Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Leimbach, Auguste, 1882-1965, sculptor.

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Designed 1927. Copyrighted 1928. Dedicated July 7, 1928.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: algonite; Base: algonite.

Sculpture: approx. 10 ft. x 4 ft. 4 in. x 4 ft. 4 in.; Base: approx. 6 ft. x 6 ft. 4 in. x 6 ft. 4 in. (17 tons).

(South side of plinth: signed) (East side, lower right corner:) NSDAR COPYRIGHT 1928 (Base, west front:) MADONNA OF THE TRAIL (DAR symbol)/N.S.D.A.R. MEMORIAL/TO THE/PIONEER MOTHERS/OF THE COVERED WAGON DAYS (Base, south side:) TO THE PIONEER MOTHERS/OF OUR MOUNTAIN STATE/WHOSE COURAGE, OPTIMISM, LOVE/AND SACRIFICE MADE POSSIBLE/THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY/THAT UNITED THE EAST AND WEST (Base, east side:) THE NATIONAL/OLD TRAILS ROAD (Base, north side:) BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE/UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT/AND CHIEFLY THROUGH/THE STATESMANSHIP OF/HENRY CLAY/THIS ROAD WAS MADE POSSIBLE/IN 1806 signed

A full-length standing female figure, dressed in pioneer clothing, with long, shin-length dress, laced boots, a sunbonnet with flowers, and a scarf tied around her neck. In the crook of her proper left arm, she holds an infant wearing a short-sleeved shirt and lightly wrapped in a blanket. In her proper right hand is the top of the barrel of a rifle, the butt of which rests on the ground at her side. She appears to be using the rifle as a walking stick. On her proper right is a young boy, walking while holding on to his mother's dress. He wears a short-sleeved shirt, knee pants, suspenders, and calf-high boots. On the plinth at the figures' feet is a bed of prickly pear cactus and large leaves. The sculpture rests on a square base with inscriptions on four sides. The sculpture is sited within a semi-circular concrete stepped-terrace with a 3.6 foot tall back wall.

History -- United States -- Westward Expansion

Figure group -- Family -- Mother & Child

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Allegory -- Life -- Womanhood

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Outdoor Sculpture -- West Virginia -- Wheeling

Administered by City of Wheeling, Wheeling Parks Commission, Oglebay Park, Bethany Pike, Wheeling, West Virginia 26003

Located Wheeling Park, National Road, Wheeling, West Virginia 26003

This statue is one of twelve erected by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, to commemorate the first U.S. highway. A sealed lead box in the base is reported to include the address given by Mrs. John Trigg Moss, National chairman, NSDAR, who conceived the design of the statue. IAS files contain a related article from the West Virginia Hillbilly, April 27, 1974, pg. 7 and an unidentified excerpt from the NSDAR.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, West Virginia survey, 1992.

West Virginia Hillbilly, April 27, 1974, pg. 7.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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