Introduction
In the late 1920's, the National Society
of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR)
commissioned the design, casting and placement of twelve
memorials commemorating the spirit of the woman pioneer.
These memorials were placed along the route of the National
Old Trails highway and extended from Washington, D.C.
to Los Angeles, California.
The idea for the Madonna of the Trail
Monuments began in 1909 when some Missouri women wanted
to mark the Santa Fe Trail. Later, the National Society
of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR)
joined their effort. The groups began working side by
side with the National Old Trails Road Association which
was headed by then Judge Harry S Truman, of Independence,
Missouri. That highway closely approximated the paths
of Braddock's and Washington's Road, the National Road,
Boone's Lick Road, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Old Trail.
The road ran from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. When
a plan to place 3,095 mile markers failed, the group
elected to place monuments in each of the state through
which the highway ran.
The monument itself was conceived by
Arlene B. Nichols Moss, of St. Louis, Missouri. Moss
was inspired by a statue of Sacajawea that stood in
Portland, Oregon. On September 7, 1927, the group selected
a statue of a pioneer woman clutching two small children
and a rifle.
The statue was sculpted by August
Leimbach and cast in an amalgam of crushed granite,
stone, marble, cement and lead ore. The statue stands
ten foot tall and weighs over five tons.
The statue sits on pedestal that measures
five foot by five foot by six foot high and weighs twelve
tons. On the pedestal are inscriptions dedicated to
national and regional history. The front face of each
pedestal reads:
N.S.D.A.R. MEMORIAL
TO THE
PIONEER MOTHERS
OF THE
COVERED WAGON DAYS.
The back face of each pedestal reads:
THE NATIONAL
OLD TRAILS ROAD
The pedestal sits on a foundation that
sits three feet underground and two feet above.
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 For
additional information on these monuments, refer
to the following publiction:
The Historic Treasure Chest
of the Madonna of the Trail Monuments, by
Fern Ioula Bauer. Published by Process Printing,
527 North Yellow Springs Street, Springfield,
Ohio, 45504. 1984.
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Monuments - State by State:
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