In 1900 Lowell Observatory assistant Andrew Douglass advised his boss Percival Lowell to purchase a state-of-the-art spectrograph from instrument maker and recent Allegheny Observatory acting-director, “Uncle John” Brashear. While the instrument was initially intended to meet multiple scientific goals of the Observatory, particularly regarding the study of planetary atmospheres and the rotation periods of planets, it also fulfilled a little-known obligation between Percival Lowell and Brashear that dated back to an accident occurring several years before. If not for this unusual incident that led to the purchase of the spectrograph, the future of Lowell Observatory and, on a larger scale, unmasking of the nature of the expanding universe, would likely have played out much differently.