When you get my age, the only thing you'll miss is being young, a chance to do it all over, see the look of others in grandchildrens' eyes.
—John Dutton II.
John Dutton II was the late father of John Dutton III and the previous owner of Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. He died years before the start of the series. He retired to let his son take over the running of the ranch and later suffered from cancer. At the end, his son took him on a last ride so that he could die peacefully in the mountains, looking at his ranch. His dying exhortation to his son was that he must never allow anyone to take even so much as an inch of the land away from him.