35 Elsa Dutton Quotes: Poignant Insights from the Free-Spirited Cowgirl

Elsa Dutton is the free-spirited and charming protagonist plus narrator for "1883." "1883," the prequel to "Yellowstone," follows the journey of the original Dutton family and how they found the land on which they eventually built their legacy. Read some of Elsa's quotes below to find out more.

In "1883," A teenage Elsa travels with her parents, among other journeyers, all intending to find their way from Texas to Montana to find and build a better life for themselves.

Along the way, Elsa falls in love with the journey and the freedom and beauty it gives her. However, she soon learns that it comes with an equivalent price. Read her quotes below to learn more about her outer and inner journey as she travels on horseback through the wild.

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “I know death now. I've seen it. It had no fangs. It smiled at me. And it was beautiful.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

Elsa Dutton’s Quotes on the Journey and the Land

“Some called it the American Desert. Others, the Great Plains. But those phrases were invented by professors at universities. Surrounded by the illusion of order. And the fantasy of right and wrong. To know it, you must walk. Bleed until it’s dark. Drown in its rivers. Then its name becomes clear. It is Hell. And there are demons everywhere.” — Elsa Dutton

“The road West is filled with failures. But failure isn’t what drove him. It was a dream.” — Elsa Dutton

“The dirty man of hand can go unnoticed in a city. because his dirty hand made the city. But in this place, where innocence is a mineral in the soil, the filth of our touch is an apocalypse.” — Elsa Dutton

“The farther we get from civilization, the more of its rules we leave behind.” — Elsa Dutton

“What began as a journey had become a retreat into the unknown. We were backing into the abyss; so worried our sins would follow us we didn’t bother watching where we walked. And behind us was a cliff.” — Elsa Dutton

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote:“The road West is filled with failures. But failure isn’t what drove him. It was a dream.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

“I looked to the right and saw my father somehow riding vertically towards the earth. Beyond him, cowboys and cattle pushed towards us; dust following them like a cloudy shadow." — Elsa Dutton

“It seems even the trees are new to this place; scattered about in clusters like little villages. And everywhere: treasures. Everywhere a bounty just waiting to be scooped up.” — Elsa Dutton

“No matter how much we love it, the land will never love us back.” — Elsa Dutton

"I remember the first time I saw it. Tried to find words to describe it. But I couldn’t. Nothing had prepared me. No books. No teachers. Not even my parents. I heard a thousand stories…But none could describe this place. It must be witness to be understood. And yet, I’ve seen it. And I understand it less than when I first cast eyes on this place." — Elsa Dutton

Elsa Dutton’s Quotes on Death

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “Death hides in creek beds. Possesses animals. It hides in tall grass, waiting.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

“I know death now. I've seen it. It had no fangs. It smiled at me. And it was beautiful.” — Elsa Dutton

“The world doesn’t care if you die. It won’t listen to your screams. If you bleed on the ground, the ground will drink it. It doesn’t care that you’re cut.” — Elsa Dutton

“Death is everywhere on the prairie. In every form you can imagine. And a few your worst nightmare couldn’t muster.” — Elsa Dutton

“But if this is Hell, then I must be a demon, too. And I’m already dead.” — Elsa Dutton

“Death hides in creek beds. Possesses animals. It hides in tall grass, waiting.” — Elsa Dutton

Elsa Dutton’s Quotes: Deeper Reflections

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “Freedom is riding wild over untamed land...”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

"The farther west we travel, the more those rules and customs become a burden.” — Elsa Dutton

“I had abandoned every memory of Tennessee as if I was born on this journey. But I wasn’t. We were leaving a place, and seeking another. And the journey was a necessary, miserable road between the two. Somehow I felt immune to the dangers of this place. As if the land and I had struck a deal. I could pass on heart so long as I loved it. And I did. I loved everything about it." — Elsa Dutton

"Freedom. To most, it is an idea. An abstract thought that pertains to control. That’s not freedom. That’s independence." — Elsa Dutton

"So much I don’t know about life. We learn to read, we learn rules, learn scripture and manners, and how to avoid saying or doing things that make others uncomfortable. All those things seem to be the opposite of life. Seem to strangle it." — Elsa Dutton

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “I knew that war. That war between what you should become, and what you could become.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

“One trait all animals share, people included: no matter where we are or where we wish to be, if we’re there longer than a day, we try to make a home of it.” — Elsa Dutton

“Freedom is riding wild over untamed land...” — Elsa Dutton

“If everything is what you need, gold can buy it.” — Elsa Dutton

“There is a moment where your dreams and your memories merge together and form a perfect world. That is Heaven. And each Heaven is unique. It is the world of you.” — Elsa Dutton

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “The world doesn’t care if you die. It won’t listen to your screams.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

“I knew that war. That war between what you should become, and what you could become.” — Elsa Dutton

"I have no home. Which is to say, my home is everywhere.” — Elsa Dutton

“To import the traditions of the place you fled, the place that failed you, is to condemn the place you seek with the same failures.” — Elsa Dutton

More Elsa Dutton Quotes

“I watched her ride, and I didn’t see my mother. I saw a woman. And the woman was magnificent.” — Elsa Dutton

“You should spend some time outside these walls before you make that statement.” — Elsa Dutton

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “The farther we get from civilization, the more of its rules we leave behind.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

“I do not know what the word ‘Texas’ means. But to me it means magic.” — Elsa Dutton

“Maybe killing this man will get my eyes back. Maybe it won’t. But I chose to find out.” — Elsa Dutton

“I know what I am now. I’m a cowboy.” — Elsa Dutton

“18 years ago on this day, Lee surrendered to Grant in the home of Wilmer McClean in the village of Appomattox. A year later, I was born. It was Monday, April 9, 1883. And it was my birthday." — Elsa Dutton

"But of all the perils awaiting us—sickness and snakes, bad horses and bandits—there was one thing above all that sent terror through both man and beast…There was one word so feared it was barely spoken and barely whispered…River.” — Elsa Dutton

An image of Elsa Dutton with her quote: “No matter how much we love it, the land will never love us back.”┃Source: youtube.com/yellowstone

"Yellowstone," the series of which "1883" is an offshoot, is set in the modern day, with the Duttons having claimed and handed down 100,000's acres of land from generation to generation.

In this series, the family is consistently being attacked by other groups, such as private corporations and a nearby Native American reservation, who say the land is already theirs or want to claim it for their own.

Beth Dutton, played by Kelly Reilly in "Yellowstone" represents another strong and fierce woman in the Dutton bloodline, albeit more controversial than Elsa. Read some of her 73 quotes.