William Shea’s Mosquito Wars
Great Falls Tribune clipping, William Shea photograph, January 4, 1947
Mosquito War is Declared
Complaints have been received by Sanitary Commissioner William P. Shea from householders that mosquitoes are becoming annoying.
“We have two men on eliminating mosquitoes, Meadow Lark Country club has a mosquito man working and the park department has a man eliminating the insects,” Shea said.
“Mosquito-breeding places in and around Great Falls are cleaned out and housewives should understand that each home is largely responsible for its own mosquitoes.
“Empty bottles in back yards, cans with a little water left in them, any water accumulation in yards may be a breeding place of mosquitoes.
“We’ve got mosquitoes beaten in Great Falls—once they were a real nuisance here—and the department requests each householder to check his own property and destroy possible breeding places of mosquitoes.
“When this is done mosquitoes will be really eliminated.”
The Great Falls Leader, April 26, 1941
Born in Swift County, Minnesota September 21, 1888, William P. Shea (1888-1962) arrived in Great Falls with his family in 1900, graduating from Great Falls schools and entering the workforce as a wholesale grocer delivery boy. He was first hired as a city inspector in 1913, then appointed city-county sanitary commissioner on July 11, 1923.
His work against the mosquito swarms began immediately.
By July 17, 1923, the Great Falls Tribune had published a report:
Don’t Cuss At Bite of Mosquito; Twice As Many Last Year
If a mosquito bite you don’t swear as you send it to insect heaven. Be a Pollyanna and think that last year you would have had two mosquito bites. For the oil that the health department Is sprayin[g] upon stagnant water is cutting down the mosquito birth rate, according to Dr. Fred T. Foard, United States public health officer.
For the last three weeks oil has been sprayed upon stagnent [sic] pools of water in the residential section of Great Falls. Most of the pools have dried up so it will not be necessary to spray them any more. Stagnant pools on the east bank of the Missouri river and on First island are being sprayed.
Killing Pests with Oil Spray Stagnant Water
William Shea, sanitary inspector is spraying crude oil on the stagnant pools left by high water along the banks of the Missouri river southwest of the city, for a distance of several miles, in an effort to prevent the mosquito nuisance from reaching large proportions here this season […]
Great Falls Leader June 7, 1924
Spray Oil on River Mosquito Hatchery to Kill Bite Army
There will be fewer mosquitoes buzzing around the heads of Great Falls residents and raising poisonous bumps on their silk-clad defenseless ankles if the work started by a sanitary squad under the direction of W. H. Pickett, sanitary officer, is effective.
Work of spraying oil on pools of stagnant water along the bank of the Missouri river was started Friday morning. This is the beginning of the hatching season for the insects and the oil prevents the larvae from reaching the surface to breath[e] air. […]
Great Falls Tribune, June 7, 1924
Kerosene oil methods were recommended as mosquito control for decades. Female mosquitoes, after feasting on enough blood to produce eggs, lay their eggs on the surface of the water. After hatching, mosquito larvae will take breathes of air using a snorkel-like siphon on their tails and hang just below the surface of the water until they are ready to dive back down below the surface. Kerosene methods worked by creating a film on top of the water’s surface, smothering the larvae and preventing adults from forming.
Kerosene use for mosquitoes has since been discontinued, as its toxicity also kills fish, frogs, and other beneficial insects, as well as poses a health risk to humans from fogging and accessing contaminated water. The effectiveness was also limited, as the film evaporates over time and would need constant re-treatment.
Shea had prescribed a yearly regimen of city and county spraying, but also began recommending that the public cut their excess grass and shrubs:
Mosquito Crop in Tall Grass Is Now Biting
Way to get Rid of Pests Is to Keep Weeds Cut and Lawns Mowed
The new crop of mosquitoes which is adding much discomfort to the residents of Great Falls is a species which breeds in the high grass and is not produced as a result of stagnant water pools, William Shea, sanitary commissioner stated Friday.
Mr. Shea has been conducting an anti-mosquito campaign in Cascade county for several years and early this spring all of the pools of stagnant water, the back water of the Missouri river and slough throughout the county were oiled to prevent them becoming breeding places for the mosquito pest.
The mosquito which breeds on the water is a larger species than the grass mosquito, Mr. Shea said. However, the smaller mosquito causes just as much inconvenience and can be controlled only by the cutting of the tall grass and weeds in the vacant lots and around the outskirts of the city. It is impossible to spray the grass with oil and consequently Mr. Shea urges local residents to carefully trim the tall grass which might have been left standing close to bushes of shrubbery in the yards after the lawns have been mown. This and the mowing of weeds and grass in the vacant lots will aid in the control of the grass mosquito, he said.
Great Falls Tribune, July 7, 1928
It was believed at the time that some mosquitoes would lay their eggs in tall grass, then move the eggs to stagnant water. This was later found to be untrue, but it is true that stagnant water can accumulate easier in dense grass and become a good breeding ground. Adult mosquitoes will also hide from the heat in tall grasses, so it was true that trimming vegetation would deter them from sticking around.
The year was 1929, and the war boiled on.
Death to Mosquitoes Movement is Started by Board of Health
Meadow Lark Country Club Offers to Give $300 Sum to Aid in Waging War Against Pests With Long Stingers
With a matching fund of $300 from the Meadow Lark Country Club, the county commission and Chamber of Commerce’s funding raised the mosquito war budget to $800.
Mosquito War Starts; Shea’s Machine Used
Crude Oil Sprayed on Slough; Intensive Falls Campaign Is Outlined
The mosquito clan came in for its first attack Thursday by the new engine of death invented by William Shea, sanitary commissioner. The machine received its initial test on a slough east of the Boston heights district and proved that it will hurl crude oil upwards of 100 feet.
Accompanied by an expert from the State college at Bozeman, Mr. Shea visited several sloughs and ditches that offer ideal breeding places for mosquitoes. However, “wigglers,” from which mosquitoes hatch, were found in but two places. When the water is treated with crude oil, the “wigglers” are killed as they come to the surface for air.
The machine invented by Mr. Shea consists of a small engine, air pump, air tank and a tank that will hold up to 30 gallons of oil. Under about 80 pounds of air pressure this oil is thrown on ponds through nozzles designed to make various kinds of spray effects. The machine was made in the city shops as part of the drive against mosquitoes that will be waged this year.
Great Falls Tribune, May 17, 1929
Bill Shea’s Mosquito Death Ray, Guaranteed To Do Awful Carnage, Great Falls Leader, May 22, 1929
General Bill Shea Devises “Death Ray” Mosquito Machine
War on Pests Opens With Sanitary Chief’s New Infernal Contraption Guaranteed to Deal Horrid Death of Big Scale
War has been declared.
Promptly at 9 o’clock this morning Gen. William (Bill) Shea, commander-in-chief of the antimosquito forces of Great Falls and surrounding territory, issued the battle edict against the vast and winged army of summer pests.
After a winter spent in working out a new and more formidable plan of attack, inventing and subsequent construction of a death-dealing device, several weeks of reconnoitering into the strongholds of the enemy’s camps and equipment finally put in first class condition for a strenuous campaign, Commander Shea early today said that his forces were ready and the first was on.
This announcement by the city-county heath inspector should be welcomed with open arms by the residents of Great Falls and vicinity but the further announcement of Mr. Shea that hie is confident of success and should be victorious in exterminating mosquitoes should be welcomed with loud cheers.
[…]
Shea’s Death Engine
The Death Engine invented by Mr. Shea and which has undergone several experimental tests was completed and perfected to the satisfaction of the health officer only yesterday. It consists of a small engine, air pump, air tank and a tank holding 30 gallons of oil.
[…]
Great Falls Leader, May 22, 1929
Shea had 3 different spray nozzles, fine, medium, and heavy, to combat the pests. Fine spray was for small ditches in city parks, medium was for throwing sprays of oil 75 feet alongside the river bank, the largest nozzle was used for large grassy sloughs.
Shea also used donated oil from fill stations to create oil-soaked sacks of sawdust. The sacks were taken far out into a large body of water, and wind or waves would disperse the oil into the shores used by mosquitoes for breeding.
Asks Co-Operation
Mr. Shea said that he expects the campaign to be so successful that Great Falls people would be able to listen to the band concerts in the park this summer without being “eaten alive” be mosquitoes.
Co-operation of residents of Great Falls is asked by the health officer in his campaign. People are asked to keep close watch of their yard and not allow water to stand in puddles for more than one week. The water faucet on the outside of the house should be examined to see that it does not drip and allow a pool of water to stand, as mosquitoes will breed there quickly.
[…]
Enroll now in Gen. Bill Shea’s army to exterminate mosquitoes.
Great Falls Leader, May 22, 1929
In June, the Tribune reported that Shea’s crew had distributed 2,070 gallons of oil over approximately 25 square miles in and around the city of Great Falls. It was noted that while Cascade County had an especially bad mosquito season, (farmers and dairymen along Sun River and south of Great Falls resorted to wearing mosquito netting over their heads) Great Falls had not received the same onslaught of bites.
The war resumed the following year in 1931 with advice from the United States public health service that all residents should eliminate as many breeding places as possible by either oiling or emptying all water containers on a tenant’s property. “Wherever there is quiet water the mosquitoes will find it,” quoted the Tribune Tuesday, July 7, 1931. At this time, the Tribune was also praising Shea for his work on the city’s sanitation - improving permits for garbage containers and rules for pickup while also implementing a strict pickup schedule to streamline removal.
Press of the ongoing mosquito wars stirred up again in 1934 when the Meadow Lark County Club announced a 3 year eradication campaign. $2,750 was appropriated for the war effort with Shea appointed as supervisor, who asserted that this effort, an 8 man oiling crew, would benefit the city by carrying far fewer mosquitoes on the west winds into town.
Great Falls Tribune clipping, June 28, 1935. The City County Health Department and Shea noted that a yearly investment for mosquitoes was necessary to keep the pest’s population down.
From November 1935 to early spring 1936, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) crew of 12 was assigned to Shea, cutting down tall, swampy grasses and thinning underbrush along the riverbanks.
By 1938, Shea reported that WPA work had included not only “the elimination of the mosquito menace,” but important public infrastructure such as water line extensions for Great Falls, Belt, and Cascade, sewer extension for Great Falls, modern toilet facilities for rural schools (700+), and projects to provide school lunches.
For the years that weather grew wetter, “General” Shea would increase his battalion of oilers. The following years saw multiple battle cries for residents to continue to take up arms against the mosquitoes by eliminating stagnant water.
Shea on Defense — “It’s Just Backwards”
Bloodthirsty mosquitos with dive bomber tactics have been surveying Greffles for possible invasion, About Our Town’s undercover agents report. They have found a suitable base from which to launch the attack. Mosquito Defense Minister Bill Shea is thinking overtime to thwart the attack. He believes he has the invasion base located and reports a likely lookin g place is the greensward around the children’s playhouse on the river road.
Grass there is long, the area is swampy from recent heavy and numerous rains, conditions are ideal for gathering and preparing huge forces for the invasion. Best defense, Shea says, is to mow the grass immediately so the sun can get at is and dry it out. Shea’s defense fund allows him $112 for men and $200 odd for materials for defense. That’s just the reverse of the way it should be, says Bill.
Great Falls Leader, June 7, 1941 “About Our Town” Section
“The city-county health department is working with other agencies in the war on mosquitoes and each citizen is urged to aid by inspecting his own premises to see that all casual water—held in depressions, cans or bottles, is eliminated. […] when this is done mosquitoes will be really eliminated.” Great Falls Tribune, May 27, 1941
By 1944, Shea was using a new recommended synthetic petroleum oil. This oil was heavier than water, intended to kill insects feeding at the bottom of the water.
Great Falls Tribune clipping, June 10, 1946, with photographs of Leonard Knaup and Bill Shea working on oil spraying.
Great Falls Tribune clipping, April 10, 1947, showing Charlie Beisel, Gordon Jones, and Charlie Jones operating in the annual mosquito killing mission.
Your Dollars Needed —
Mosquito Menace Here To Be Fought
Do you want to kill mosquitoes?
Send your contribution to Junior Chamber of Commerce Mosquito control fund for Mosquito Control, City-County Health Dept. Great Falls
[…]
Great Falls Leader, June 9, 1948
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), a synthetic pesticide first used during WWII 1939 to stop the spread of malaria and typhus, became commercially available in the United States in fall, 1945. Soon, this was added to Shea’s arsenal.
5,200 Gallons of DDT Sprayed Here
Since June 17 an army C-54 has sprayed 5,200 gallons of DDT on Cascade county mosquitoes in an attempt to rid the area of the pests. Now that the JayCee solicited funds of $2,589 have been exhausted, aerial spraying will end, according to Walt Elliot of the Jay-Cees.
Great Falls Tribune, July 16, 1948
DDT, effective at killing flying pests, also proved to decline bird populations (such as eagles and falcons), negatively affect aquatic organisms and plants, and posed a risk for cancer and reproductive problems in humans. It was later banned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1972.
Bill Shea Wins 1951 Battle on Mosquito Nuisance Here
On July 19, 1951, Great Falls Leader announced that Shea was victorious — his April spraying had made a skeeter-free summer, winning the praise of Meadow Lark Country Club, the Great Falls Municipal Band directors, and Nick Mariana, general manager of the Electrics baseball team.
And yet the war would continue to wage on each year as it had before.
Great Falls Tribune clipping of Bob Lindsay operating a spraying machine at the fairgrounds in Great Falls, July 18, 1952.
Spraying operations continued, and the public was still reminded to remove stagnant water on their own home fronts.
Shea fought on.
By 1956, Shea had been employed in health work for 43 years, and the Tribune reflected that his expertise in mosquito control had him often called to other counties for assistance.
He was one of the first health officials in Montana to seriously study mosquito control and in 1923 was called to Shelby when clouds of mosquitoes were pestering throngs in the oil metropolis to attend the Dempsey-Gibbons fight.
The late O. S. Warden was one of the early backers of Shea’s war on the mosquitoes, which has resulted in an almost complete elimination of the nuisance here.
[…]
Great Falls Tribune, August 16, 1956
His retirement, effective September 1, 1956, was announced August 19. Shea’s time in the mosquito wars was over, expertly fought.
-Ashleigh McCann, Collections Curator
Afterward
Mosquito control has evolved in many ways since William Shea’s era, though his recommendation for homeowners remains true - dump out stagnant water! Joshua Blystone, Weed & Mosquito Superintendent for Cascade County, was kind enough to give us a briefing on how the county manages mosquito populations today:
Cascade County’s mosquito management program today consists primarily of larvae management, adult management, and adult surveillance/trapping.
Here’s a quick rundown:
Larvae Management:
Our program hires seasonal employees to go out and survey bodies of standing water across the County to find mosquito larvae. They use tablets with GIS software maps that show them where these water bodies are and can record surveys and treatments using the software also. When mosquito larvae are found, they determine which of 3 products to use based on what stage of life the larvae are in and if there are any pupae present as well.
Bti or Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis is used for mosquito larvae in the 1st through 3rd instar stage of life. It is a naturally occurring bacterium found in soils that the larvae ingest and it is nontoxic to most everything except mosquitos and a few other types of fly species. It is in a granular form and is applied using gas powered backpack blowers.
S-Methoprene is used for mosquito larvae in the 1st through 4th instar stage. It is an insect growth regulator that disrupts the larvae’s growth cycle so they do not develop into biting adults. It also only effects mosquito species and poses no hazards to humans. It usually is in a pellet form and also is applied using backpack blowers.
Both Bti and S-Methoprene products can come in liquid form as well for various other applications or environments.
Larvicide oil is used for all instar stages and also pupae. It is a highly refined mineral oil that creates a film on water surface which suffocates the larvae and pupae. This product works just like how the kerosene or diesel would work. This is only used by our employees if pupae are present since it is considered a chemical treatment and can affect other air breathing insects present. A liquid spraying backpack is used to apply the oil.
Adult Management:
Our program utilizes truck mounted ULV (ultra low volume) foggers to do adult mosquito treatments. ULV foggers use high air pressure to create microscopic droplets of the product being used and create a fog. Treatments take place from sunset to about midnight since that is when adults are most active, and non-target pollinators are not flying.
Products that are used vary year to year since we rotate different active ingredients to avoid creating pesticide resistant populations of mosquitoes. Permethrin, malathion, and pyrethroids are the most common active ingredients used.
Surveillance/Trapping:
One of our staff is utilized to be a laboratory technician that traps adult mosquitoes, identifies them to species, and test specific species for West Nile virus. We have 32 different trap sites located in strategic areas across the County that are monitored weekly.
Our traps use carbon dioxide to attract biting mosquitoes. When they get close enough to the trap they are sucked into a basket by a fan where they get stuck until retrieved the next morning. The mosquitoes are then euthanized by being frozen in a deep freezer so that they can be identified to species and counted. Culex species mosquitos are separated and tested for West Nile virus by using specialized biomedical machine known as a RAMP Reader. Culex tarsalis is the primary vector of West Nile virus in Cascade County (and most of Montana).
Knowing population numbers, species present, and disease detection allows us to make decisions on where to focus management and treatments.