The Smithian

Perhaps nowhere in the United States does the digital divide cut as wide as in Indian Country. More than 90 percent of tribal populations lack high-speed Internet access, and usage rates are as low as 5 percent in some areas, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Buford’s diligently researched, blow-by-blow chronicle is more “life and hard times” than “life and legend”

Given that cowboy star Gene Autry was its co-founder and namesake, the Autry National Center of the American West has struggled to ride out from under a stereotypical image as the "cowboy museum" in Griffith Park. Its mission is to present a sweeping and comprehensive program of research and exhibitions about all aspects of Western art, culture and history. In that light, the announcement this week that Marshall McKay will chair the Autry's board of trustees for the coming two years is significant: he's the first Native American to hold the top board post in the museum’s 22-year history.

The president said he will sign the bill.