Does The Abandons draw inspiration from true events? Exploring the real history behind the Netflix series

Netflix’s The Abandons is a dark Western drama that premiered on December 4, 2025. The show was created by Kurt Sutter, who also made Sons of Anarchy.

The story is set in the 1850s on the Washington and Oregon frontier. It follows two powerful women. One is Fiona Nolan, played by Lena Headey. She is poor but very loyal and protective of her family. The other is Constance Van Ness, played by Gillian Anderson. She is a rich widow of a mining tycoon.

Their fight over land, power, and family honor turns violent. It slowly becomes a brutal war. Outlaws, corrupt leaders, and desperate outsiders get pulled into the conflict. Everyone is just trying to survive in a harsh and dangerous world.

Across seven episodes, The Abandons follows a “found family” of orphans and outcasts. They are trying to protect their ranch. Rich landowners and hired gunmen want to take it from them.

Executive producer Christopher Keyser says the first season tells a classic American story. It asks who owns the land. It also asks who makes the rules. It shows how far people will go to protect the ones they love.

The show includes gunfights and frontier justice. It also has secret crimes and forbidden romance. The dusty Western setting feels like real history. Because of this, many viewers now ask one big question: Is The Abandons based on a true story?

While the short answer is no, we will explore more in the next section.

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Is The Abandons based on a true story?

The Abandons is not based on one true story or one real family. The town and the characters are made up.

But the creator, Kurt Sutter, says the show is inspired by real history. It is shaped by real power struggles from the past. He points to the rise of the Sicilian Mafia. He also points to how ordinary people fought unfair land systems in the 1800s.

Sutter told Deadline that the idea for The Abandons came from the early history of the Mafia in Sicily. In the mid-1800s, poor farmers and peasants were often abused by rich landowners and local officials. There was little protection for them. To stay safe, some locals formed small self-defense groups. These private groups slowly grew into what later became the Sicilian Mafia, also known as La Cosa Nostra.

“I remember watching it as a kid, but I just remember there’s an episode where somebody gets killed, and Hoss just wants revenge, and I mean, like, dark f------ revenge. And I loved that it all came from that deep sense of loyalty to the family, the land, the town. Those were the origins of this, with the working title The Abandons.”

He took that idea and moved it to the American frontier. The story shows regular people pushed by corrupt power. They become darker and more organized. Instead of Sicilian peasants, the show follows outlaws and orphans. They live in the 1850s in Washington Territory.

Instead of Italian land barons, there are rich mining families like the Van Nesses. They use money and violence to take land and control others. The theme is based on real history. The exact story is not real.

The show borrows its tone from older Western TV. But the details feel modern. The main characters are complex women. The violence is brutal. The story asks questions about justice. It also focuses on corruption. It feels more like a crime saga.

Right now, The Abandons Season 1 uses mostly made-up characters. The people and the town are not real. But Sutter has hinted at a change. He told Deadline that future seasons could include real Wild West figures. One example is Billy the Kid.

These would not be exact true-life versions. They would be fun and stylized versions. This means the show may mix fact and fiction more later. But it will still not be a true story show.

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What is The Abandons about?

The main conflict of The Abandons is between two very different families. One family is rich and powerful. The other is poor but very loyal. They fight over land, power, and survival on the wild frontier.

On one side is Constance Van Ness, played by Gillian Anderson. She leads the wealthy Van Ness family. They own a silver-rich mining estate. They have money, land, and a strong influence. They want to grow their power even more.

On the other side is Fiona Nolan, played by Lena Headey. She is a poor Irish woman. She cannot have children of her own, so she adopts four orphans and outcasts. She builds a small “found family” with them. She fights to protect their land and their dignity.

The fight begins over a piece of land near the Van Ness mines. The Van Ness family wants the land for the silver under it. Fiona and her family refuse to sell. They also refuse to be scared away.