DALLAS — Sure, "Yellowstone," the wildly popular Western drama returning for Season 5 on Sunday, is set in the mountains of Montana.
But let's be honest: It's a pretty Texas show, from its writer and creator to its spinoffs to its horses. Yes, even the show's horses, at least some of them, are straight from North Texas.
So when "Yellowstone" premieres Sunday night on Paramount, the Texas influence will likely be strong.
Here are all the Lone Star State connections, that we know of:
Taylor Sheridan
"Yellowstone" show creator Taylor Sheridan grew up in Cranfills Gap and went to high school in Fort Worth.
He got his start as an actor -- you might recognize him as the character David Hale from "Sons of Anarchy" -- but his career skyrocketed as a writer and director in recent years.
He was a writer for the "Sicario" movies, and "Hell or High Water," and he's directed "Wind River." And he's staying busy with the Paramount Network, writing and directing "Yellowstone" and its spinoffs, "1883," and "1923."
Sheridan also created "Mayor of Kingstown" and "Tulsa King" for Paramount.
The Four Sixes "6666" Ranch
A storyline in last year's Season 4 of Yellowstone featured a Texas institution: The sprawling Four Sixes Ranch, based in Guthrie, about four hours west of Dallas-Fort Worth.
Unlike the Dutton family's Yellowstone ranch, the Four Sixes is real and was recently was sold, reportedly to a group led by Sheridan. At 142,000 acres, the ranch was initially listed for $341 million. A listing prior to the sale had it going for just under $200 million. Final sale details weren't disclosed.
But with Sheridan reportedly involved in the Four Sixes ownership group, the ranch will likely continue playing a prominent role in the Yellowstone "universe."
A spinoff series based at the ranch, "6666," was reportedly in the works, though no release dates have been announced.
The horses
Remember the Yellowstone scenes where the ranch hands get a look at reining horses sliding across an arena floor? Yeah, those horses were from North Texas.
Sheridan needed a few real-life cowboys to shoot the scene, for authenticity's sake, so he called the McCutcheon family from Aubrey, Texas.
The McCutcheon's are a horse reining dynasty, with multiple world championships within the family. Here's a look at Cade McCutcheon's scene in the show:
RELATED: Inside horse reining, made famous on 'Yellowstone,' and the Texas family that's so good at it
The spinoffs
We mentioned the talks of a "6666" spinoff. But the Yellowstone universe already expanded, and it happened in Fort Worth.
Last year, Sheridan debuted "1883," starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, as an 1880s version of the Dutton family on their way west to Montana.
The first season of "1883" was set in Fort Worth and filmed in the Stockyards and other North Texas locations.
“'1883' has put a new spotlight on the Stockyards,” Mitch Whitten, the chief operating officer of Visit Fort Worth, told WFAA earlier this year.
And "1883" apparently won't be Sheridan's last foray into Fort Worth filming and storylines. He's also filming a new series about frontier lawman Bass Reeves in Fort Worth.
Reeves is known as a former slave who became one of the first Black U.S. deputy marshals west of the Mississippi River, working a 75,000-square-mile region of what is now considered Oklahoma and Arkansas.
He is said to have killed 14 outlaws, to have apprehended more than 3,000 criminals throughout his tenure (including his own son for a murder warrant) and is also believed to have been the inspiration for the fictional character the Lone Ranger.
The music
Anyone who's a fan of country music knows the Yellowstone soundtrack is an underrated gem on the show. And while the selections aren't exclusive to Texas, the show has featured plenty of artists and bands either from here or very familiar to Texas audiences, including: Ryan Bingham, Whiskey Myers, Midland, Kacey Musgraves, Cody Jinks, Hayes Carll, Charley Crockett, Cody Johnson, The Turnpike Troubadours, Rob Baird, and The Panhandlers.
If that wasn't a enough, Texas country legend Robert Earl Keen announced his song "Shades of Gray" will make an appearance on the season premiere Sunday.
