Jimmy Hurdstram

Jimmy Hurdstram is a ranch hand on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, one of the biggest cattle ranches in the United States. He is played by Jefferson White in Yellowstone.

Beware of 'spoilers' from here on down!

Personal life[]

Family[]

Jimmy Hurdstram was born into an unfortunate family. His grandmother died when his mother was young and his grandfather Dirk Hurdstram used to say her death killed the whole family. All of Jimmy's family members either died or went to prison, leaving only him and his grandfather. ^[1]

Injuries[]

He was injured several times because of his unluckiness with horses. During the first rodeo performance, his colleagues attended he was bucked off and ended up in the hospital. It turned out he had a compression fracture in his neck and two in his back. Furthermore, a bone fragment was pressed against his spine and they couldn't figure out how to get it out. His hip was shattered and replaced and he had a grade three concussion. John Dutton offered to pay his hospital bill if he promised he would stop rodeoing. ^[2]

After recovering he tried riding one of the untamed horses at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch while no one was around. He was bucked off once again and lay motionless on the ground. ^[3] Shortly after, there was an attack on several members of the Dutton family and during the chaos at the ranch Mia found him. He was brought to the hospital, where he found himself in a familiar situation. ^[4] Jimmy was assisted by Mia during his recovery.

Love life[]

During his rodeo adventure Jimmy met Mia, a barrel racer. They had a friendly first encounter ^[5] and took their relationship to the next level when Mia visited him in the hospital, where he ended up after being bucked off at the rodeo shortly after they met. ^[2] The fact that he did not re-enter the rodeo circuit did not sit well with Mia however, when he was sent to Texas their romance abruptly came to an end. ^[6]

While in Texas Jimmy got to know Emily, a vet tech at the ranch he had come to work at. ^[7] The two hit it off and spent time together as much as they could. When Jimmy was sent back to Montana, she went with him as his fiancée and when Jimmy got his boss's blessing to leave the ranch they rode off to Texas together. ^[8]

Work[]

Yellowstone Dutton Ranch[]

Click here for the main page of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.
Jimmy started working on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, but not out of interest or for his skills. He went through a bad period in life and had gotten himself into trouble when his grandfather got ranch owner John Dutton to give Jimmy a second chance. This meant that Jimmy had to put a branding iron to his chest to prove he was willing to take this opportunity. ^[9]

He had to prove himself when he started working on the ranch. It didn't take the other hands long to notice he was new to the work and he served as a laughing stock at first. After a certain time, he grew close to Avery, one of the other ranch hands, but before he knew it she was gone from the ranch. ^[10]

Rodeoing[]

When he was in need of some money to pay a debt he owed, Jimmy started rodeoing to earn a few bucks. Lloyd supported him in this venture and taught him the tricks of the trade. ^[10]

6666 Ranch[]

Click here for the main page of the 6666 Ranch.
After John Dutton found he had been unable to turn Jimmy into a real cowhand that he could rely on, he sent him off to the 6666 Ranch in Texas. It was kind of a desperate last try to make a useful employee of Jimmy. ^[6]

Incident(s)[]

With his boss's son Kayce and some other ranch hands, Jimmy took part in the hanging of Dan Jenkins, an enemy of the ranch. They could have let him die then and there but used the hanging as a warning and let him go eventually. ^[11]
When in a bar with some of the ranch hands he works with, Jimmy got into a fight with an oil worker pestering Avery. Things got out of hand and to show that the ranch doesn't like being messed with, the crew decided to teach the troublemakers some manners. ^[12]
The past caught up with Jimmy when two old acquaintances asked him for the money that he owed them. ^[13] They even went so far as to beat up his grandfather. Within a week he was to pay back $8,000 but he didn't have it. ^[14] The only way to get the money seemed to be by exploiting his cowboy skills, but there didn't seem to be any in which he excelled. ^[15] Finally, he seemed to be good at rodeoing so he earned some money by participating in an event. ^[10]
After he was assaulted, Jimmy's grandfather, Dirk Hurdstram, died of a ruptured blood vessel in his brain. Jimmy was determined to take revenge and was about to do it his own way when fellow ranch hand Rip Wheeler stopped him from doing so. He and some other ranch hands helped him kill Ray and Blake, his grandfather's killers, by making it look like their trailer blew up from meth cooking. ^[16]