Madonna of the Trail
Madonna of the Trail is a series of 12 identical monuments dedicated to the spirit of pioneer women in the United States. The monuments were commissioned by the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. They were installed in each of the 12 states along the National Old Trails Road, which extended from Cumberland, Maryland, to Upland, California.
Created by sculptor August Leimbach and funded by contributions, the Madonna of the Trail monuments were intended to provide a symbol of the courage and faith of the women whose strength and love aided so greatly in conquering the wilderness and establishing permanent homes. Dedicated in 1928 and 1929, the twelve statues became sources of local pride. Through the continuing efforts of local and national groups, all are currently in good condition and on display.
History
In 1911, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution established a national committee known as the National Old Trails Road Committee. It worked to establish the Old Trails Road as a great National Memorial Highway. In 1912 the National Old Trails Road Association was organized, and the roadway became known as the National Old Trails Road. The group wanted to recognize the contributions of women with a statue to be erected in each of the twelve states connected by the road. The committee chair, Judge Harry S. Truman, guaranteed the expense of the erection of the monuments. A design was completed in 1927.Truman, at that time the President of the National Old Trails Association, attended the dedication in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on September 27, 1928, of its statue. This monument was re-dedicated 44 years later on September 27, 1972.
Truman was scheduled to speak at the unveiling of the Madonna of the Trail statue in Upland, California, in 1929, but he did not attend.
Some Madonna of the Trail monuments have become community landmarks. On June 2nd, 2020, the Upland, California Madonna of the Trail monument was the site of a Black Lives Matter protest in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Design and specifications
, chairwoman of the DAR Committee, envisioned a statue similar to one she had seen in Portland, Oregon by the Denver sculptor Alice Cooper. Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste, located in Washington Park, features Sacagawea, the Shoshone Native American woman who helped guide Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. An acquaintance recommended the sculptor August Leimbach of St. Louis, Missouri. He created the design which was finally approved by Moss and cast the twelve monuments. As executed, the statue bears little to no resemblance to Cooper's Sacagawea.In the Summer 1928 issue of The Federal Illustrator Magazine, Leimbach described his work. "The monument, 'The Madonna of the Trail' was modeled for art-stone and done in a time less than a month, to be placed in 12 states, from Maryland to California as a trail marker on the old National Trails.
"The idea I had when I modeled the design was this: The pioneer mother with her children was waiting for the father at her blockhouse in the wild West, for the father did not come home as he had promised. She, believing him in danger, put her little child in a blanket, grasped the gun and with the boy ran out in the field to look for the father."
"The gun is sketched from the gun of Daniel Boone, with his carvings on the shaft". "On the ground is prairie grass and cactus brushes, also arrow heads, and on one side in the shadows is a rattlesnake partly covered by grass".
"The bust is of an uncle of mine whose grandfather came over to this country from Germany and landed at a spot in Ohio where there were 6 to 8 houses. This place today is called Cleveland".
"When a school boy in the old country, the American history of the pioneer days made an impression on me. I often thought of those who had left the old home and all that was dear to them and had come to this country to find a field for their ambition. When I came to America I often saw these pioneer types, strong and brave and always prepared to protect themselves against any danger. Asked to make a sketch model of a monument of a woman of pioneer days, I was inspired by my own impression of these people I had met, and the Madonna of the Trail is the result".
The statues feature a pioneer woman clasping a baby with her left arm while clutching a rifle with her right. Her young son clings to her skirts. The figure stands ten feet high and weighs five tons. The figure and the base are made of algonite stone of which Missouri granite is used as the main aggregate. The monument has a warm, pink shade. With the base, the monuments are about high. The inscriptions on the east and west sides of each base are the same, but the north and south sides of each monument usually include local information as well.
Locations
There is one monument in each of the 12 states along the National Old Trails Highway. The monuments in order of dedication are:| State | Image | Location | Dedicated | Notes |
| Ohio | Springfield | July 4, 1928 | ||
| West Virginia | Wheeling | July 7, 1928 | Contributing structure in the National Road Corridor Historic District | |
| Kansas | Council Grove | September 7, 1928 | ||
| Missouri | Lexington | September 17, 1928 | Contributing structure in the Highland Avenue Historic District | |
| Colorado | Lamar | September 24, 1928 | ||
| New Mexico | Albuquerque | September 27, 1928 | Listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally located in McClellan Park, but was removed in 1996 when the park was demolished to build the Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse. The monument was restored and moved to a new site at the northwest corner of the courthouse grounds, where it was rededicated on September 27, 1998. | |
| Arizona | Springerville | September 29, 1928 | ||
| Illinois | Vandalia | October 26, 1928 | Along the National Road on the grounds of the former capitol building of Illinois, the Vandalia State House Historic Site | |
| Indiana | Richmond | October 28, 1928 | ||
| Pennsylvania | Beallsville | December 8, 1928 | ||
| California | February 1, 1929 | Listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of Euclid Avenue. Archived by Public Art in Public Places. | ||
| Maryland | Bethesda | April 19, 1929 |
As of 2005, all 12 monuments are still available for public viewing, although several have been relocated short distances due to highway improvements, etc. Many have been refurbished and re-dedicated since the 1970s. Community groups in each state are watchful for the conditions and security of each Madonna monument.
Officials of Cumberland, Maryland, tried to have the Maryland Madonna of the Trail monument moved to their city, which is at the beginning of the National Road, but Bethesda declined the request.
Positioning
- Due to the positions on the sites, Maryland's Madonna on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda has long been the only one facing east. In December 2004, the statue had to be temporarily removed to repair a foundation problem. An alert reporter for the Washington Post noted that as it was placed on the flatbed truck, the Madonna faced west, believed to be the first time all 12 have done so. The reporter was mistaken, as at least two of the other Madonnas at the time faced in directions other than west.
- The Madonna monument in Upland, California, stands on historic Euclid Avenue and faces south. The Madonna in Springerville, Arizona, faces north.
- A longstanding joke about Maryland's Madonna was that she was placed facing east because no sensible American woman would think it a good idea to turn her back on Washington, D.C.
- Ohio's Madonna was relocated in 2011 to the new National Road Commons park located in downtown Springfield. The statue is positioned facing south for better visibility on Main Street.
Images
California Historical Marker
Marker in Upland reads:- Dedicated in 1929, the Madonna of the Trail is one of twelve identical statues placed in twelve states by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The statues, differentiated by the inscriptions on their bases, commemorate the westward move of American civilization on a series of trails, which eventually linked the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They especially pay tribute to the importance of a national highway and the role of pioneer women. The statue was designed by German-born architectural sculptor August Leimbach and inspired by a statue of Sacagawea in Portland, Oregon. The Upland monument is said to represent four historic trails: the Mojave Trail, the de Anza Trail, the Emigrant Trail, and the Canyon Road.