page_title: Washington State Guard
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Washington State Guard / History / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Washington Territorial Militia lined up in front of homes in Seattle, 1880
context_page_description: The Washington State Guard is the state defense force of the U.S. state of Washington. It is the third element of the state's military forces which also include the Washington Army National Guard and the Washington Air National Guard.
context_section_description: In early 1855, on the eve of the Yakima War, the legislature of Washington Territory authorized the creation of the Washington Territorial Volunteers (WTV), the first militia raised in what would become the state of Washington. 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. 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. Over the course of the conflict, one half of all adult men in the territory would render military service.
  In 1903, with the passage of the Dicks Act, the Washington militia – and, with it, the militias of the other states – were standardized as the National Guard and became part of the reserve forces of the United States, "the first step towards the eventual federalization of the traditional organized militia".
caption: Territorial Militia pictured in Seattle in 1880
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