Kayce Dutton

**The only thing I got left is to make a future for my son. This is the only thing I got to give him.**
Kayce Dutton

## Kayce Dutton

### Relatives

* James Dutton (2x Great Grandfather) †
* Margaret Dutton (2x Great Grandmother) †
* John Dutton Sr. (Great Grandfather) †
* John Dutton Jr. (Grandfather) †
* John Dutton (Father)
* Evelyn Dutton (Mother) †
* Monica Dutton (Wife)
* Tate Dutton (Son)
* Lee Dutton (Brother) †
* Jamie Dutton (Adopted Brother)
* Bethany Dutton (Sister)
* Felix Long (Father-in-Law)
* Rip Wheeler (Brother-in-Law)
* Unnamed Mother-in-law
* Robert Long (Brother-in-Law) †
* Samantha Long (Sister-in-Law) †
* Unnamed Grandmother †
* Peter Dutton (Uncle) †
* John Dutton IV (Son) †
* Jamie (Nephew)

### Affiliation

* Yellowstone Dutton Ranch
* Montana Livestock Association
* Dutton Family
* United States Navy

### Occupation

* Navy SEAL (Formerly)
* Ranch Hand (Formerly)
* Livestock Commissioner

## Appearances

### Portrayed by

* Luke Grimes
* Rhys Alterman
* Kai Castor

**Kayce John Dutton** is a main character on *Yellowstone*. He is John and Evelyn Dutton's son. He has a complex and tense relationship with his father, who increasingly regrets the emotional distance between them. Kayce is married to Monica and they have a son, Tate.

## Biography

### Early Life

Kayce and John have a complex and tense relationship, with John regretting his actions resulting in driving Kayce away from the ranch. Kayce and John have been estranged for sometime at the beginning of the series. It is later revealed that part of what drove them apart was that Kayce got Monica pregnant and they planned to keep the baby. That is when John forced Kayce to take the brand. Before the series, he was an ex-Navy SEAL who settled on the Broken Rock Reservation with his wife Monica and son Tate. He befriended some of the locals, including Monica's brother, Robert, who was also a military veteran.

### Season One

Kayce lives on the Black Rock Reservation with Monica and Tate, breaking colts and stallions for money, though he often gives many of them away. He appreciates life on the reservation but, despite having friends and family there, he is seen as an outsider. Even so, he prefers to stay on the reservation and avoids contact with the Dutton family. When a herd of the Duttons' cattle wanders on to reservation land and the tribe's new chairman, Tom Rainwater, claims them for the tribe, Kayce has divided loyalties and cannot avoid being drawn into the slowly escalating row. This culminates in a nocturnal firefight between reservation law enforcement and the Livestock Association Agents led by Kayce's father John and his eldest brother Lee.as they attempt to recover the cattle. In midst of a skirmish, Kayce's brother-in-law Robert fatally shoots Lee, Kayce rides past him before he can execute Lee and kicks him. As Kayce tries to save Lee, Robert draws down and Kayce is forced to shoot him dead.

### Season Two

Kayce, Monica and Tate briefly stay on the Yellowstone Ranch, to avoid hostile reaction to them on the reservation after the killings caused by the cattle dispute. John tries to arrange employment for Monica at Montana State University in Bozeman so that the family can stay on the ranch and John can build a relationship with his grandson, Tate. Kayce seems content to work on the ranch alongside his father though the relationship is still somewhat strained. Monica declines the initial offer to join the faculty, and returns to her job as a teacher at the reservation school. When she arrives at school, she intervenes to break up a fight between two older students and is punched unconscious, resulting in severe head trauma. Over the course of her recovery, she comes to the conclusion that while she loves Kayce, she thinks what's best for Tate is to keep him away from Kayce and the Dutton family because of the dangerous business they're mixed up in. Monica moves into a faculty apartment with Tate on the MSU campus, and briefly entertains a fling with her physical therapist Martin. Kayce continues to work on the ranch, occasionally seeing Monica and Tate, and hoping for a chance to save their marriage.

Eventually, Kayce and Monica do reunite, and Monica returns to living on the Dutton Ranch with their son. Kayce also accepts his intended role as the future head of the ranch and assumes the decision-making responsibilities. He briefly clashes with Rip when John gives Kayce the foreman's cabin to live in and moves Rip into the bunkhouse. However, when John quietly intervenes and asks Rip to help Kayce learn how to lead the two come to amicable terms. After Monica and Tate return to the ranch Kayce moves back into the main house.

### Season Three

The following summer after the Dutton's herd of cattle were killed as a result of consuming clover hay, Kayce decides to set up a spike camp in a remote part of the ranch to closely monitor the cattle as they graze and to make sure no new clover is growing in the field after the wet season. He spends much of his summer there with the ranch hands, John, and Tate. When Governor Perry seeks to promote Jamie to Attorney General of Montana, she convinces Kayce to replace Jamie as the new commissioner of the Livestock Association. He reluctantly agrees, and splits his time between his ranch responsibilities and the commissioners office like John before him.

The chairmen of the Stock Growers Association meet with Kayce to thank him for his service, and propose that he run for governor since Perry has two years left in her final term. Kayce is reluctant to consider the offer having just begun to settle into his role as Commissioner, but the chairmen make a strong case that supports Kayce's desire to help people, pointing to the fact that he's not a politician and that's exactly what they want and need. He shares the proposal over the phone with Monica, who seems displeased and frustrated with the changes simply running for office would bring. However, their conversation is cut short when multiple gunmen break into Kayce's office to assassinate him in what turns out to be a coordinated hit on him, Beth, and John.

## Appearances

* *Kill the Messenger*
* *No Good Horses*
* *The Long Black Train*
* *Coming Home*
* *The Remembering*
* *A Monster is Among Us*
* *The Unravelling: Part 1*
* *The Unravelling: Part 2*
* *New Beginnings*
* *The Reek of Desperation*
* *Only Devils Left*
* *Touching Your Enemy*
* *Blood the Boy*
* *Resurrection Day*
* *Behind Us Only Grey*
* *Enemies by Monday*
* *Sins of the Father*

* *Freight Trains and Monsters*
* *An Acceptable Surrender*
* *Going Back to Cali*
* *Cowboys and Dreamers*
* *All for Nothing*
* *The Beating*
* *I Killed a Man Today*
* *Meaner Than Evil*
* *The World is Purple*
* *Phantom Pain*
* *All I See is You*
* *Winning or Learning*
* *Under a Blanket of Red*
* *I Want to Be Him*
* *Keep the Wolves Close*
* *No Kindness for the Coward*
* *No Such Thing as Fair*
* *Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops*

* *The Sting of Wisdom*
* *Tall Drink of Water*
* *Horses in Heaven*
* *Watch'em Ride Away*
* *Cigarettes, Whiskey, a Meadow and You*
* *The Dream is Not Me*
* *A Knife and No Coin*