Walter Lafferty

A. W. Lafferty
A. W. Lafferty in 1913
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913
Preceded by	William R. Ellis
Succeeded by	Nicholas J. Sinnott
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915
Preceded by	new position
Succeeded by	Clifton N. McArthur
Personal details
Born	June 10, 1875 Farber, Missouri
Died	January 15, 1964(1964-01-15) (aged 88) Portland, Oregon
Political party	Republican
Occupation	attorney

Abraham Walter Lafferty (June 10, 1875 – January 15, 1964) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Oregon. Lafferty spent the majority of his career both as a legislator and as an attorney attempting to have millions of acres of land previously owned by the Oregon and California Railroad come under Oregon state control, rather than the control of the U.S. federal government.

Lafferty grew up in the U.S. state of Missouri. He was born near Farber to Abraham M. and Helen Kinney Lafferty. He attended public schools in Pike County and went on to study law at the University of Missouri, graduating in 1896. He was admitted to the bar that year and commenced practice in Montgomery City. He served as prosecuting attorney of Montgomery County from 1902 to 1904. He also served three years as a captain in the Missouri National Guard.

In 1905, he was appointed special agent for the United States Department of the Interior's General Land Office in Portland, Oregon. He served in that position for a year before resigning to open a law practice in Portland.

In 1907, Lafferty took a case that would define the rest of his career: representing 18 western Oregon counties against the Oregon and California Railroad to claim timber revenue from, and possession of, the O&C lands formerly granted to the railroad by the U.S. government. In 1870, the United States government had granted the railroad three million acres (12,000 km²) of land to build a line from Portland south to California. The railroad was to sell land to settlers at $2.50 an acre, but widespread abuse resulted in developers, aided by politicians, acquiring large parcels through fraudulent means in what became known as the Oregon land fraud scandal. Then in 1903, the Southern Pacific Railroad, which had acquired the O&C, had stopped selling the parcels altogether. Lafferty fought the case for years and in 1915, it ended when the U.S. government took back control of the land, paying the railroad $2.50 per acre for the land. Lafferty did not consider this a victory since the railroad was compensated and the state of Oregon did not get possession of the land.