The National Buffalo Museum will host the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau program Yellowstone Vic Smith with veteran presenter Arch Ellwein on Wednesday, June 30. The program will be at the Frontier Village Amphi-theater at 6:30 p.m. The presentation is free and open to the public. Partial funding for the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau is provided by a legislative grant from Montana's Cultural Trust.
Ellwein, an actor and independent scholar, presents Yellowstone Vic Smith -- Champion Buffalo Hunter in a lively first person format. Scholars estimate that 60 million bison roamed the Great Plains of North America in the time of Lewis and Clark. By the mid-19th century, these herds numbered an estimated 20 million and by 1889 only 551 wild bison remained.
Yellowstone Vic led the colorful life of a frontiersman and hunter during the West's coming of age. As a hunter, scout and dispatch rider, Smith, is associated with the outstanding events and men of his era. Based on his memoirs, this presentation uses Smith's own words in a poignant and often humorous program. Ellwein skillfully tells the stories of the Champion Buffalo Hunter in a realistic, down-to-earth style that harkens to an earlier time when life was perilous and great herds blackened the Great Plains.
Ellwein has done more than 1,400 performances in 16 states since 1996 and since 1998 has been a History Alive! performer for the State Historical Society of North Dakota. He is also known for his performances as Theodore Roosevelt, Steamboat Captain Grant Marsh and Sergeant John Ordway of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
"It is a great opportunity when you are able to bring someone in for a live performance that is as well known as Mr. Ellwein" said Museum Director Felicia Sargeant, "It will bring a unique first person perspective to the history that we show people who tour the museum."
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The National Buffalo Museum is open daily from 8 a.m. -- 8 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for AAA/Seniors, $10 for families, $1 for students (age 7 to 17), age 6 and under as well as museum members get in free. Thursday nights from Memorial Day -- Labor Day are "Dollar Night" from 5 p.m. -- 8 p.m. where admission to the museum is only $1.
The National Buffalo Museum is located off Interstate 94 at exit 258 in Jamestown. For more information about these events, contact the National Buffalo Museum at 701-252-8648 or 1-800-807-1511.
