1883 told the story of how the Duttons got to Montana during the period of Westward expansion at the end of the 19th century. James (Tim

McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) brought their entire family West until they found the land that would eventually become the

Yellowstone ranch. Even though 1883 was an origin story for the Duttons, it didn’t include Spencer, and many fans may wonder why he

wasn’t in the show set just 40 years prior to 1923. What makes the whole thing more confusing is that Spencer appeared in flashbacks in Yellowstone season 4.

Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) briefly appeared in Yellowstone, over 100 years after he was born, but he curiously wasn’t in the prequel series 1883, and there’s a simple explanation for that. Spencer Dutton was one of the best characters in 1923, the second Yellowstone prequel show. He was a crucial part of the Dutton family tree, and the ending of 1923 season 2 even confirmed that he was the grandfather of John Dutton III (Kevin Costner) in Yellowstone. As important as he was, however, Spencer never actually appeared in 1883, even though it followed his parents and siblings.

Yellowstone season 4 included some flashbacks to 1883‘s James Dutton and his early days establishing the Yellowstone ranch. In a few of those flashbacks, James was accompanied by his sons, John I and Spencer (Charlie Stover). John I appeared in 1883 as a young child, but Spencer was noticeably absent. The simple reason Spencer was in Yellowstone season 4’s flashbacks but not 1883 is that he wasn’t born in time for the prequel show. Spencer was born in 1889, six years after the ending of 1883. Yellowstone season 4’s flashbacks took place in 1993, making Spencer a 4-year-old boy.

Though there are two prequel shows, there are still several holes in the Yellowstone franchise’s timeline, and Spencer slipped through one of them. For example, Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) never appeared in 1883 either, because they came to America to help Margaret run the ranch after James’s death in 1894. Spencer’s absence from 1883 is just another example of how the generational story of Yellowstone and the Dutton family was constantly evolving, even in eras we’ve never seen on screen. The shows we get are only the most pivotal moments of that long, storied history.