Hale sat at the front of the middle school’s multipurpose room, his iPad connected to a television so that he could bring students with him on a hilarious journey exploring a lesser-known story about Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.

Taking the students back in time to 1800, Hale quickly sketched the early days of Lewis and Clark’s journey, when the pair was looking for other explorers to join the Corps of Discovery. There were no doctors on the trip, and Lewis had gleaned some minimal medical knowledge from the leading physician in America at the time before setting out.

Hale depicted the doctor, Benjamin Rush, teaching Lewis the basics of medicine in the era—leaching, bloodletting, amputation, etc.—and giving him a bottle of about 600 pills called “Dr. Rush’s Bilious Pills,” meant for stomach problems.

Throughout their travels, Lewis, Clark and a team of about 45 members of the Corps of Discovery, including Sacagawea and Clark’s slave, York, ate an average of 6 pounds of meat per person per day. This caused some unforeseen digestive issues, as that was their primary food source. They consumed little to no fiber, fruits or vegetables to help break down the meat.

“Dr. Rush’s Bilious Pills,” a fast-acting laxative made of calomel, a concentrated mercury chloride solution, jalap, a purgative drug, and cayenne pepper, came to the Corps’ rescue. The members of the Corps renamed the pill “Thunderclappers,” and scientists can still track the explorers’ trail using the levels of mercury found in the soil over 200 years later.

Students and teachers alike roared with laughter as Hale theatrically told the story and brought the characters to life on the screen. Hale wrapped up the illustrated story by detailing how military leaders, like Lewis and Clark, often led by delegation and orders. However, Lewis and Clark used a voting system where every member of the Corps of Discovery had the opportunity to vote, including a Native American woman and an enslaved Black man, creating one of the first equal voting opportunities in American history.

Hale is technically retired from doing school tours after having toured for 12 years across the country, often visiting more than 100 schools a year.

However, Hale is in the Wood River Valley completing a writing residency at the prestigious Hemingway House in Ketchum, where he plans to draw the first 10-15 pages of the newest “Mighty Bite” book. The seventh graders won a school competition called Way To Go Wolverines for doing something good in the school or community, and Hale visiting the school was part of their winnings.

Sixth-grade students hosted teams of their peers, along with Hale, in a quiz showdown about graphic novels and comics after Hale’s Lewis and Clark presentation. Teams were made up of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, and team names were The Thunderclappers, The Hazardous Males, No Team Name and Team Nathan.

Questions included a variety of true or false and multiple choice, and many of the questions asked about Hale’s books. The winning team, No Team Name, got to pick one of Hale’s books to be signed.

Hale studied illustration in art school, but ultimately dropped out to paint murals at the North American Museum of Ancient Life, south of Salt Lake City, Utah. From there, he began creating dioramas and exhibits for natural history museums and found joy in communicating educational ideas through art.

When asked about what events in history he chooses to highlight, he said he has to be interested in the subject and that there has to be a lot of action.

“I want to draw action and battles and explosions and people doing stuff, not just a bunch of talking heads,” Hale said in an interview with the Express. “In school, I was always learning names and dates in history class, and I’m not good at remembering that sort of thing. I would have much rather learned about personalities and adventures than just dates.”

Hale said one of the biggest challenges he faces in writing historical fiction graphic novels is being historically accurate in the illustrations because, while there are many photographs and depictions of historical events, there aren’t as many of everyday objects. He described a flax breaker that Harriet Tubman used that he depicted in his illustrations in “The Underground Abductor.”

Though Hale’s “Hazardous Tales” series is focused on American historical fiction and “The Mighty Bite” follows a prehistoric trilobite who wants to become an internet sensation, Hale said that he has an interest in dipping into world and ancient history.

“I would love to do more ancient Greek history or European history with the plagues,” he said. “I’ve never specifically said I’d only do American history, so maybe one day.”

Hale’s newest book in the “Hazardous Tales” series will be released in October. It is the 13th book and is filled with a “frightful mix of folk tales and facts,” according to his website.

Hale advised students interested in creating to simply draw.

“You don’t have to wait for anything, you can just draw comics,” he said. “Get a piece of paper and draw. If you want to get better, add another piece of paper. It’s amazing how easy it can be to get into. You just need a paper and a pencil and you can create so much.”