'Yellowstone' and the battle for Montana's identity

This Sunday, for the first time in nearly two years, fans of “Yellowstone” will be able to see how John Dutton handles the mounting challenges he faces as governor and steward of the family’s ranch.

For Randi Lynn Tanglen, a fourth-generation Montanan and a Western studies scholar at the University of North Dakota, “Yellowstone” is more than fiction. The popular TV series echoes Montana’s ongoing cultural shifts, reflecting the strain between tradition and change, and locals and outsiders, that have long shaped the state’s identity.

As Tanglen explains, these tensions span back to the Civil War, when waves of Confederate troops settled in the then-territory, and continue into the 21st century, with wealthy newcomers upending the state’s politics.

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