[2] The defeat of the U.S. Army that year at the Battle of Toppenish Creek sparked panic throughout the territory that an Indian uprising was in progress; hastily organized WTV companies elected their own officers and quickly put to the field with little in the way of arms or provisions.

[2] Ignoring regulations, nearby U.S. Army posts supplied the territorial forces with firearms, as did the captains of two federal warships operating in the area: USS Decatur and USRC Jefferson Davis.

[4] In the early 20th century Washington saw increasing levels of civil unrest, occasioned in part by the growing influence of the Industrial Workers of the World in the state.

[5] Disturbances in Spokane in 1917 prompted Governor Ernest Lister to declare martial law and order a major deployment of National Guard troops into the city.

[5][a] In June, soldiers of the State Guard Reserve began to be reconstituted into a formed force with the activation of the Fourth Washington Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

[5] As of December the regiment was fully trained and equipped and, by early 1942, the size of the State Guard had increased to just over 4,000 soldiers and officers with the force reorganized into two brigades.

[10][5] The bulk of the force spent the rest of 1942 conducting weekly drills to repel an anticipated Japanese invasion of Washington, while a smaller contingent of 30 personnel were activated to full-time status to man nine observation posts on the Olympic Peninsula.

[5] It soon recruited 112 former U.S. Army and Washington National Guard officers; the force was conceived of and organized as a command nucleus around which a larger element could be rapidly raised in the event of a crisis.

[5] It was formed into a skeleton headquarters detachment and five cadre-staffed internal security battalions which, if brought to full strength, would fulfill public order and civil defense missions.

[5] By the 1970s it had grown to 164 officers, added an eight-man air section posted to the King County International Airport, and was officially renamed the Washington State Guard.