Shebby Lee, CTP – President

Shebby Lee is a historian, researcher, and writer. She has a broad background in the arts, media, and publications prior to founding the tour company in 1978. She is a former “Sheriff” and long-time member of the Black Hills Corral of Westerner’s International, a foundation to stimulate interest and research in frontier history. Since 1979 she has participated and presented research papers at countless regional and state history conferences, several of which have won awards.

In 2005 she was presented the Herbert Blakely Memorial Award by the West River History Conference held in Rapid City, South Dakota.  The award is for “outstanding contributions to local and regional history, a sense of American patriotism, and efforts to further the concepts of good citizenship”.  In 2006 she joined the Board of Directors of the Dakota History Conference and in 2008 was elected President and continues to serve in that capacity.

As a logical outgrowth of Shebby’s personal interests, Shebby Lee Tours introduced the Vanishing Trails Expeditions in 1993 with the Oregon Trail. The series has since grown to include the Old West Trail, American Legacy, the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tour, Bleeding Kansas, Santa Fe Trail, Nez Perce Trail, El Camino Real, Teddy Roosevelt’s Dakota, Nevada’s Living Ghost Towns, Lewis Clark Trail, Custer’s Trail and Siouxland: The Dakota Conflict.

Shebby Lee is a Certified Tour Professional,  a professional designation earned through a prescribed course of academic study, professional service, tour employment, and evaluation requirements.   In March of 2012 she was elected to the Board of Travel Alliance Partners (TAP).

During her tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO she became only the seventh woman to be inducted into the previously all-male Society of the Frozen North, in Sondrestromfjord, Greenland, “having crossed the Arctic Circle into the land of the midnight sun, Aurora Borealis and eternal ice and snow”.  She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

Lorna Lee – Operations Assistant

 Lorna is a native of the Black Hills of South Dakota and a graduate of Oglala Lakota College. She grew up in the travel business and took her first tour at the age of 12 to America’s Great Southwest. She has inherited the family love of history and is proud of her Native American heritage, both of which lend themselves to the production of unique and exciting western excursions.

Murray  Lee – Tour Director

Murray grew up in and around the Black Hills of South Dakota and has insightful knowledge of the many breathtaking and storied attractions located here.  He is an enrolled Dakota Sioux tribal member and helped develop the Ft. Sisseton Festival program for Shebby Lee Tours in 2006.  Additionally, he assisted in the development of several of our newer, shorter programs as well as Custer’s Trail. In his free time he enjoys traveling, performing historical research, and hiking in the Black Hills.  Murray has a B.S. in History and Sociology, and is thrilled to share his heritage and knowledge of western history with travelers who find themselves out West on one of our unique departures. 

Kris Lokemoen – Tour Consultant

As the group tour coordinator for the state of Missouri for many years, Kris developed the prototype for the Lewis and Clark Trail program, and for the Oregon Trail, another of Shebby Lee Tours’ Vanishing Trails Expeditions. Kris is now a tour planner in the private sector and makes her home in St. Louis, MO. Kris is a Certified Tour Professional (CTP), a professional designation earned through a prescribed course of academic study, professional service, tour employment, and evaluation requirements.

Doris Bean – Tour Director

Doris has been leading group tours of most sections of the United States (including Alaska) since 1988 for many major American and international tour companies. Because of her vast experience she has also trained and mentored new tour directors both in the classroom and in the field, and filled the difficult position of Lead Tour Director for multiple coach moves.

Today Doris is a free-lance tour director for companies specializing in her particular interests of historic and educational tours. When not on the road, she serves as a volunteer step-on guide at the Garden of the Gods near her home town of Colorado Springs.

Sally Bell - Tour Director

A native of Illinois, Sally Bell is now a resident of Rio Rancho, NM, a suburb of Albuquerque.  She credits her mother with instilling in her a love of travel, stemming from one memorable family vacation from Chicago to Santa Monica along Route 66. Sally has a degree in history, and began her career manning a computer at AAA, but soon took over the group department, which led to a 30 year career as a Tour Director and travel planner.

Sally likes to know and discover why people do what they do and that curiosity has served her well in her work as a tour operations manager and travel director. She is continually conducting research – both in libraries and in the field – and loves sharing her knowledge of the Western United States with people from all over our country.