The Madonna of the Trail in Bethesda is one of twelve identical monuments from Maryland to California along a key route of Western migration in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1929, the eighteen-foot-tall granite statue of a stoic pioneer woman with her two children, holding a rifle, commemorates the strength and determination of pioneer women. The statue is currently located next to the former Bethesda Post Office on Wisconsin Avenue.

Historical Context.

In 1755, British Major General Edward Braddock led an army of English soldiers and American colonists through what would become Bethesda on his way to attack the French at Fort Duquesne—modern-day Pittsburgh. Braddock was accompanied by a young colonial officer named George Washington, whose earlier defeat at the hands of the French and their indigenous allies near Fort Duquesne began the French and Indian War.

The expedition was a disaster. The French and their allies ambushed Braddock’s forces. In the ensuing route, Braddock was killed, and two thirds of his men were killed or injured. The survivors retreated to Virginia under Washington’s command. Despite this inauspicious beginning, the British went on to win the war, driving the French from Canada and the Ohio Valley.

The road blazed by Braddock and Washington became America’s first National Road, an important route west for American settlers. The intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue was often the first resting place for European settlers heading west after leaving the port of Georgetown. An ‘old stone tavern’ provided rest and respite for travelling settlers. The Madonna of the Trail commemorates Bethesda as the first stop on the long journey west.

The Statue’s Creation

In 1911, the Daughters of the American Revolution established a committee known as the National Old Trails Road Committee whose goal was to establish the Old Trails Road as a National Memorial Highway and erect a monument to pioneer women in each state through which the road passes. The Madonna of the Trail design, accepted in 1924, was chosen over a proposal of small cast iron markers. The design was of a pioneer woman clasping her baby while her young son clings to her clothing. The mother holds a rifle, an allusion to the danger of the journey that is today a pointed (albeit unintentional) comment on the violence that accompanied the displacement of indigenous people.

The Madonna is heroically proportioned—ten feet tall and set on a six-foot base, with a combined weight of seventeen tons. The figure and base rest on a two-foot foundation, so the monument stands a total of eighteen feet above the ground. The figure and the base are made of algonite stone.  Missouri granite was used as the main aggregate, giving the monument a warm, pink shade.