The Poignant Yellowstone 1883 Prop With Major Historical Significance
Taylor Sheridan's "1883" is a series fraught with the history and real-life struggles associated with living in the Old West. One way the showrunner Taylor Sheridan was able to get everyone in character for the "Yellowstone" prequel was by using props and outfits that bear great significance to people who lived during that period. One of these props includes an iconic item from Episode 10 that is a historical and cultural symbol of the North American fur trade.
Towards the ending of the "1883" finale, Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) is fatally wounded during a Lakota caravan attack that comes after the Native American warriors themselves have been ambushed by a group they presume to be the caravaners. Her father, James Dutton (Tim McGraw), and his companion, Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott), take Elsa on a journey north towards Montana to die peacefully and eventually run into a Crow outpost, where two female healers help Elsa with her wounds. It's during this heartfelt and touching scene that one of the show's most historically significant items pops up.
Elsa's multi-colored blanket from the Lakota river scene
Known as a Point Blanket, eagle-eyed Redditors were the first ones to spot and publicly praise "1883" and Taylor Sheridan for sneaking in the historically significant prop following Elsa's river healing scene with the Crow women. The wool blankets were famously used in North America as a trade good between Native Americans and Canadian fur traders and are still produced and sold to this very day (via HBC Heritage).
"It essentially means that the Crow tribe the Duttons encountered in Montana had, at one point or another in their life, traded with The Hudson's Bay Company in Canada," writes Redditor u/threedice in an "1883" discussion thread. "Or at least received or purchased blankets from travelers in trade."
According to the Hudson's Bay Company, the reason the blankets are called "Point Blankets" is because they were used as part of a French sizing system — with indigo-colored lines representing the different sizes. The points ranged from 1 to 6 and each measured between 4 to 5.5 inches, per the Hudson's Bay Company. "I have a couple of these blankets," said Redditor u/peazcarrotz. "Expensive, but excellent quality. I inherited one from my mom, it's still in great shape." U/Jiminy_Cactus wrote: "That blanket stood out to me. I'm gonna get me one now."