He's a fourth-generation rancher with one of the biggest spreads in one of the most beautiful parts of Montana. His ranch is so expansive, in fact, that he flies a helicopter when he needs to tend to his herd or put out a fire in a hurry. And he's from a deeply entrenched and politically powerful family.
But, no, he's not John Dutton, the character who Kevin Costner played up until the start of its new season last month, on the hit "Yellowstone" TV show. He's Bill Galt, and he's well aware that art appears to be imitating his life. "Oh, I've heard that a lot," Galt said of the comparisons.
"But I think mostly that's attributed to the fact that I'm a rancher that flies a helicopter and that those first few episodes of 'Yellowstone' had that helicopter in there. But that being said, they do use a lot of my sayings. I don't know where the hell they get them.
" One source might be "The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch," a nonfiction account of former Lee Montana editor — and current Arizona Daily Star editor — David McCumber's year spent working on Galt's ranch in the late 1990s. But Galt can't be certain. And publicists from the Paramount Network, where "Yellowstone" airs, did not respond to questions about Galt's role in inspiring John Dutton.
"I've never talked to anybody from the 'Yellowstone' show or anybody that had anything to do with it," Galt said. "One of the big reasons I wanted to work for Bill to do the research for 'The Cowboy Way' was that the ranch – bo.
