Page Comparison - Canyon Creek Schoolhouse Laboratory 100th Anniversary School to Lab (v.23 vs v.24)

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From Schoolhouse to Laboratory

When the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse became a laboratory in September 1921, it was initially rented by the Montana State Board of Entomology for $15 a month because the U.S. Public Health Service was not yet involved in the tick studies. But once the federal agency had sent Dr. Roscoe Spencer and other officers to help the investigation, the laboratory became a field station of the Public Health Service. Citizens of the Bitterroot Valley helped to renovate the schoolhouse into a laboratory with some aid from Red Cross donations. A fence was built to help keep people and non-laboratory animals out—and to keep infected animals in.

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Large room with wood floor and wood counters down the middle and along walls

Dr. Ralph Parker’s laboratory/office, east side view, circa 1921. On the table built around the column was a scale encased in wood and glass to keep air movement from affecting the weighing of small amounts of material. To the left of his desk was the reference library, while to the right was some chemical storage. A candlestick telephone sat on the desk in front of the window. Boxes and card files of records were piled on the center map counter.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 162

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Other side of large room with wood counters and shelves and three large windows

The laboratory/office of Dr. Ralph Parker overlooking the car shed outside, circa 1921. The map counter in the foreground was a necessity; keeping track of where cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever occurred and where different kinds of ticks were found was an important part of the research. A microscope illuminator was set up just below the window on the left—it looked like a camera.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 163

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Rows of cages on racks in animal room

The guinea pigs used to feed the ticks were kept in an animal room on the upper story of the Canyon Creek Laboratory. Those that were healthy had to be kept separate from those who carried the Rocky Mountain spotted fever bacteria.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 156

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A desk and chair with closet and metal heater

A work area behind the cages included the operating table under the window, a desk and chair, and a shower in the corner. The operating table was where ticks were taken off or put on the guinea pigs. The large canister between the windows was most likely used to heat water for the shower.

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Images: Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum, 1115

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The researchers developed their own equipment over the years at both the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse Laboratory and the later Building One laboratory building. They adapted and invented equipment to both keep them safe from tick bites and to make their jobs a little easier. Dr. Robert Cooley, head entomologist, took these photos of some of their inventions in 1931 after they had moved to Building One.

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Three metal, stand-alone cabinets. The middle one is open to show white coats on hangars. Image Modified

These cabinets were designed to heat the clothes that the workers wore in the laboratory to a temperature high enough to kill any ticks hiding in them.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 215

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Gadget sits on wood counter. Electrical cord is strung on wall to motor. Image Modified

Grinding so many ticks by hand would have been tiring; it would also have slowed down production of the Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine for use around the United States. So the researchers used an electric motor (right) to drive a crank and shaft device that moved a pestle in a mortar (bowl on stand on left). This machine was a prototype for later automatic tick grinders that could handle increased production without injuring anyone’s elbow.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 231

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Canister with wide tapered nozzle fits into a large narrow flask of ticks. Image Modified

Several “guns” were developed too. One separated adult living tick parasites from the tick nymphs they had destroyed. This one was used to separate adult ticks from their nymphal skins. These tools were also an attempt to increase the efficiency of making the Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine.

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Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 302

Versions Compared

Old Version 23

New Version 24

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From Schoolhouse to Laboratory

Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum