LTC (Ret) Alisha Hamel has a master’s degree in history, is a retired Army historian, current author and loves to teach history to anyone. She worked with the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial from 2003-2007 as the Oregon National Guard Lewis and Clark Special Projects Officer. In that role she created a Lewis and Clark presentation using the Army Corps of Engineers Discovery Box that was taken out to thousands of schools, libraries, and organizations with a large percentage of repeat Lewis and Clark school presentations. She trained a number of other Soldiers to also give the presentations managing up to 5 Soldiers in this role.

Alisha was an integral part of the Oregon/Washington Lewis and Clark Signature event and oversaw the opening ceremony bringing together tribes, military, LCTHF members, re-enactors, Miss America and the public to commemorate the anniversary of the arrival of the Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean “Ocian in View! O! The Joy!”. She is very proud that she was recognized by the Circle of Tribal Advisors for working so well with the tribes. She arranged for Oregon National Guard assistance in the rebuilding of Fort Clatsop after it burned to the ground in October 2005. Her two young boys also helped to strip the logs that were used in the rebuilding. She has traveled almost the entire Lewis and Clark Trail and was able to finally canoe down the Missouri River through the White Cliffs.