That quote, spoken by the character “Jimmy Hurdstrom” in the hit Paramount TV series “Yellowstone,” captures the spirit of the show, set on the fictional Dutton family ranch just outside Yellowstone National Park .

The popularity of the series encouraged future Duttons to try their luck in the West, hoping to acquire their own fortune to establish their own family legacy.

“A client I had told me they always wanted to be a cowboy,” said Julie Snelson of Peaks to Prairie Realty in Cody. “Then they started watching ‘Yellowstone’ and came here and bought a house. It’s because of their passion for the program and they just want to come to Yellowstone. They even said it was an obsession.”

“These are highly educated professionals,” she added.

House in Yellowstone?

Snelson told Cowboy State Daily that she has had other clients contact her because they were interested in the TV show — and were under the mistaken impression that they could actually live in the Park.

“A gentleman called me and said he wanted to buy a house in Yellowstone,” Snelson said. “I explained that it was impossible. Then I started explaining the lay of the land – the North Fork (the highway between Cody and Yellowstone), the National Forest and then the National Park. So then he wanted to buy a property in the National Forest… He said he wasn’t happy on the east coast and he just knew living in Yellowstone would change his life.”

“A lot of people want to get away from the crazy, chaotic big cities and go to a more laid-back, relaxing town like Cody and throughout the Bighorn Basin,” said Jona Harris, a real estate broker in Cody. ”. “They want an out-of-town experience, with a river running through their property.”

Harris, a big fan of the show, said the appeal of the show for her was the intrigue — the characters stabbing each other in the back, the romances, the plot twists.

But she admits that the romance of the mountain setting can inspire those who don’t live here.

“I really see a correlation between the show and wanting to come here and experience the old cowboy feeling,” she said.

The same thing is happening in Montana. One investment group owner told CNBC that demand for real estate has skyrocketed since the TV show began.

“We’ve had a lot of wealthy individuals looking for livestock farms,” Robert Keith, founder of investment firm Beartooth Group, told CNBC. “They are looking to own truly amazing large assets.”

Low inventory

However, those big assets aren’t really available, at least in the Cowboy State.

Real estate brokers in Wyoming currently have very few to offer on large ranch properties. Many such locations were snapped up in 2020 and 2021, as city residents with extra money were looking for a less restrictive place to live.

Due to low inventory and high demand, real estate prices skyrocketed, affecting people’s property taxes. So the growing interest from fans of the “Yellowstone” series has put more pressure on an already tense housing market.

“We don’t have big farms, but we do have some options for acreage out-of-town living,” Harris said.

However, residents of northwest Wyoming warn that there is a difference between what people see on TV and what life is really like in the western mountains.

“The show never depicts winter or wind,” said Cody resident Lance Mathess. “The winter here is harsh and long. Like the bison, you must be built to survive.”

However, Mathess told Cowboy State Daily that he remains a huge fan of the “Yellowstone” series.

“I like the almost Godfather-like flavor of the movie,” he said. “Like Don Corleone, John Dutton displays a deep paternal concern for his family and legacy. In fact, much of the film mirrors The Godfather in many ways.”

Go to Wyoming
Although the film is set in Montana, the title “Yellowstone” heavily associates Wyoming with the setting. However, the Cowboy State is only really mentioned when the Dutton family wants to get rid of someone who has surpassed the family.

“You want to get off this farm, you got it,” the character Rip Wheeler said in one episode. “I will drive your *ss to the train station myself.”

“Train station” refers to a roadside cliff in Wyoming that the Dutton family and ranchers used to dump the bodies of anyone who passed by them.

However, that doesn’t mean fans of the show in Wyoming are any less interested in celebrating the success of the series. Cole Hauser, the actor who plays Rip Wheeler of “Yellowstone” will be grand marshal in Cody’s Stampede Parade on July 4.