Life at a frontier fort in the early 19th century was far from easy. In 1816, when the U.S. Army established a new permanent fort at Prairie du Chien, it stood on an island in the Mississippi River, about two miles north of where it joined with the Wisconsin River. Fort Crawford faced challenges—marshy land, basic sanitation facilities, and limited understanding of disease causes. Soldiers dealt with seasonal threats like mosquito-borne malaria and periodic outbreaks of dysentery, cholera, and typhus [1]. But there was another nuisance they endured, one brought to the Americas long before by Asian migration from the east 25,000 years before, and by European settlers and colonizers between the 10th and 15th centuries. This nuisance bore the different genetics of each migration but came to share the same name: head lice [[11][13][18][19][20].

Head Lice on the early 19th Century American Prairie

Fort Shelby, located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, was built in 1814 (toward the end of the War of 1812) by American troops commanded by William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) [11].

During the Siege of Prairie du Chien in July, the fort was captured by the British and their Native American allies who renamed it Fort McKay [15]. The fort was briefly in British hands until December 1814, when both sides agreed to the restoration of captured territory and the retreating British burned it prior to retreating in 1815.

As was common in remote frontier areas of America with forts built mostly of wood that were abandoned or destroyed by war or the elements, they were often rebuilt and reinhabited to meet evolving national goals. The new version of the fort, built directly on the site of the old one or in many cases nearby, would often be renamed. Thus, when the Army built a new fort on the ruins of an of Fort Shelby, it was renamed as Fort Crawford.

After the war, the U.S. government realized that Wisconsin’s northwestern frontier needed protection. As a result, a series of military outposts was established in the following decades that stretched from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Three forts were constructed in Wisconsin: Fort Howard at Green Bay, Fort Winnebago at Portage, and Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien [15]. It is at Fort Crawford that the bone lice comb was discovered that is central to this story.

Beyond its military functions, Fort Crawford served as a supply depot and a rendezvous point for traders along the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. It also acted as a neutral ground for meetings between western Indian tribes and eastern governments. After floods in the 1820s damaged the wooden fort, the Army abandoned it and constructed a second Fort Crawford from cut stone nearby [1].

Previously routine companions of people of all economic levels, pesticides and improvements in daily hygiene made lice outbreak infestations relatively rare in modernized countries by the mid-twentieth century. Soldiers and visitors to Fort Crawford, however, dealt with head lice as a normal part of life, simply accepting periodic infestation in much the same way as they would have to deal with an occasional bout of influenza or a cold [1].

Head lice have likely plagued humans for as long as we’ve existed. They couldn’t survive on animals, preferring to stay in human hair, feed from the scalp, and attach their eggs (nits) to hair strands [24] [25] [26] [27] [29]. Since lice can’t jump or fly, close physical contact facilitated their movement from one host to another—often hitching a ride on hats, bedding, or personal items stored together. [30][33][34].

Military barracks like those at Fort Crawford, with their close quarters, provided ample opportunities for lice transmission. In the early 19th century, bathing was infrequent, and people often wore the same clothes for days. Soldiers stationed on the frontier, lacking domestic training, faced extended periods between cleanings. These conditions made repeated lice infestations at Fort Crawford quite likely. [1]

Unfortunately, doctors and scientists of the time knew little about lice’s life cycle or source. Not until 1864 did Louis Pasteur definitively document it [5] . To manage outbreaks, people used fine-tooth combs [42] like the one found at Fort Crawford to remove adult lice and nits from their hair.

Other treatments for head lice have evolved significantly over the centuries (and Fort Crawford). The use of sulfur and lard, as well as mercuric oxide powder, are historical methods that are no longer in use today due to their potential harmful effects [35][36]. Mercuric oxide powder, also known as “red precipitate,” was also used in the past to treat various ailments, including lice infestations [38]. Mercury compounds were common in the early 19th century for various applications, including medical treatments [9-10]. However, the toxic properties of mercury were not fully understood at the time, resulting in significant health risks for those who were exposed to it [39][41]. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the harmful effects of mercury were becoming more widely recognized, leading to a decline in its use in medical treatments [40].

While lice infestations are less common today, they still occur, and are spread in institutional settings, primarily such as pre-and-elementary schools, and to a lesser degree summer camps, sports teams. From understanding the life cycle of lice to recognizing the early signs of an infestation, information available today provides a wealth of information for parents, teachers, and caregivers in a position to monitor those most at risk. This body of information also addresses preventive measures, effective treatments, and the role of schools and childcare centers in managing outbreaks. [43].

This research focused on a museum collection of double-sided combs made from common reeds. These combs were used by cultural groups that flourished in river valleys in the Atacama Desert between about C.E. 500 and 1500. Viewing the combs at 10 times normal size revealed their true purpose: Many still bore traces of the lice and nits they had extracted from someone’s tresses [42].

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