Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Leimbach, Auguste, 1882-1965, sculptor.

Madonna of the Trail, (sculpture).

Copyrighted 1928. Dedicated Feb. 1, 1929. Rededicated Sept. 1992.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: algonite; Base: algonite.

Sculpture: approx. 9 ft. x 50 in. x 50 in.; Base: approx. 93 x 84 x 84 in.

(On proper left side:) A. Leimbach (On front of base:) MADONNA OF THE TRAIL/N.S.D.A.R. MEMORIAL/TO THE/PIONEER MOTHERS/OF THE COVERED WAGON DAYS(Base, front side:) DEDICATED/FEB. 1, 1929/REDEDICATED/FEB. 1, 1979/OPEN/FEB. 1, 2029 (Base, east side:) THIS TRAIL,/TROD BY THE PADRES/IN SPANISH DAYS,/BECAME UNDER MEXICAN RULE,/THE ROAD CONNECTING/SAN BERNARDINO/AND LOS ANGELES,/LATER THE AMERICAN POST ROAD. (Base, west side:) OVER THIS TRAIL,/NOVEMBER, 1826, JEDEDIAH SMITH, SEEKING/A RIVER FLOWING WESTWARD,/LED A BAND OF SIXTEEN TRAPPERS,/THE FIRST AMERICANS/TO ENTER CALIFORNIA OVER LAND. (Base, north or rear side:) THE NATIONAL/OLD TRAILS ROAD (Bronze plaque on rear:) Dedicated to the Bicentennial of the Constitution/of the United States/of America/California State Society, NSDAR/November 6, 1987

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.

History -- United States -- Westward Expansion

Figure group -- Family -- Mother & Child

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Allegory -- Life -- Womanhood

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Upland

Administered by Daughters of the American Revolution, California State Chapter, 210 West Bennett Avenue, Glendora, California 91741

Located Euclid Avenue median at Foothill Boulevard, Upland, California

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. Base contains a time capsule. SOS! report lists additional bibliographic citations, including Los Angeles Times (Jan. 6, 1929), pt. IV, pg. 8 and Upland News, Feb. 1, 1929, pg. 1.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California survey, 1995.

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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