In August 1921, a month before the new Canyon Creek Schoolhouse laboratory would open, a Missoulian newspaper reporter wrote that the laboratory would be run by Dr. Ralph Parker, who would be “vested with unlimited authority by the government, the state and the county, and who will not be denied any and all assistance on the part of local people that it may be possible for them to give.” The lab would also employ not just researchers but a stenographer, a bookkeeper, and a maintenance crew to see that all was kept safe. The laboratory was much more spacious and solid than any so far used for this research.
Quote from “Property Leased for Tick Fever Laboratory,” The Missoulian, Aug. 21, 1921.
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Dr. Ralph Parker peered into his dissecting microscope in his office/laboratory at the Canyon Creek Schoolhouse laboratory, circa 1921. A monocular microscope sat beside him. The laboratory had electricity and large windows for light. The sink was in an indentation in the wall behind him, under a shelf of chemical bottles, with the towels hung on the wall. A map of Rocky Mountain spotted fever’s occurrence sat on a table in the foreground on the right.
Image: MT Mem 471
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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.
Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 162
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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.
Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 163
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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.
Image: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, 156
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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.
Images: Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum, 1115
