Pvt. George A. Clark wrote to his father from Camp Lewis in Washington state that the Billings contingent was taking to training like ducks to water. Camp life was not half bad, he claimed, but he missed the Montana sunshine.

“We have only seen the sun twice since arriving,” he said. “It certainly is a beautiful sight to see between 25,000 and 30,000 men on the campus at one time.”

A report from Seattle described the enthusiasm of the Montana troops as they passed through on their way to Camp Lewis.

“Many of the Montanans were in picturesque garb of the cowboy,” it said. “They made their presence distinctly known with a series of whoops and cheers as they marched uptown to dine as guests of the Great Northern Railroad.”

At home in Yellowstone County, residents were settled in to a new wartime reality by Christmas. They had been exhorted to change their diets “as a matter of conscience with each woman giving active service in the important ‘second line trenches.’"

Christmas treats were baked without wheat flour or butter and with a reduced amount of sugar so that vital food stuffs could be saved for the troops. Recipes using alternate ingredients like vegetable oils and corn flower were broadly circulated.