"A quarter of a century or more ago there were two famous eating houses on the stage road between Walla Walla and Lewiston, houses which were the occasion of many heated arguments between those who had been over the road as to which was the better, houses at either of which the traveler, tired and sore from the lurching of the stage, was sure of a substantial meal, the memory of which, as it flitted through the brain, lingered and made the mouth water. These were the houses which the familiar, all-pervading, time-serving drummer contracted into 'Pum's' and 'Freeman's.' The former was located near what is now the center of the thriving City of Pomeroy; the latter was on the Alpowa, about half-way between 'Pum's' and Lewiston. Coming passengers dined at Pomeroy's; going took breakfast at Freeman's. Possibly stage passengers have eaten better cooked meals and sat down to more attractive tables than those found at Freeman's and Pomeroy's, but they never said so while at either place, or elsewhere. Delicious bread, fresh from the oven, that which was properly seasoned by age, sweet butter, thick cream in genuine coffee, meats done to a turn, chicken fried or stewed, vegetables in their season, fruits, pastry, each and all 'fit to set before a king,' were provided in profusion in both places. In winter huge fires in equally huge fireplaces thawed out the frozen traveler. In summer cold buttermilk cooled his heated blood and washed the alkali dust out of his throat."
As an interesting record of the early days, we find an account in the Columbia Chronicle of Dayton of the first Fourth of July celebration in the present Garfield County held in 1878 at the edge of the Blue Mountains just beyond Pataha flat. The reporter for the Chronicle declares that the celebration was a great success; a near arbor for the speaker and musicians, plenty of seats, abundant eatables, and great enthusiasm in spite of the mountain chill prevailing.
THE NEW COUNTY OF GARFIELD
Being obliged to content ourselves with these hurried glimpses at the precounty history we turn to the important stage of the creation of the new county. As the reader will recall, the County of Columbia was set up in 1875. We discover from files of the Columbia Chronicle that agitation in favor of a new county began in 1880. By that year considerable settlement had been made in the Pataha, Deadman, Alpowa and Asotin regions and a common subject of discussion was the inconvenient distance from Dayton as the county seat.
The Chronicle of October 9, 1880, thus views the situation:
"A talk with many of the leading men from various parts of the county reveals the fact that the people are in no great hurry for a division. It is generally conceded that the county is too large when the immense canyons and peculiar lay of the country are taken into consideration, but it is also conceded that the eastern portion of the county is not at the present time prepared to support a county organization. All talk of a division is, therefore, at this time, premature. The people of the western portion of the county are in favor of forming a new county when the eastern portion demands it."
One of the features of the case was the number of possible county seats which began to sprout forth as candidates for the official crown. One was laid out on Snake River at the mouth of the Alpowa, and that would be a fine site for a city, too, now the location of several hundred acres of magnificent orchard. Another was Mentor, on the Pataha, six miles above Pomeroy. It was at the foot of the "grade" on the Rafferty place and was first named Belfast. The claims of Mentor, named from the home of the President whose name was to become that of the county, are set forth thus in some correspondence from that ambitious place for the Columbia Chronicle of December 17, 1881:
"The Town of Mentor desires to have a fair chance in the contest. We stand on our own merits. We have a good townsite on the Pataha Creek; good roads running to the place. The greatest wheat growing country in the territory tributary to it. The Pataha and Lewiston survey runs to this place; the road will, no doubt, be built in time to take away next year's crop. We are very sorry we did not ask for the capital of the territory instead of the county seat, but will try that next time. This place is well known, and is as near the center of the county as it is possible to locate a town. Lumber is being hauled for buildings, and the proprietor, Mr. Rafferty, is very liberal in his donations of land for county purposes. Mentor is the place for the people. You will hear this place called Dublin, Limerick, and Ireland."
Melancholy was the fate of Mentor. A sarcastic correspondent in the Chronicle writes, under date of February 11, 1882:
"The lumber pile, which constituted the Town of Mentor, has been purchased by Mr. Scott and will be brought to Pomeroy. Like Mahomet and the mountain: If the county seat would not go to Mentor, Mentor will go to the county seat."