Here are ten facts about the Scots in America

1 Fortune magazine is run by a woman from Ayr

The Fortune 500 list is not a female-friendly phenomenon. Only eight of the companies listed are run by women. But at least the magazine itself is facilitating change - having just appointed Xana Antunes as executive editor. From her humble beginnings in Ayrshire, Antunes began her professional life as a business reporter with the Independent and the London Evening Standard, and as an on-air reporter for Channel 4’s Business Daily. She moved to Manhattan in 1995 to become deputy business editor of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post. It has been onwards and upwards ever since. Antunes became the Post’s business editor, then deputy editor in 1998, and has been instrumental in expanding its coverage of media, entertainment and internet industries. After a brief stint as the paper’s acting editor, she was named editor in February 2000. She joined Fortune in October, 2003, after working for two years as a consultant to various magazines and newspapers in New York and overseas.

2 There’s a Scottish castle with a swimming pool in the middle of Death Valley

One of the top tourist sites in Death Valley - the hottest desert in the US, incidentally - was built by a Scot. Filled with waterfalls and swimming pools, and known locally as Scotty’s Castle, it was built as a bolthole for Walter Scott, also known as Death Valley Scotty, and his rich gold investor friends. Born in 1872, Scotty started out as a cowboy in a Wild West show but swiftly moved into the gold mining industry. No-one is quite sure if his goldmine existed, but his talk attracted insurance magnate Albert Johnson to the valley and within ten years they had built the castle. They later opened it as a tourist hotel and, as the supposed dwelling of one of the world’s richest goldminers, it attracted thousands each year. Scotty lived there for the last two years of his life and was laid to rest within its walls in 1954.

3 Groundskeeper Willy’s Scottishness was an accident

The decision to create the Scottish Simpsons’ character Groundskeeper Willy was not a deliberate move to capture audience share in Inverness. The character, who works at Springfield Elementary, is a ginger-bearded Scot who frequently comments on matters of European interest - condemning the French’s pre-war attitude by describing them as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", for example. But he is only Scottish because it was one of the few accents actor, Dan Castellaneta, could pull off "realistically".

4 The president of the greatest artistic colony in the US is a Scot

Elaina Richardson took on the Presidency of Yaddo in 2000, an artists’ community located on a 400-acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Famous guests to the colony have included Sylvia Plath and Leonard Bernstein. Its mission is to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment. Richardson was educated at Edinburgh University and has now clocked up more than 15 years experience in publishing in the UK and US. Formerly editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, she has worked for Mirabella, the New York Post and as a contributor to BBC Radio 4.

5 The only senator who wears an Indian headdress has Scottish roots

The only Native American to sit in the US Senate is from Scottish extraction. Ben Nighthorse Campbell heralds from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, but his father was part American-Indian, past Hispanic and part Scottish. The Senator, now 71, was elected to represent Colorado in 1992.

6 The ultimate cowboy was Scottish (and had a girl’s name)

Born in Iowa on 26 May, 1907, John Wayne was a member of the Morrison clan of Lewis. But did you know his first name was Marion? He was also a fully paid-up member of the Morrison Society and never officially changed his name, much to the delight of succeeding Morrison members.

7 The man who represents Heidi Klum and Tiger Woods is from Glasgow

The head of the International Management Group (IMG) - the top sports agency in the business - is headed by a Scot. Alastair Johnston, a 54-year-old Glaswegian, mixes with the likes of Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters, as well as being on first name terms with the clients of IMG’s model division, such as Gisele Bundchen and Heidi Klum. The firm has 3,000 staff in 35 countries and also represents Wimbledon.

8 Kurt Cobain was from Aberdeen

Aberdeen, Washington that is. The easiest way for Scottish immigrants to make their mark was to name their new home after their old one and the US boasts eight Aberdeens, eight Edinburghs and seven Glasgows. There are also eight places called Scotland. Many towns are named after the great clans - there are 30 Crawfords - more than enough for any one land.

9 Andrew Carnegie’s legacy is worth $2 billion-plus

Although the great Scots industrialist-turned-philanthropist had given most of his money away by the time he died, much of it was invested well and continues to support the causes it was intended for. Today, the Carnegie Corporation has a capital fund of about $2 billion and remains one of the most important supporters of libraries and literacy across the US. In 1999 it gave $15 million alone to urban libraries used by immigrant populations.

10 We invented one of the country’s most popular sports