Early Political Career
After graduation, the Pierce family returned to Oregon, where Walter set up a successful law firm in Pendleton. From 1896 to 1906, he managed a power company, speculated in land, and became one of the state's most renowned Hereford cattle breeders. He was again elected county clerk and served 1899 to 1903.
Pierce won a seat in the Oregon State Senate in 1902. In his first term, he unsuccessfully attempted to win passage of prohibition legislation, while successfully winning passage of a state subsidy of $6 per child for education. He was defeated at the polls for reelection, and retired from politics for a decade beginning in 1906.
While out of politics, Pierce continued local and statewide activities. He was a founder of the Oregon Farmer's Union and the Public Power League, headed the State Taxpayers League, and took a seat on the board of Regents of Oregon Agricultural College from 1905 to 1927. He began advocating for using the Columbia River for hydroelectric power during this time. Pierce was also the promoter of the Hot Lake Sanatorium Company in Union County. He and fellow owner Parish L. Willis were accused of fraud by another investor, but cleared by the courts of any wrongdoing in 1918. The former sanatorium is now the Hot Lake Hotel and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pierce won the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 1912, but lost to Harry Lane in the general election. In 1916, he was reelected to the state senate. In 1918, Pierce ran, unsuccessfully, as a progressive Democrat against incumbent Governor James Withycombe. In the next election, in 1920, he lost his senate seat by only twenty-seven votes.
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