In 1928, the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned 12 identical statues, one for each state along the route of the National Old Trails Road. The monuments are intended to celebrate the spirit of pioneer women.
According to the Internet, “The statues feature a pioneer woman clasping a baby with her left arm while clutching a rifle with her right. Her young son clings to her skirts. The figure stands ten feet high and weighs five tons.” The sculptor said, “The idea I had, when I modeled the design was this: The pioneer mother with her children was waiting for the father at their blockhouse in the wild West, for the father did not come home as he had promised. She, believing him to be in danger, put her little child in a blanket, grasped the gun and with the boy ran out in the field to look for the father. The gun is sketched from the gun of Daniel Boone, with his carvings on the shaft. On the ground is prairie grass and cactus brushes, also arrowheads, and on one side in the shadows, there is visible in the original, a rattlesnake, partly covered by grass.”
This one, in Springfield, Ohio, was the first one erected — July 4, 1928.
