promote xenophobic policies against immigrants and racist policies against nonwhites. Today, Montana remains one of the whitest states in the U.S.<\/a> \u2013 about 85% of Montanans are white; less than 1% are Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Thousands of ex-Confederate soldiers migrated to the West during and after the Civil War. Corbis Historical via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recasting the \u2018Lost Cause\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Numerous historical echoes surface briefly in \u201cYellowstone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Season 2, there\u2019s a violent confrontation involving a militia group that displays Confederate and \u201cDon\u2019t Tread on Me\u201d flags<\/a>. This subplot speaks to Montana\u2019s long history as a hub for populist and anti-government movements. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that Montana has 17 hate and anti-government groups<\/a>, which include three defined as white supremacist or neo-Nazi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This depiction of militia groups in \u201cYellowstone\u201d represents the broader history of populist resistance in the American West. From the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s<\/a> to the Montana Freemen\u2019s standoff<\/a> with federal agents in the 1990s, Westerners have often resisted federal control over land and resources \u2013 tensions that perhaps trace back to the Confederacy\u2019s own secession, a resistance rooted in defiance of federal authority, particularly over slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Confederacy\u2019s defeat, the \u201cLost Cause\u201d narrative<\/a>, in an attempt to preserve Southern pride, recast the South\u2019s secession as a fight for states\u2019 rights, and not a defense of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those Lost Cause connections reverberate through John Dutton III\u2019s relentless battle to preserve his family\u2019s ranch. Fighting overwhelming political and economic pressures, Dutton remains steadfast in his determination to hold onto the land, even when it goes against his best interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Beneath
At 1.1 million people, Montana remains one of the most sparsely populated U.S. states. Zia Soleil\/Stone via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This tenacity reflects the Lost Cause mindset \u2013 a clinging to a nostalgia-tinged, yet unattainable, past. Dutton embodies the archetype of the \u201caggrieved white man<\/a>,\u201d a figure central to many populist movements, who feels displaced from his former position of power in politics, work and family life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Populist contradictions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to discern to what degree recent changes in Montana can be attributed to \u201cYellowstone.\u201d What is certain: Today\u2019s longtime Montana residents find themselves exposed to a fresh set of political, economic and cultural forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism and the local economy are up, due in part to the \u201cYellowstone\u201d effect<\/a>. But so are concerns about the rising costs of most everything<\/a>, particularly houses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These trends have been spurred, in part, by outsiders moving to Montana<\/a> \u2013 newcomers who romanticize the state\u2019s hardscrabble past and what they perceive as its current rough-hewn lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, Montana has morphed from a purple state known for its political independence into a reliably conservative stronghold<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drastic shift from purple to red solidified in 2020 with the election of a Republican governor<\/a> after 16 years of Democratic leadership. It was further underscored by the defeat of Democratic Senator Jon Tester by Republican Tim Sheehy in the 2024 election<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"With<\/a>
In the Nov. 5 elections, Republican Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, ousted three-term incumbent Democrat Jon Tester in Montana\u2019s U.S. Senate race. Michael Ciaglo via Getty Images News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cYellowstone,\u201d as Dutton is sworn in as Montana\u2019s new Republican governor, he tells his constituents that he is \u201cthe opposite of progress\u201d in response to changes that outside influences are bringing to the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the politics of \u201cYellowstone\u201d are \u201chard to pin down<\/a>,\u201d and the Duttons themselves espouse various versions of left- and right-wing populism as they simultaneously battle and embody the political and economic elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the same token, Montanans resent wealthy outsiders but have given them political power by voting them into office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montana\u2019s current governor, Greg Gianforte, is a tech millionaire<\/a>, originally from Pennsylvania; Sheehy, similarly, is a wealthy out-of-stater<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither one might approve of the fictional Gov. Dutton\u2019s proposed policy of doubling property and sales taxes for out-of-state \u201ctransplants\u201d \u2013 though many Montanans probably would. For some, the rapid changes of the past few years have been, like life for the Dutton family, a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randi Lynn Tanglen<\/a>, Professor of English and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, University of North Dakota<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Randi Lynn Tanglen, University of North Dakota The popular \u201cYellowstone\u201d TV series, set and filmed in Montana, taps into a lesser-known chapter of the state\u2019s history: its settlement by Confederates and ex-Confederates during and after the Civil War. I come to this story with a unique perspective. I\u2019m a fourth-generation Montanan. I\u2019m also a scholar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":38062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8025,7,296,4,38,41],"tags":[15733,885,891,886,860,7693,14059],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38061"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38063,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38061\/revisions\/38063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}