The "Madonna of the Trail" statue was designed and sculpted by August Leimbach of St. Louis and was unveiled and dedicated on September 17, 1928 by the Missouri State Society Daughters of the American Revolution in memory of the brave pioneer women who helped settle the West. The keynote speaker was then Jackson County Judge and future U.S. President Harry Truman. The statue is one of 12 placed in every state crossed by the National Old Trails Road, the main cross route of early settlers from the East to California. The site is in the Highland Avenue Historic District next to the Old Trails Road scenic byway Route 224 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. On August 23, 2003, a ceremony celebrating the statue's 75th anniversary was held, with U.S. Congressman Ike Skelton as guest speaker. Lexington was settled in 1820 by Virginia and Kentucky pioneers, became an early terminus of river transportation, and served as a starting point on the western trail of the pack pony and ox cart. Among its citizens who gave valiant service to the winning of the West were John, James and Robert Aull, Russell, Majors and Waddell, and Doniphan.
