 Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters helped shape the developing character of the 1960s counterculture when they embarked on a cross-country voyage during the summer of 1964 in a psychedelic school bus named "Furthur".Beginning in 1959, Kesey had volunteered as a research subject for medical trials financed by the CIA's "MK ULTRA" project.These trials tested the effects of LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and other psychedelic drugs.