Mount McCaleb

The fight was at the Narrows, north of town, and the ground is under water now. On August 11, 1878, late in the Bannock War, Bannock warriors attacked a freight train hauling merchandise and Army-supplied arms to Shoup's store in Challis, and the seven men McCaleb had brought down from Challis as an escort forted up with the teamsters behind the wagons. One rifle shot killed him. He was buried near the site, in what became Battleground Cemetery, and moved to Salmon that December. Mackay Reservoir now covers the battleground.

What the plaque says

Mount McCaleb Mt. McCaleb, named for Civil War veteran and local merchant, Jesse McCaleb, is the prominent 11,682 ft. peak visible north of Mackay. In 1878, while helping to escort supply wagons and arms to Challis, McCaleb and 13 others were attacked by Indians near present-day Mackay. Creating a barricade of the wagons, the small group held off over 100 Indians in a two-day battle. In the end, Jesse McCaleb was the only casualty; the mountain bears his name in memorial. 508 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by the Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Borah Peak Earthquake Fault Scarp — 21 mi
  In 1983 the valley floor dropped seven feet in a second, and a truckload of hunters dropped with it.

More markers nearby

• Ghost Towns of Mackay, Idaho — steps away
• Goddin's River — 9.2 mi
• Earthquakes — 21 mi
• Mount Borah — 21 mi