The Biggest Unsolved Mystery After ‘1923’: How Teonna Rainwater Connects to Yellowstone’s Dutton Family

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for 1923 season 2’s finale, “A Dream and a Memory”Teonna Rainwater’s (Aminah Nieves) story never connected to the Duttons in 1923, even though the show is over. Since the beginning, the cast of 1923 has been split in two, telling two almost completely unconnected stories.

The main focus of the show was on the Dutton family tree, their battle for the Yellowstone ranch, and Alexandra’s (Julia Schlaepfer) and Spencer’s (Brandon Sklenar) journeys home. The other half has focused on Teonna’s harrowing experience with a Native American boarding school and the many injustices she faced from people like Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché) and Marshal Kent (Jamie McShane).

For the longest time, it seemed like Teonna’s story would intersect with the Duttons’ at some point. Teonna is, after all, an ancestor of Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) in Yellowstone, and 1923 is a prequel series meant to show how all of Yellowstone‘s parts fell into place. Another Yellowstone spinoff show, 1883, ended with Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene) telling James Dutton (Tim McGraw) that his family would lose the ranch in seven generations. However, the ending of 1923 season 2 didn’t have such a connection, and Teonna’s story never brought her in contact with any Duttons at all.

Teonna Rainwater’s 1923 Story Never Connected To Yellowstone & The Duttons: Marshal Fossett Is The Closest Teonna Ever Got To Interacting With A Dutton

As the ending of 1923 already showed, Teonna’s journey from Montana to Texas never intersected with the Duttons. There was a close call where Teonna almost met Spencer while he was traveling through Texas, but they never actually saw each other. Really, the only connection between Teonna and the Duttons at all in 1923 was Marshal Mamie Fossett (Jennifer Carpenter), as the law woman had both Teonna and Spencer in her custody at different times. That’s still a full degree of separation, though, and for all we know, Teonna doesn’t even know who the Duttons are.

There wasn’t even a hint that Teonna would eventually interact with the Duttons after 1923. Once Teonna’s trial was finished and she was a free woman again, Two Spears (Dougie Hall) sent her off to California, not Montana. Without Pete Plenty Clouds (Jeremy Gauna) and Runs His Horse (Michael Spears), Teonna has no reason to go back to Montana, either. Aside from knowing that Teonna’s descendant would eventually be important, her entire story in 1923 was an unrelated story that had no connective tissue to the Duttons.

Will Yellowstone’s 1944 Spinoff Continue Rainwater’s Story? 1944 Could Easily Follow An Older Teonna Rainwater Or Her Child

Even though 1923 is over, there is still a chance for Taylor Sheridan to connect Teonna’s story to the Duttons. One of the many upcoming Yellowstone spinoff shows, aptly titled 1944, could revisit the Rainwater family’s connection to the Duttons. 1944 takes place just 20 years after the ending of 1923, which is both close enough for Teonna to still be around and distant enough for her to have a reason to return to Montana. It may take an entirely separate show, but 1944 could easily tie Teonna to the main story of 1923.

There’s also a chance that Teonna’s story won’t directly connect to the Duttons in 1944. Teonna has to continue the Rainwater lineage and have a child at some point, otherwise Thomas wouldn’t be around in Yellowstone. 1944 could follow Teonna’s child as they return to Montana and their ancestral home, which would provide an opportunity for them to meet some of the Duttons. It would also be a chance to flesh out the Rainwater family tree a bit more, and give Teonna some closure after her traumatizing journey in 1923.