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Montana State Board Of Entomology Records, 1905-1966

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Montana State Board of Entomology
Title
Montana State Board Of Entomology Records
Dates
1905-1966 (inclusive)
Quantity
6 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
RS 28
Summary
The Montana State Board of Entomology and the Montana State Board of Health studied Rocky Mountain spotted fever (also known as tick fever) in the Bitterroot Valley. Records of the State Board of Entomology consist of correspondence (1909-1954) of State Entomologist R.A. Cooley and others; minutes (1913-1949); reports (1909-1949); subject files; writings; and miscellany. Records of the State Board of Health consist of correspondence (1908-1957) concerning the Rocky Mountain Laboratory and spotted fever; reports (1929-1956); subject files (1911-1966) concerning a wide variety of health issues including conditions on the Montana Indian reservations, the Montana Public Health Association, spotted fever; and miscellany.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Montana State Board of Health was created by the state legislature in 1901. One of the first diseases the Board was asked to study was Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (also known as tick fever, since the disease is spread by wood ticks) which was occurring in the Bitterroot Valley. Early work with the disease was done by Dr. T.D. Tuttle of the State Board of Health and Dr. Howard T. Ricketts, who was sponsored by the American Medical Association in 1906, and by the Montana legislature in succeeding years. Work on ticks and their control by "dipping" domestic animals and the killing of rodents upon which tick lived was done at Montana Agricultural College and Experiment Station in Bozeman by Dr. R.A. Cooley. In 1913 the Montana State Board of Entomology was created and charged with studying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and methods for its control. The Board was composed of the secretary of the State Board of Health (serving as chairman), the state veterinarian, and the state entomologist (serving as secretary). During the years from 1913 to 1931, the membership of the Board was W.F. Cogswell, W.J. Butler, and R.A. Cooley. Dr. Cooley also conducted tick research in Africa in the 1920s. R.R. Parker served as assistant entomologist and conducted field research on ticks from 1915 until 1922. Throughout the early years of research on tick fever, representatives from the United States Public Health Service worked in Montana in cooperation with the State Board of Health and the State Board of Entomology. In 1927 the Montana Legislative Assembly appropriated $60,000 for the construction of a laboratory in Hamilton to provide facilities for the study of the disease and the search for vaccines to prevent the disease. In 1930 the state Boards assisted in the formation of the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Committee composed to representatives from other states having documented cases of the disease. This committee requested that the United States Public Health Service "take over and assume full control of investigations of tick-borne, human diseases." In 1932 the laboratory facilities at Hamilton were sold to the federal government and work on tick fever was continued by federal employees.

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Content Description

These records are organized into two subgroups: the Montana State Board of Entomology and the Montana State Board of Health. The Montana State Board of Entomology Records include general correspondence (1909-1954), primarily between State Entomologist R.A. Cooley and other members of the State Board of Entomology (W.G. Cogswell, W.J. Butler); employees of the Board such as field researchers (Fred A. Morton, Glen M. Kohls, A.E. Seamons, Clifford Corkins, Elmer Fessler, F.J. O'Donnell, F.B. Linfield, Roscoe W. Wells); representatives from the United States Board of Entomology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Public Health Service (F.C. Bishop, L.D. Fricks, W.D. Hunter, L.O. Howard, W.V. King, H.P. Wood); scientists working on tick diseases (including requests for tick specimens); Montanans and public health officials requesting information about the disease; etc. This correspondence is arranged as it was kept by Dr. Cooley, by correspondent. There is also correspondence of W.G. Cogswell as chairman of the State Board of Entomology and R.R. Parker as assistant entomologist. The subgroup also includes court papers (1913); financial records (1932-1941); minutes of the Board (1913-1949); organizational materials (1913-1940); reports (1909-1949), including those of field researchers and the Board's monthly and annual reports; subject files (1927-1954); writings (1912-1937) of W.J. Butler, R.A. Cooley, R.R. Parker, and others; miscellany (1905-1938); and clippings (1908-1943). The Montana State Board of Health subgroup includes T.D. Tuttle's correspondence (1908-1912) about Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other correspondence (1919-1957) concerning the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, diseases, etc.; financial records (1912); reports (1929-1956) concerning typhoid fever, polio vaccine, etc.; subject files (1914-1966) including materials on bubonic plague, leprosy, and health conditions on Indian reservations in the state; and miscellany (1911, 1929). Printed materials and maps, photographs, and artifacts have been separated from these records and transferred to the Library, Photo Archives, and Museum respectively.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by series.

Location of Collection

17:8-4

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Assiniboine Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Assiniboine Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Atsina Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Crow Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Dakota Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Dakota Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Landless Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Medicine--Research
  • Public health--Montana
  • Research--Montana
  • Rocky Mountain spotted fever
  • Salish Indians--Health and welfare--Montana
  • Tick-borne diseases

Geographical Names

  • Florence (Mont.)
  • Fort Belknap Indian Reservation (Mont.)
  • Fort Peck Indian Reservation (Mont.)
  • Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation (Mont.)
  • Powderville (Mont.)
  • Rocky Boys Indian Reservation (Mont.)

Finding aid prepared by MHS Staff
2004

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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