We�ve known it all along. It is the reason why many people visit Amarillo. Now it�s official. Amarillo is one of the most Western towns in the US.

From our legendary Western history to a thriving ranching community today, Amarillo has all the pieces of a genuine Western experience. And True West magazine, as part of its 50th anniversary, has named Amarillo to its list of the Fifty Most Western Towns in the US.

Amarillo was one of four Texas communities to make the list- the others are Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso and San Antonio.

There are several areas that give Amarillo its Western flavor: heritage, daily life, events, attractions and personalities.

Western heritage is important to Amarillo, with a marketing tagline (Step Into The Real Texas) seated in the belief that the Texas of lore, from horses and cowboys to big skies and big land, still exists in Amarillo.

Historically, perhaps no single person exemplifies this area�s Western heritage like early settler Charles Goodnight; Texas Ranger, cattle-drive pioneer, first rancher in the area, inventor of the chuckwagon and co-founder of the JA Ranch. Western life Amarillo Named One of 50 Most Western Towns in remains important today, and not just weekend cowboys with boots and a pick-up truck. Ranches are a major way of life. From Goodnight�s JA and the XIT, the ranch that built the Texas State Capitol, to today�s LX Ranch, the first ranch in Potter County, ranching is a major industry in the area.

The Amarillo Livestock Auction, one of the largest in the state, is held every Tuesday. Visitors are always welcome to the auction, just keep your hand down! Seven million fed cattle- 30% of the nation's fed cattle production- pass through feedlots in the Amarillo area each year. And there aren�t many towns with active saddle makers, wagon makers and boot makers serving the working cowboy. Amarillo has all three.

Amarillo�s events have a Western theme. There are rodeos, from the Boys Ranch Rodeo, featuring residents of Cal Farley�s Boys Ranch, to the Range Riders Rodeo, featuring some of the best local and regional cowboys and cowgirls. And there are two major ranch rodeos, the Coors Ranch Rodeo in June and the World Championship Ranch Rodeo every November. Amarillo hosts the National Cutting Horse World Championship Finals in January, the World Championship Chuckwagon Cookoff and World�s Greatest Horseman competition in June, the US Team Penning Association National Finals in November and the National Finals Steer Roping Championship, also in November.

Many tourism attractions and points of interest are rooted in the West. The American Quarter Horse Association is the world�s largest equine registry and their museum is in Amarillo. The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum is the largest history museum in Texas. The outdoor musical drama TEXAS Legacies is nearing its 40th season and more than 3 million visitors have seen this adaptation of Texas Panhandle history. Amarillo Named One of 50 Most Western Towns in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, home to human habitation for nearly 10,000 years, was the sight of the first ranch in the area. The Big Texan Steak Ranch serves meals of mythical proportions; eat the 72-ounce steak dinner in an hour and it is free. Over 35,000 have tried and 7,000 have succeeded. Many cowboy breakfasts are available, such as Cowboy Morning, with eggs, sausage, biscuits and coffee served on the rim of Palo Duro Canyon. The Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument northeast of Amarillo is the site of flint resources quarried by Native Americans for thousands of years. And the American Indian Cultural Center tells the story of several area tribes.

And Amarillo has had its share of Western personalities. Red Steagall, the Cowboy Poet of Texas, was born and raised in the area, spending many weekends hiking and camping in Palo Duro Canyon. His colleague, the late Buck Ramsey, was a cowboy poet without peer. Of course, Charles Goodnight loomed large over the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s and his influence was felt across the entire Western US. Goodnight�s friend Quanah Parker, the last major chief of the Comanche Indians, lived in both the Indian and white man�s world and was a frequent visitor to Palo Duro Canyon.

The complete listing of True West�s 50 Most Western Towns is in the magazine�s special travel issue, available now at newsstands or through the magazine�s web site, www.truewestmagazine.com.

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Media Contact: Eric Miller +1 806-374-1497 eric@amarillo-cvb.org