DescriptionRocky Mountain spotted fever, or “black measles,” fatal in 80 percent of adult cases, plagued early settlers in the Bitterroot Valley. In 1906, Howard T. Ricketts identified ticks as carriers of this disease, and in 1921 the U.S. Public Health Service agreed to fund a vaccine development program. In an abandoned schoolhouse near Hamilton, doctors developed an effective Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine. Its manufacture required large-scale tick rearing under makeshift conditions, which resulted in tick-related illnesses among the technicians and 2 deaths. In 1927, the Montana legislature authorized construction of a new research facility. Despite local opposition, the Rocky Mountain Laboratory opened in 1928. An improved method for vaccine production eliminated the need for live ticks in 1938, and by 1940 research had expanded to include the study of other insect-borne diseases. During World War II, the lab manufactured typhus and yellow fever vaccines for the military. After the war, the need for the vaccines diminished with the development of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Today the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, listed in the National Register, continues to research immunologic, allergic, and infectious diseases.Personal NamesRicketts, Howard T.Contributing InstitutionMontana Historical Society Library and ArchivesGeolocation[1] Elevation3575 ft. CountyRavalli County
