MADONNA OF THE TRAIL GLEN MILLER PARK RICHMOND, INDIANA
The Madonna was dedicated and unveiled in Richmond, Indiana on October 28, 1928 in memory of the late Mrs. Frederick S. Bates, by her daughter Miss. Elizabeth Bates.
Mrs. Bates was the original chairman of the D.A.R. of Richmond and worked very hard to have a Madonna erected here.
Richmond’s Madonna is the ninth link in the Great National Shrine erected along the National Old Trails Road.
The dedication address spoke of it as, “A long trail awinding into the land of my dreams” to commemorate the memory of the Pioneer mothers of the covered wagon days. The speaker lauded the mothers who so bravely fought the hardships of covered wagon days to assist their men in blazing the trail that opened up the great Northwest to settlers.
The monument is inscribed as follows: Front Madonna of the Trail N S DA R Memorial to the Pioneer mothers of the covered wagon days Back The National Old Trails Road Left Side A nations highway! Once a wilderness trail over which hardy Pioneers made their perilous way seeking new homes in the dense forest of the great northwest. Right Side The first toll gate in Indiana stood near this site on the National Road.
The locations of the other monuments are listed below:
Bethesda, Maryland Washington, Pennsylvania Wheeling, West Virginia Springfield, Ohio Vandalia, Illinois Lexington, Missouri	Council Grove, Kansas Lamar, Colorado Albuquerque, New Mexico Springerville, Arizona Upland, California
--Fact Sheet distributed by:
The Old National Road State Welcome Center Richmond/Wayne County Convention and Tourism Bureau Inc. 5701 National Road East, Richmond, IN 47374 800-828-8414 765-935-8687 Fax 765-935-0440