This memorial honors the pioneer mothers of the covered wagon days and recalls the Cumberland Road, which was built by the federal government, authorized by Congress, and approved by Thomas Jefferson in 1806. Vandalia marks the western terminus of that road. At Vandalia, Abraham Lincoln, as a member of the Illinois Legislature, first formulated the principles of freedom and justice that gave the slaves a liberator and the Union a savior. The memorial was given to the City of Vandalia in 1928 and restored in 1990 by the Illinois State Organization NSDAR.