Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Leimbach, Auguste, 1882-1965, sculptor.

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

1927.; Dedicated Oct. 26, 1928.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: algonite; Base: algonite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 10 ft.; Base: approx. H. 8 ft. (Sculpture: 5 tons; Base: 12 tons).

(Base front:) MADONNA OF THE TRAIL/(DAR seal)/N.S.D.A.R. MEMORIAL/TO THE/PIONEER MOTHERS/OF THE/COVERED WAGON DAYS (Base proper left:) "THE CUMBERLAND ROAD/BUILT BY/THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT/WAS AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS/AND APPROVED BY/THOMAS JEFFERSON IN 1806/VANDALIA MARKS THE/WESTERN TERMINUS."

A depiction of a woman 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. She steps forward on her proper left leg. On her proper right is a small boy, walking while holding the fabric of 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.

History -- United States -- Westward Expansion

Figure group -- Family -- Mother & Child

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Allegory -- Life -- Womanhood

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Outdoor Sculpture -- Illinois -- Vandalia

Administered by Daughters of the American Revolution, Illinois State Organization - NSDAR, Illinois

Located 4th Street & Main Avenue, corner of Old State Capitol, Vandalia, Illinois 62471

See IAS files for Vandalia Chamber of Commerce brochure "Visit Historic Vandalia" and related DAR information sheets, which give details about the work's commissioning history and placement. The statue is one of 12 similar monuments erected in each of 12 states through which the National Old Trails Road or Cumberland Road, passes. The Cumberland Road was the first highway built by the Federal Government. It was begun in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, and completed to, the then capital of Illinois, Vandalia, in 1838. The statue was donated in 1928 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, The statue cost 1,000 dollars. Inscription on a nearby plaque reads: "MADONNA OF THE TRAIL"/a gift to the City of Vandalia, 1928/Mrs. William Sweeney, State Regent/Restored 1990/Mrs. Virgil V. Clary, State Regent/Illinois State Organization NSDAR.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Illinois survey, 1992.

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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