Caribou Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

  in Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.
The mountains are in the Caribou National Forest in Bonneville

Bonneville County, Idaho

Bonneville County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the county had a population of 104,234. Its county seat and largest city is Idaho Falls...

 and Caribou

Caribou County, Idaho

Caribou County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 Census the county had a population of 6,963. The county seat and largest city is Soda Springs, followed by Grace and Bancroft.- History :...

 counties, near the Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 border.

Named for Cariboo Fairchild, a prospector who had taken part in the gold rush in the Cariboo region of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 in 1860. Fairchild discovered gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

in this area of present-day eastern Idaho two years later.