Samaria, Idaho: One Man, Two Headstones
When farmer Ben Waldron's leg was mangled by a thresher, it was interred under its own tombstone in the town cemetery. Ben followed many years later, under a separate stone in another plot.
Samaria Cemetery
- Address:
- 5140 W. 5000 S., Samaria, ID
- Directions:
- I-15 exit 13. Drive west on Hwy 38, through Malad, for five miles. Turn left (south) onto S 4100 W and stay on S 4100 W for three miles into Samaria. Turn right onto W 5000 S and drive a mile to Samaria Cemetery, which will be on the left. The foot grave is on the left side of the cemetery; the other grave is on the right side.
- Admission:
- Free.
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Substitute East for left and West for right in the current directions. The way the cemetery is situated it is difficult to follow.
[Ron, 11/17/2018]
Hard to find. One is at the back center and the other at the front center. Gravestone says B.W. And the picture of a leg. The other says Ben Waldron and is at the back of the cemetery.
[Daniel Withers, 05/29/2016]In 1878, Ben Waldron, a farmer in Samaria, Idaho, mangled his leg while working with a horse-powered thresher. Waldron lost a lot of blood by the time he was hauled to doctors in Logan, who amputated his leg. After the operation, Ben asked that the leg be buried in Samaria Cemetery.
The burial plot for the leg was marked with its own tombstone on the east side of the Samaria Cemetery -- it bears the engraving of a leg with the inscription "B.W. October 30, 1878." When Waldron died in 1914, he was buried on the the other side of the cemetery.
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There's strange story/legend about the leg: After it was in the ground, the convalescing Waldron griped about continuing pain, and insisted his leg had been buried in a twisted position. He must have howled enough about it that the leg was finally exhumed. Sure enough, it was in a funny position, so it was adjusted and reburied. Waldron led a successful, mostly pain-free life for another 36 years.