(LAMAR, Colo.) — The Madonna of the Trail, a 10-foot-tall shrine stands watch over the Santa Fe Trail in Lamar and honors the women who once walked it many years ago.

The statue depicts a woman with a sunbonnet on her head, holding a baby in one arm and a rifle in the other, while her other child clings to her skirt. She gazes over the trail that led pioneers to the West, her face exuding strength, beauty, and gentleness, as she carries the hopes and dreams of the pioneer women into the harsh and unknown land.

The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned twelve of these memorials to be placed at important points along the National Old Trails Road, from Maryland to California, and this is the only one in Colorado.

They chose Lamar because they thought it was the most significant spot in Colorado, because of the grove of Cottonwood trees that offered an important respite along the way.

This statue was dedicated on September 24, 1928, and honored Mary Sullivan Cain as the pioneer mother of the area. “Harry Truman helped choose each living honorary pioneer mother at each of the twelve sites of the Madonna of the Trails statues. Mary Cain homesteaded with her husband south of Lamar,” said Kathleen Scranton, Curator, of the Big Timber Museum.