Armstrong – Table of Contents

Armstrong arrived in Hamilton, Montana on May 24, 1942 (22). His first symptoms
began within 24 hours on May 25, 1942. He did not report his symptoms immediately
and continued his inspection at the Laboratory. He grew worse progressively, and he
became confined to his hotel room. On the morning of May 27, when he did not appear
for a scheduled meeting at the Laboratory, several of the meeting participants went to his
hotel room in town where they found Armstrong, fully clothed, lying on his bed and
desperately ill. He was transferred immediately to the Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital in
Hamilton (22). In several days the RML was able to make a diagnosis of pneumonia due
to the tularemia bacterium. His clinical course was extremely stormy. He remained
acutely ill with high fever, cough, and shortness of breath. He had periods of minor
remissions and followed by severe exacerbations of his symptoms. During one of the
frightening exacerbations, Dr. Dyer, who was skeptical about Armstrong’s survival,
contacted Mrs. Armstrong and daughter Mary Emma and suggested that they come to
Hamilton quickly in order to be with Armstrong in his possible last mortal moments.
They came to Hamilton immediately and stayed for about a month during June 1942.
Mary Emma Armstrong described how impressed she was with the friendliness and
caring attitude of the townspeople in Hamilton. On several occasions when she was
“downtown,” townsfolk whom she did not know would approach her with well wishes
and inquire about Dr. Armstrong’s progress in the hospital.
Armstrong improved gradually but was weakened greatly by the infection. There
was no effective antibiotic treatment against tularemia in 1942. Dr. Selman Waksman
(23) did not discover streptomycin, the preferred effective agent, until 1944. Armstrong
remained hospitalized in Hamilton for several months. He then returned to the