Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Leimbach, Auguste, 1882-1965, sculptor.

Algonite Stone Company, contractor.

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Pioneer Mother, (sculpture).

Copyrighted 1928. Dedicated Sept. 17, 1928.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: algonite; Base: algonite.

Sculpture: approx. 10 x 4 x 4 ft.; Base: approx. 8 x 7 x 7 ft.

(Incised on front of base:) MADONNA OF THE TRAIL/NSDAR MEMORIAL/TO THE/PIONEER MOTHER/OF THE/COVERED WAGON DAYS (On back of base:) THE NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD (On south base:) LEXINGTON SETTLED 1820 BY VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY PIONEERS. EARLY TERMINUS OF RIVER TRANSPORTATION, STARTING POINT OF WESTERN TRAIL OF THE PACK PONY AND OXCART. (On north base:) JOHN, JAMES AND ROBERT AULL; RUSSELL, MAJOR AND WADDELL; DONIPHAN, PIONEERS, TRADERS, SOLDIERS, CITIZENS OF LEXINGTON WHO GAVE VALIANT SERVICE TO THE WINNING OF THE WEST unsigned

A figure of a pioneer mother with her baby in the crook of her proper left arm and her young son beside her. The woman wears a long skirt, blouse, sunbonnet, and boots. The boy clings to her skirt on her proper right side. She holds the top of a rifle in her proper right hand, using it as a walking stick. Cactus and other vegetation can be seen under their feet. The sculpture is mounted on a large square base.

History -- United States -- Westward Expansion

Figure group -- Family -- Mother & Child

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Allegory -- Life -- Womanhood

Outdoor Sculpture -- Missouri -- Lexington

Coadministered by Daughters of the American Revolution, Lexington Chapter Lexington, Missouri

Coadministered by City of Lexington, City Hall, Lexington, Missouri 64067

Located Northeast corner of Highland Avenue & Highway 13, Lexington, Missouri

The statue is one of twelve similar monuments erected and funded by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in each of twelve states through which the National Old Trails Road or Cumberland Road passes. Each sculpture cost $1,000. IAS files contain clipping from the Lexington News (Lexington, MO), March 16, 1994, pg. 7; and dedication program. For related reading see: "Lexington Missouri Official Commemorative Book," (Lexington, MO, 1972). The Lexington statue was cleaned in the early 1990s.

The idea for the statue originated in 1916; and in 1922 a committee was formed with Mrs. John Trigg Moss (St. Louis, Missouri chapter) as chair. She conceived the design, along with her son, inspired by the trek of the Indian guide Sacajawea and her baby.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri, Kansas City survey, 1994.

SOS Assessment Award, 1999.

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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