Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler would seem to be an unlikely candidate for leadership in a movement to recover the memory of the Christian contribution to American history.

Born in 1948, he didn’t learn to read until he was 12 and was labeled “retarded.” Had he been born later, he thinks he would have been labeled with attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and other learning problems. The terminology was not around when he was younger.

The Lord used those learning difficulties to prepare him for unusual gifts in teaching history. He developed a visual and dramatic style that most verbally, print-oriented history enthusiasts don’t have. He also spent plenty of youthful years hunting, trapping, fishing, hiking, throwing tomahawks at trees, and gathering illustrations that have given him a special capacity to communicate history stories to children. Once he started reading, he took off with Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and became an eager history student.

Based in San Antonio, Tex., Little Bear and his wife, Marilyn, recently visited Second (Indianapolis, Ind.) RPC, for a Saturday night History Theater and Sabbath morning teaching time. In this second of a series of visits to the church, he reviewed the medieval period of history, then concentrated on the story of Christopher Columbus.

While others like Peter Marshall and David Barton have written revisionist history books and brought back the neglected Christian aspects to American history, Wheeler has developed one-man drama presentations. He dresses up as a Pilgrim at Plymouth Plantation or George Washington at the battle of Long Island or Sergeant York in World War I. With a wig on his head, a powder horn and other apparatus hanging at his waist, he has a visual presentation that appeals to the children, but his capacity to tell a story appeals to all ages. “I’ve got an advantage, wearing a costume and all the props,” he says.

Dressed up as William Wallace, waving a sword, Wheeler can hold the attention of the most restless and wiggly of children. He was once a fidgety child himself. As Columbus, he can act out the rising and falling of the ship through the Atlantic Ocean waves, making the audience feel the seasickness with him.

“He can utterly transfix an audience,” says Doug Phillips, a Texas-based attorney who promotes the reprinted classics for families through the Vision Forum ministry. Wheeler also is a researcher and provides the history and related lessons in an appealing way to the parents, who are often learning for the first time some of the Christian testimony and biblical influence in the lives of the Pilgrims at Plymouth or founding fathers like George Washington and Noah Webster.

His messages grew out of homeschooling his own three children and a desire to make sure his children did not forget Christ’s work in the lives of early Americans. When his children were young in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he and his wife had to develop their own history curriculum. “There was no A Beka, or Bob Jones—nothing,” he says.

He has been a popular fixture at homeschool conventions for many years, also making many of his presentations available on video and audio tapes. His Mantle Ministries (www.mantleministries.com) has played a part in reprinting historical classics, such as William Bradford’s Plymouth Plantation. He found a warm reception in many public schools but cut back on the number of invitations he would accept in order to maintain his family as a priority. Occasionally, he does history tours and is planning one for Scotland next year, including some Covenanter history sites.

With his natural bent to the theater and movies, Little Bear researched the life of William Wallace in response to the movie Braveheart. Dressed in black as Wallace, waving a sword, he tells the Wallace story with a flair, offering commentary on the movie’s strengths and weaknesses as well.

He does not see history as an end in itself, but as stories that illustrate larger truths. “I don’t want to just teach history for the sake of history. I want to tie some biblical principle into it,” he says. Or, as Doug Phillips notes, “He would perceive himself as an evangelist who shows the hand of God in history.”

Wheeler’s success, both in terms of the audiences he attracts and the practical history he imparts, is remarkable, considering his background. “I flunked the first grade. I couldn’t sit still for one minute.” What had been an academic weakness in his early years was converted to a strength.

His success also illustrates the gap created by American historians who have neglected or ignored the Christian aspect of American history. When parents learn that someone left out half the story, in some instances, they want something better for their children and sometimes turn to people like Little Bear to make sure their children get the rest of the story.

Though he might be considered an amateur in history and not get invitations to major university history seminars, Wheeler has much to offer those who are concerned about the loss of historical knowledge among contemporary students. Combining research of primary sources with a gift for drama, he has brought history lessons to a wide audience of families headed by parents who want their children to remember the Christian heritage that has been downplayed in American history for too long.

He is one of several examples of historians whose primary calling in life lies somewhere else, yet their research of history adds to their life call. Little Bear really is an evangelist who uses history to illustrate the message of the gospel.

—Peter Marshall is a pastor who has coauthored, with David Manuel, three volumes on American history, with a providential emphasis and in-depth research into spiritual revivals.

—Marvin Olasky is a journalism teacher at the University of Texas and the editor of World magazine. He brings those skills and perspective to his writing on the history of the pro-life movement in the 1800s, or the history of journalism, or welfare programs of the 19th and 20th Centuries. His own history has influenced key political figures, including President Bush and Bush’s advocacy for faith-based initiatives as alternatives to big government welfare programs.

—Former school teacher David Barton is a political activist and vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party. His passion for American history has helped fuel the growth of his WallBuilders ministry, with seminars and speaking engagements on the Christian faith of the founding fathers.

—Marshall Foster is ordained as a pastor and was a chaplain for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1970s. He provides history tours and seminars through the Mayflower Institute, which he started in 1976, emphasizing the Christian faith of the founding fathers.

—Roy Blackwood is pastor of Second RPC and a history lover. In his seminary-level classes at the church, his approach to history prepares his students to share their faith better with Roman Catholics. He also helps students see how Christ works out 2 Timothy 2:2 and Matthew 28:18-20 across the history of nations.

These historians are amateurs in one sense. Their prime callings are not in history. They read history books out of personal passion and conviction. Most of them make little income from their work in it and spend most of their time in other pursuits. Yet, they do original research and come up with very useful lessons for their readers and listeners and students.

Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you. —Deut. 32:7

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. —2 Tim. 2:2

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. —Matt. 28:18-20