In an interview with Uproxx, Harrison Ford was quick to say, “I don’t know what a ‘cowboy’ is!” After doing lots of press for “1923,” a show he is obviously passionate about, the term “cowboy” has probably been a bit overused. When Jacob Dutton, the great-great uncle of John Dutton, is introduced in “1923,” he’s much more than just a cowboy. He’s an aging man who is trying to lead a simple life as a rancher as the world grows more complex around him. Ford is definitely having a little fun with the semantics of the word “cowboy,” but from his comments, it’s clear that he wants to accurately depict the real people of the times. He explained:
“The guys who work on ranches are ‘cowboys.’ They work with cows. And many of them are boys! But he’s a rancher, and a rancher is financially responsible as well as everything else for the outcomes. The pressures on Jacob Dutton at this point are considerable. The economic pressures. Banks are not loaning to cattle ranchers, having suffered losses. The business has not become as efficient as it needs to be just to generate consistent profits.”
Ford, now 80, owns a ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, and seems to relate to the hardships that ranchers have had to endure over the generations. Not one to rest on his laurels, he even helped herd cattle in subzero temperatures while filming “1923” in Montana. Ford is more than just an actor, and Jacob Dutton is more than just a cowboy. He has to be a rancher, a businessman, and an officer of the state tasked with overseeing the local cattle industry for the Montana Livestock Commission. Life is becoming more complicated for the Dutton family and the world isn’t slowing down.