Cassia County Historical Museum

Cassia County Historical Museum
Burley, Cassia County

Location: 1142 Hiland Ave., Burley, ID 83318

The Cassia County Museum grounds include a collection of historic buildings and antiquities. One of those historic buildings is a log cabin built by Bill Rice in 1872 on a ranch in the Conner Creek area of Cassia County. Bill and his wife Del were the second family to settle in the Elba area. The original site of the cabin was the location of a stagecoach station along the Kelton route from Kelton, Utah to Boise. At different times, the cabin served as a schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop and a bunkhouse for the freight drivers that traveled on the stage route. In 1950 the cabin was relocated by Ed Kelsey to use on his ranch. In 1972 it was relocated again to the Museum.

Another treasure of the museum is the Wm B Mershon Passenger Train Car, which was built in the late 1890s by the Barney & Smith Company for ten wealthy hunters from Saginaw, Michigan, and named after lumberman William B. Mershon. The car was used for hunting and fishing excursions across the Midwest and Canada. Its simple, functional interior reflected its practical purpose rather than the luxury of other private rail cars of the time. In 1909, the car was renovated to maintain its functionality and meet evolving railway technology. In 1923, the car was purchased by John C. Greenway, General Manager of the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company, who used it for both business and leisure.

After Greenway’s death in 1926, the car took on new significance when it was bought by carnival showman William B. Evans, “The Carnival King of the Southwest”. In 1927, Evans included the car in his traveling exhibitions, displaying curiosities such as a mummy claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. By 1928, Evans had relocated to Declo, Idaho, where the car became part of his short-lived amusement park. Its arrival in Idaho marked an intersection between early 20th-century traveling shows and the legacy of the American railroad.

Evans stayed in Declo for about two years before leaving with Booth’s body and abandoning the car, which was later used as a home apartment, barber shop, and an unceremonious stint as a pig pen for sows. The car was then given to the museum in October of 1973, by Ray Anderson of Declo. Since the car was stripped for scrap during WWII, all real identifying marks are gone, making it difficult to discern the original make and model, especially when considering how it was richly furnished with red velvet drapes, oak furniture, and a plush carpet at a later date.

Today, the car represents the evolving identity of the American West, symbolizing industrialization, upper-class leisure pursuits, and the shifting transportation modes that defined the era. Its ties to Mershon and Greenway connect it to the broader history of the lumber and mining industries that shaped the West’s economy. Meanwhile, its association with Evans and carnival culture adds a unique cultural dimension. Though no longer operational, the car remains a symbol of the American West, contributing to the understanding of Cassia County’s heritage. Its preservation, as well as the ongoing process of discovery of its various iterations, continues to be a priority for those dedicated to safeguarding Idaho’s history