Madonna of the Trail - Wheeling, West Virgina
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 40° 03.346 W 080° 40.154
17T E 528211 N 4433999
One of twelve Madonna of the Trail sculptures placed mostly along the National Road, one in each state.
Waymark Code: WMKCH8
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 03/19/2014
Views: 3
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.
- Smithsonian Art Inventory
The base is inscribed:
West side
MADONNA OF THE TRAIL
(DAR symbol)
N.S.D.A.R. MEMORIAL
TO THE
PIONEER MOTHERS
OF THE COVERED WAGON DAYS
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
East side:
THE NATIONAL
OLD TRAILS ROAD
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