1883

Episode 1

1883

Sun, Dec 19, 202167 mins

In a flash-forward, Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) watches in late 1883 as a group of pioneers are slaughtered by a band of Lakota on the Great Plains. She kills one, before being surrounded. Months earlier, former Union Army captain Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) cremates his wife and daughter after they die of smallpox. His partner Thomas (LaMonica Garrett) arrives and prevents him from committing suicide when he informs him of a Pinkerton job in Fort Worth, Texas. Shea and Thomas depart for Fort Worth and observe James Dutton (Tim McGraw) kill thieves who attempt to rob his covered wagon. Meanwhile, James' family: his wife, Margaret (Faith Hill); 17-year-old daughter, Elsa; 5-year-old son, John; his sister, Claire (Dawn Olivieri); and Claire's teenage daughter, Mary Abel (Emma Malouff), travel to Fort Worth from Tennessee via train. James continues to encounter antagonistic criminals in town, while Shea and Thomas meet with a group of inexperienced European immigrants who pay them for an escort to Oregon. After the Duttons arrive, the family stays at a hotel, and a drunken man enters Elsa's room and attempts to rape her before being killed by James. Realizing a partnership would be advantageous, Shea convinces James to accompany the wagon train to Oregon.