{"id":121,"date":"2019-01-16T09:58:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T17:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/basewatch\/?p=121"},"modified":"2020-01-26T16:01:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T00:01:13","slug":"don-evans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/basewatch\/don-evans\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Lewis Testing and Training"},"content":{"rendered":"
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M-1 Abrams on Fort Lewis Range (Credit: University of North Texas).<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Donald Evans<\/h2>\n
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Whatever the future holds, do not forget who you are. Teach your children, teach your children’s children, and then teach their children also. Teach them the pride of a great people … A time will come again when they will celebrate together with joy. When that happens my spirit will be there with you.\u00a0<\/em>– Chief Leschi (Nisqually)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In March 1916 General John Pershing was tasked with the manhunt for Mexican revolutionary Francisco \u201cPancho\u201d Villa who had launched a raid into Columbus, New Mexico. Books such as Hudson Maxim\u2019s Defenseless America<\/em> and films such as The Battle Cry of Peace<\/em>, popularized military preparedness and, \u201c\u2026expressed a legitimate concern for America\u2019s ability to defend herself if she were pulled into World War I\u201d (Lewis Army Museum 2014). To prepare for possible war, forts in the Pacific Northwest started to be built, including Camp Lewis (later Fort Lewis) just south of Tacoma, Washington. From World War I to the present day, the base has had some connection with every war where the U.S. has been involved, from the 91st<\/sup> Division in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I, to the Stryker brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

World War I<\/h2>\n
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There is no finer Army post site anywhere in the U.S. In this area there <\/em>is every physical condition desirable for Army training and maneuvers.\u00a0<\/em>– Major General Arthur Murray<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Color Guard troops in different era uniforms stand in front of a statue of Capt. Meriwether Lewis (Credit: Arcadia Publishing).<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1916 the Pierce County Military Base Committee formed in response to Congress passing a law that allowed the Secretary of War to accept land that was donated for construction of military installations. The committee was hoping to capitalize on the \u201ceconomic boom\u201d that it felt would follow the construction of a military base (Dunkelberger 2017). The committee was successful, and Camp Lewis was built. On April 6, 1917, the U.S. formally declared war on Germany and the construction of Camp Lewis was expedited. Construction of Camp Lewis occurred simultaneously as soldiers trained.<\/p>\n

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Camp Lewis was a scene of building construction and road scraping, amidst the tumult of recruits learning close-order drill and machine gun training; the sound of hammers and of 1903 Springfield’s being fired on a 200-point rifle range; the laying of a spur line for support trains; and of horse-drawn field artillery training in columns (Lewis Army Museum 2014).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Wild West Division<\/h3>\n
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US 91st Infantry Division (Credit: Arcadia Publishing).<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Camp Lewis built the first Army barracks for draftee training, and the first unit to be created was the 91st<\/sup> Division. Comprised mostly of men from the western states, they went with a unit logo represented by a fir tree and nicknamed the \u201cWild West Division.\u201d In preparation for going to Europe, the troops were trained in close drills, military traditions, bayonet thrusts, and hand-to-hand combat. To prepare for reality on the battlefields of Europe, they had mock battles in trenches and experienced gas attacks in special rooms (D.C.D. 2008).<\/p>\n

Of the original 70,000 acres given for Camp Lewis, about 3,300 acres were Nisqually Indian allotments, comprising about two-thirds of the Nisqually Reservation (see Nisqually and Fort Lewis<\/a>). Initially, training and firing ranges were located near the barracks area. Eventually troops started to train on the Nisqually lands, causing damage to farmland. In the winter of 1917 the U.S. Army moved onto Nisqually lands and ordered tribal members from their homes without any warning (Nisqually Indian Tribe, n.d.). As Brigadier General James A. Irons (Camp Lewis acting commander) stated that Camp Lewis needed the Nisqually tribal lands for an artillery range, crucial in the proper training for the war in Europe (D.C.D. 2008).<\/p>\n

Interwar Years (1919-1941)<\/h2>\n
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Camp Lewis is the most valuable military possession in the United States\u2026large enough to train infantry movements and provide room for the firing of the heaviest guns.\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0<\/em>Major General U. G. McAlexander<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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American troops leaving practice trenches for a charge at the Camp Lewis, American Lake, Washington, December 1917 (Credit Tumblr).<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As World War I was coming to an end, the 13th<\/sup>\u00a0Division was at Camp Lewis training and preparing to go to Europe. The war ended November 11, 1918 as the 13th<\/sup> was training for trench warfare. Camp Lewis shifted its role to preparing troops to return to civilian life rather than training for combat (a pattern after every war) by Camp Lewis being converted to a separation center. The 13th<\/sup> Division was nearly demobilized by February 1919, except for the 13th Field Artillery Brigade which was deployed to Seattle to assist in suppressing the Seattle General Strike. Later,\u00a0demobilization resumed, and the soldiers of the 13th Field Artillery Brigade were soon discharged to civilian life (Laurie & Cole 1997, 262).<\/p>\n

With the high financial costs of World War I, Congress chose to slash the military budget and return to a prewar isolationist stance. Camp Lewis fell into a neglected state. As the old wooden structures were being torn down, people in the surrounding area became concerned that the camp was being abandoned. Local groups led by the Rotary Club and the Tacoma News<\/em> and Tribune<\/em> had always expected that a division of troops be stationed at the camp. They thought that the agreement with the federal government called for a whole division, while the agreement actually called for the post to remain in the hands of the government so long as it was used for training purposes (Lewis Army Museum 2014b). In 1921 the Army moved the 3rd<\/sup> Division headquarters to Camp Lewis in order to please these local groups.<\/p>\n