Smith’s frontier portrayal continues to light up Pinehurst Elementary School

PINEHURST — For the second year in a row, history buff Dan Smith made his way into Pinehurst Elementary School to give the students a visual lesson on frontier history.

Once again portraying John Collins, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and someone who Smith believed would have been a perfect fit in the Silver Valley.

Smith calls his performance “Living History” and it usually gets a lively reaction from his audience.

“Dan, acting as John Collins, told stories of shenanigans on the trail that earned him 150 lashes with a cat-a-nine-tails, as well as what the food was like (bad), and what his job was on the expedition including hunting, trapping, and pulling the keel boat upstream with a tow rope,” explained PES fourth-grade teacher Eli Bourgard. “The kids were all very excited about his performance.”

The performance is part of the annual fourth grade unit on westward expansion, which includes the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

“Living history can really bring a story to life,” Smith said in a previous interview. “Kids learn in so many ways — reading about the expedition is very different from listening to a skilled interpreter tell it in a totally different manner. Living history is a ‘I was There’ kind of thing. While it takes an open mind to really get into it once you are immersed, it takes you places you wouldn’t get by reading. It also is a pretty big responsibility for the interpreter. I like to think that if John Collins is up there somewhere looking down (or up as the case might well be) that my representation of him would be OK with him and accurate enough.”

For Bourgard and the students enjoying the presentation, Smith gave them some sage advice as well.

“Dan told us the most important part of living history is making sure you do your research, so that the person you are portraying would be proud of it,” Bourgard said.

Smith has been a Lewis and Clark buff for some years now and was even the manager of the Giant Springs State Park from 1992-2004, where he was active in promoting the Lewis and Clark story in many venues.

He was the president of the Lewis and Clark Honor Guard, was instrumental in building the National Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center inside Giant Springs State Park.

Bourgard spoke on behalf of the school, showing his appreciation for Smith, who also works for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, as well as their thankfulness for him being so willing to come into the school and share his passion.

“I’d like to point out that Dan has another job, and does this as a hobby and volunteers his time,” Bourgard said. “He was great with the kids, and answered several questions afterwards (in character). The kids would have asked him questions all day if we didn’t run out of time.”