When Steve Hale was preparing his final presentation to earn his certification as an interpretive guide for national parks and museums, he decided to forgo the usual PowerPoint presentation for a more engaging option—a Chautauqua performance.
“It presented the most challenging and unique way to bring history to life,” Hale said in an email interview. (He was out of the country and could not easily chat via phone.) In that debut performance, he played John “Snowshoe” Thompson, who hauled mail sacks of up to 100 pounds through the Sierra Nevada, navigating sometimes deep snow on his hand-carved, oak skis.
Over the past 18 years, Hale has performed at national parks, statute dedications, historical societies, schools and dinner theaters. He has worked with prominent Chautauquans including McAvoy Layne, the consummate reenactor of Mark Twain.
“Since Snowshoe, I’ve added 19th- and 20th-century figures whose life passions significantly changed American history and whose legacies have become bigger than life,” Hale said. His cast of characters has included millionaires George Whittell Jr. and Albert Johnson. He’s also portrayed Dr. James E. Church, a professor of classics and art at the University of Nevada, Reno, from 1892 to 1939. On the stage in Yosemite National Park, where Lee Stetson played John Muir for more than four decades, Hale depicted Stephen Mather, the founder of the National Park Service, during the organization’s centennial in 2016.
“Performing America’s most important figure in National Park History in the shadow of Glacier Point infused Yosemite magic into each performance in a way that can’t be duplicated otherwise,” Hale said of the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
In August, Hale will give two performances as explorer John C. Frémont.
Preparing a Chautauqua performance involves many hours of research—developing themes, stories and timing before rehearsing the character. The true test of the preparation comes when the Chautauquan opens the floor to unscripted questions from the audience at the close of the performance.
“Audiences show a high level of interest and questions concerning the final fate of the Frémont Cannon,” Hale explained. The cannon was abandoned near Bridgeport, Calif., during Frémont’s second transcontinental expedition in 1844, Hale said.
In one performance, when Hale, as Frémont, spoke of his expedition’s perilous crossing through the Sierra, he spoke soberly. But he kept a twinkle in his eye when he recalled his courtship with his wife, Jessie Benton.
Through his research, Hale learned that she was a true partner in her husband’s career at a time when women were often relegated to an uncredited supporting role. Even at 17, Benton—the daughter of a prominent Missouri senator—was known for her intelligence and beauty. She used her writing prowess to edit her husband’s expedition journals, which soon were excerpted in newspapers and published as popular books, further fueling the “Oregon Fever” driving the Western migration.
In 1856, when the newly formed Republican Party nominated Frémont as its presidential candidate, Benton traveled with him on the campaign trail. Women attended the campaign rallies even though they could not vote.
At the close of the aforementioned performance, Hale fielded the audience questions with the presence of a man accustomed to being in command. Afterward, while he was packing his displays and chatting with lingering audience members, someone reminded him that he was still speaking with Frémont’s Southern accent. Hale smiled, and in his own voice—as if sharing an anecdote about a mutual friend—he talked about Frémont’s French father and how Frémont later altered his name.
“I have been continually surprised and invigorated how every character I choose reveals more and more depth, expands, grows from continuing research and audience questions,” he said.
Hale noted that the Frémonts’ individual accomplishments were exceeded by the synergy they created as a couple, charting their course through the movements sweeping the country—anti-slavery, the women’s movement, Manifest Destiny and so on. He created a separate Chautauqua where Frémont, as an elder statesman, reminisces about his life with Jessie.
It is no easy feat to bring a larger-than-life historical figure to the modern public. For Hale, it’s well worth the challenge.
“It is a pleasure and honor to share some of our country’s historical luminaries and colorful personalities whose legacies resonate whenever a live audience and Chautauquan come together,” he said.
Steve Hale will portray Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 8, at Galena Creek Regional Park’s Eagle Meadows, at 18250 Mount Rose Highway, as part of the Galena Campfire Programs series. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is encouraged. For details, visit www.washoecounty.gov/parks/calendar.php. He will also portray Frémont at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 13 at Dangberg Home Ranch Park, at 1450 State Route 88, in Minden, as part of the Dangberg Summer Festival. Tickets are $15. For information, visit dangberg.org/index.php/events.