November 16, 1919 to September 16, 1920

General Orders Number 95, 18 July 1917, declared the National Army Camp at American Lake, Washington, to be named Lewis, in honor of Captain Merriwether Lewis, Commander of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Camp Lewis was the first National Army cantonment for draftee training to be opened. The first recruits arrived at Camp Lewis on 5 September 1917 and 37,000 officers, cadre, garrison, and trainees were on post by 31 December. Camp Lewis was the largest military post in the USA at the time. With the Armistice in place, Camp Lewis fell into a state of disrepair.

The 91st Infantry Division ("Wild West" Division - battle cry: "Powder River! Let'er Buck!") had trained at Camp Lewis from 5 September 1917 until it shipped out, on 21-24 June 1918, for France, where it served with distinction. The 13th Infantry Division was organized at Camp Lewis in 1918 and was training in trench warfare when the Armistice was signed, 11 November 1918. The "war to end all wars" was over but the construction at Camp Lewis would continue until November 1919.

When the 35th Infantry Regiment arrived at Camp Lewis in November of 1919, it did so at a time when the country was winding down from the war effort in Europe. Moneys available for sustaining troop levels and construction of bases had been seriously curtailed. Indeed, there was no active division assigned to the camp at the time. The 91st had been disbanded in France and the 13th just never got off the ground.

When Major General Henry A. Greene, the first Camp Lewis Commander, was reassigned, he left a bustling cantonment to Brigadier General James A. Irons. With the Armistice, activity at Camp Lewis slowed. With peace, military appropriations were sharply reduced and Camp Lewis fell into neglect. The 400-acre cavalry remount area, called the "corral," returned to scrub; and the hastily built barracks, without maintenance, started to fall apart. The main drill field, today's Watkins Field, was reclaimed by fir seedlings.

A contract was let to dismantle some of the wooden buildings. The United States was returning to its traditional isolationist stance in world affairs, and the high cost of World War I caused the Congress to slash military spending. The Army was authorized 150,000 men and was allowed to maintain three combat-ready divisions. Although Secretary Baker publicly stated that Camp Lewis had been instrumental in the war effort and was an excellent training area, economy and priority were forcing him to use his men and funds elsewhere.

It wasn’t until 1926, when Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis asked Congress to approve a ten-year building plan to rebuild and revitalize three army posts that Camp Lewis saw a turnaround in its decline. Congress, in March 1926, authorized $4,518,000, raised from the sale of Army lands and in May, Camp Lewis received $800,000 to begin construction on permanent red brick barracks on main post. Camp Lewis was to have a new lease on life. Its worst years were over.