To mark the magazine’s 30th anniversary, we look back on each decade of C&I and honor the iconic Western men and women featured on our most memorable covers.
In its three decades of bringing readers the best of the West, Cowboys & Indians has broadened its scope of coverage and changed with the times. We’ve been there to help usher in and promote every era of Western excellence since the early ’90s. But despite the ever-evolving cultural mores, trends, and visual styles of the last 30 years, readers have always been able to return to our pages for that certain spirit. Independence, authenticity, kindness, dedication to craft, undying respect for fellow humans, and — here’s that word again — excellence have defined the men and women who’ve been featured on our eye-popping covers. Before we forge ahead into the next era of C&I, let’s stop to celebrate the icons who’ve helped to get us to this place.
THE 1990s
The inaugural edition of C&I — under publisher Robert Hartman — launched in July of 1993 with the purpose of promoting and speaking to the Western lifestyle in a way that no publication had done before. The magazine’s first editor, Charlotte Berney, wrote in our 25th anniversary edition that Hartman had a vision of a more sophisticated take on Western culture. He wanted to recruit the best photographers and writers in the world to cover a region of the country that was rich with history, tradition, substantive art, life-changing foodways, and classic entertainment. For a couple of years after the magazine’s debut, the lifestyle component was on the front burner, with evocative real-life scenes from trail rides and ranch life as well as audacious cowboy and Native American fashion on display.
Of course, the direction of the magazine’s covers changed in 1995, when the team behind C&I recognized the power and gravitas of western movies and stars. Wrote Berney, “While covering real history, gear, and lore, C&I jumped headlong into the celluloid West. ... When Sharon Stone put on her big hat [for The Quick and the Dead], the die was cast, and celebrities joined the mix.”
Throughout the ’90s, the magazine’s cover was graced by the biggest and brightest, including Tom Selleck (riding high on his string of excellent made-for-cable westerns), Cybill Shepherd, Paul Newman, Jane Seymour, Robert Redford, Michael Greyeyes, Jeff Bridges, Clint Eastwood, Irene Bedard, and Sam Shepard.
THE 2000s
The new century found C&I staff experimenting with different formats, branching out coverage to more areas of the Western entertainment world, and engaging with its growing readership on more than just letters to the editor.
The first issue of 2000 had a cover featuring the unparalleled King of Country, George Strait. It was his first C&I cover appearance in what would be a string of six, the most recent being January 2023. Talk about staying power. The decade also brought covers starring Tommy Lee Jones, Adam Beach, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, James Garner, Harrison Ford, and Hugh Jackman — all of whom would return to C&I later.
There were also many one-time cover stars that were notable for different reasons: Bernadette Peters, hot on the heels of her Broadway turn in Annie Get Your Gun, appeared on a very special “Cowgirls & Indians” edition. Acting great Michael Keaton invited readers to his Montana getaway in 2002. President George W. Bush posed with First Lady Laura Bush and their dog that same year. Also from the worlds of politics: California giants Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger each appeared on covers.
Johnny Cash received a 2004 tribute issue after his death the previous year. Jewel and Trisha Yearwood each brought compelling backstories and groundbreaking music to our pages. John Wayne became a popular regular commemorative cover subject. Fashion icon Ralph Lauren exuded the ultimate style in a 2005 winter issue. And the year 2000 was the first in which C&I’s now annual Visions of the West reader photo contest made the cover.
2010 – 2023
A-list actor Morgan Freeman was the first cover star of 2010 and proved to be one of the most popular and requested C&I editions ever. Beloved western performers who went on to feel at home fronting C&I: Thomas Haden Church, Josh and James Brolin, Graham Greene, Lou Diamond Phillips, Wes Studi, Ed Harris, Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton, Longmire’s Robert Taylor, Hell on Wheels’ Anson Mount, and Liam Neeson.
Some of the greatest country and Americana musicians of all time fronted the magazine in the last 13 years: Miranda Lambert was featured in 2011, early in her rise to the top of country’s heap, and she returned to the cover last year in advance of her hits-spanning Vegas residency. Kris Kristofferson posed for the rare portrait shoot when he was interviewed for the September 2011 issue. We also shined the light on Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton, Reba, Willie Nelson, and George Strait (several of whom are repeat cover stars). The lifestyle space proved vital to readers, as Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, Chip Gaines, and Home Town’s Erin and Ben Napier all fronted January editions.
The western’s latest hot streak on big and small screens has proved a boon for C&I’s covers in the last decade and change: We’ve published wildly popular editions celebrating Longmire, Hell on Wheels, Justified, Deadwood, The Magnificent Seven, Django Unchained, The Rider, and Hostiles.
We were on the front lines when a little show called Yellowstone premiered in 2017. Kevin Costner was featured on the cover previewing the inaugural season. The rest is TV and fandom history: Since that record-breaking first season, we’ve featured Gil Birmingham, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Wes Bentley, Ryan Bingham, Mo Brings Plenty, and creator Taylor Sheridan on covers (along with an issue devoted to the 1883 spinoff featuring Sam Elliott).
The modern era of C&I has seen the covers take journeys into the lifestyle space (with HGTV and Food Network superstars), the music world (the best of country and Americana), and the ever-expanding Taylor Sheridan universe.
Find back issues of C&I here.
From our November/December 2023 issue
