Weld County, History of Colorado, BIOS: BLISS, Walter E. (published 1918)
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"History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. 
Clarke Publishing Co. (1918)  Vol. II

p. 207-208



WALTER E. BLISS.

	Walter E. Bliss was admitted to the Colorado bar in 1909 and has 
since engaged in law practice in Greeley, where he is accorded a 
liberal clientage. He was born in Union county, Iowa. December 9, 1881, 
his parents being Stephen P. and Jeanetta Hartman Bliss, who were 
natives of Vermont and Pennsylvania respectively. The father was a 
farmer and stockman and in an early day went to Iowa, locating there 
when Indians were still numerous in the state. He accompanied his 
parents to Iowa, the family home being established in Union county, and 
there Stephen P. Bliss as the years passed became a farmer, operating a 
tract of land successfully until 1883. He then left the Hawkeye state 
in order to become a resident of Colorado and took up his abode at 
Colorado Springs, where he lived until .1885. In that year he arrived 
in Weld county, where he purchased land, which he continued to further 
cultivate and improve to the time of his death. He was the first man to 
break up an alfalfa field in order to raise potatoes thereon and he 
produced the largest crop of potatoes ever raised in Weld county to 
that time, averaging four hundred bushels to the acre. He died August 
27, 1887, and is survived by his widow, who yet remains upon the old 
homestead farm which he developed and improved.

	Walter E. Bliss was reared and educated in Colorado, being only 
four years of age when his parents removed to this state. He mastered 
the branches of learning taught in the public schools of Greeley and 
afterward took up the occupation of farming, which he followed for five 
years. He was ambitious, however, to enter upon a professional career 
and determined upon the practice of law as a life work. He began 
reading in the office and under the direction of Charles F. Tew, with 
whom he continued for a year and a halt and then entered Michigan State 
University at Ann Arbor, where he pursued a two years' law course and 
was admitted to practice at the Colorado bar in 1909. In due course he 
opened an office in Greeley, having well appointed rooms In the Opera 
House building, and as the years have gone by he has won a very large 
clientage. His practice is not only extensive but of an important 
character and has connected him with much of the notable litigation 
heard in the courts of the district. He is devoted to the interests of 
his clients, yet he never forgets that he owes a still higher 
allegiance to the majesty of the law, and he bases his success upon 
thorough preparation of cases and correct application of legal 
principles to the points at issue. He is the present county attorney of 
Weld county, to which position he was appointed in January, 1913, and 
some of the most important cases that have been heard in Weld county 
have been tried since he was called to this office, including the 
famous Union Pacific tax case. Mr. Bliss is also a stockholder of and 
attorney for the Weld County Savings Bank and is a stockholder in and 
attorney for the Home Gas & Electric Company.

	On the 5th of December, 1910, Mr. Bliss was united in marriage to 
Miss Artie M. Sterling, a daughter of Charles C. Sterling, of Toledo, 
Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss have become parents of three children: Valla 
H., who was born April 11, 1912; Charlotte B., born February 13, 1916; 
and Walter Sterling, born May 3, 1918. Mrs. Bliss is a member of the 
United Presbyterian church.

	Mr. Bliss gives his political endorsement to the democratic party 
but has never desired or sought office outside the strict path of his 
profession. He belongs to the Weld County Bar Association and that he 
enjoys the goodwill and confidence of his professional colleagues and 
contemporaries is indicated in the fact that he has been honored with 
the office of president of the bar association, in which capacity he is 
now serving. He has never regretted leaving the farm, for he has found 
his professional interests entirely congenial and his efforts in this 
field have brought him considerable prominence and well deserved 
success.