The Madonna of the Trail honors the pioneer women who faced the uncertainties of the journey west. The Madonna memorials were a project of the Daughters of the American Revolution, created in cooperation with the National Old Trails Road Association, and were dedicated between 1926 and 1929. Conceived by Arlene B. Moss of St. Louis, Missouri, and sculpted by August Leimbach, the program first envisioned more than 3000 mile markers along the full length of U.S. 40, but by 1924 it had changed to one monument in each state through which the road passed. Twelve identical statues were placed along the route of the National Road, then a transcontinental highway also called the National Old Trails Road, which included the original federal highway section now identified as the Historic National Road and the later extensions now known as U.S. 40. This monument was dedicated on July 7th, 1926, three days after the first one in Ohio on July 4th. Harry S. Truman, president of the National Old Trails Road Association and later U.S. President, provided for the cost of erecting the monuments. The statues were cast in algonite, an amalgam of crushed granite, stone, cement, and lead ore, with pinkish Missouri granite as a primary ingredient. The figure is 10 feet tall on a 6 foot base with an additional 2 foot foundation, making the monument 18 feet tall and weighing more than 17 tons. The original National Road, often called the Cumberland Road, extended from Cumberland, MD, to Vandalia, IL, was built between 1811 and 1839 with work interrupted by the War of 1812, reached Wheeling in 1818, and in 2002, with added sections from Baltimore to Cumberland and from Vandalia to East St. Louis, was designated an All American Road.