 
Editor's Note
By Jesse Mullins, Jr. - Editor-in-Chief
The hard part about this page is going to be keeping you here when
there is so much excitement "back there." But that's a good problem to
have. You've already noticed the start of a new look to things inside this
venerable institution of a cowboy mag. Well, make that a "well-established"
cowboy mag, if not quite venerable. We're working on the venerable
every day. And if we're not quite venerable yet, being only 12 years old,
well, we've got some venerability to serve up not just in this issue but all
year long. Let's take the year first. We've dubbed this year our "Year of
Centennials." It just so happens that three of our favorite subjects: John
Wayne, Gene Autry, and the entire state of Oklahoma, where this editor
was raised and brought up to be properly appreciative of the Cowboy Way,
are all coming into their 100th birthdays. That's right-1907 was the year
of birth for The Duke, for "America's Favorite Singing Cowboy," and for the
Sooner State. Suitably venerable institutions, all three. In this issue we
kick off our three-part profile of John Wayne, ending in the May/June
issue, which fittingly coincides with his birthday of May 26. Coverage of
Gene and Oklahoma will commence in issues that follow this one. For all of that, we could call this issue the
kickoff of our Oklahoma coverage, because
we present herein our annual travel piece on
that fine state. The interesting thing about
Oklahoma is that the state is so rich in tradition
and heritage that any time we dip into its
trove of material we come up with something
celebratory of Western values and frontier
culture. This time around, we took a road trip
across the state, south to north, and just let
the state do its own talking for us. Every mile
brings a story, and there's so much more we
could've shared that we couldn't squeeze in
here. So stay tuned, because we'll tell the tale
of Oklahoma's 100th in a big way soon. Meanwhile, you are encouraged to visit the
state's centennial website at www.oklahomacentennial.
com for a rich and varied journey
through all the state has to offer. This issue includes our biggest exploration
of the Canadian cowboy life-and the
Canadian range itself-that we have ever
mounted. In fact, we've loaded this issue with
as much travel material as perhaps we've ever
done. From our 101 Essential Western Events,
through our focus on Texas and Oklahoma,
and on to Canada, the Great Smoky
Mountains, and other destinations, we should
have something for everyone. As for the classy new look of things, we give
credit to Marshall McKinney, who begins his
tenure as American Cowboy's art director with
this number you're holding. It's a fairly auspicious
start, from our perspective, and we trust
you'll agree.
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