Introducing Hal Stearns: Teaching and the military have been the dual career paths of Dr. - Brigadier General Hal Stearns. In both areas, he has found a niche and a calling to service. Hal has spent a lifetime studying, pondering and traveling his beloved American West. The rich literature, hardworking and persistent people, fascinating characters, telling events are all part of his history tales. He weaves the past and present, culture and geography into his interpretations of the West. Hal's career has included teaching at the high school level in Montana and Germany. He was honored as Montana's Teacher of the Year and as Montana's Outstanding U.S. History Teacher, and was commended for his teaching by U.S. West Corporation. He has also taught and administered graduate programs for the University of Montana. His other career has been the Montana Army National Guard where he attained the rank of brigadier general. His undergraduate degree is fro the University of Notre Dame and his advanced degrees are from the University of Montana. His military schools include OCS, Command and General Staff and the Army War College. Dr. Stearns served terms on Montana's Coal Board, Law Foundation, and Committee for the Humanities. He is a current member of the Lewis and Clark trail Heritage Foundation Board and Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commissions in Montana and Nebraska. He is also a board member of the John Neihardt Foundation. He is married to Dr. Sheila Stearns, President of Nebraska's Wayne State College. At present, Hal is a researcher, writer and lecturer on the Great Plains and American West. He is a frequent speaker-historian across the United States, especially on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is also a historian for a number of tours groups following the Lewis and Clark Trail, is on the Speakers' Bureau for the Nebraska and Montana Humanities Councils, and speaks across the country to educators on "The Magic of Teaching."