McColloch's Leap Monument

Wheeling, West Virginia

Major Samuel McColloch was a "daring scout" and a "gallant soldier" according to the bronze plaque on his monument. In September 1777 he escaped an Indian war party by leaping (on his horse) over a precipice. Both man and horse miraculously survived uninjured, and McColloch's Leap eventually became a proud moment in Wheeling history.

McColloch did not have long to enjoy his fame; he was killed, scalped, and disemboweled less than five years later by another war party, who then ate his heart (out of respect).

In 1917 the bronze plaque, bolted to a granite monument, was dedicated at the leaping spot in a pull-off along the then-lightly-travelled National Road. Subsequent road-widenings made the monument dangerous to visit, so in 2023 the plaque was cleaned and attached to a new monument in a safe spot across the highway. It no longer stands at the precipice, but it does face a 1928 statue of a Mingo Indian, this one waving a friendly greeting.