LocationWest of Memorial Drive |
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Artist/Designer: A. (Alexander) Phimister Proctor
Dates: Dedicated November 1927
Description:
This memorial to Pioneer mothers stands within a few hundred feet of a branch of the Santa Fe Trail and depicts pioneers traveling westward over the vast expanse of plains under burning sun, rain, and storm: braving hunger and thirst, beset by many dangers on the way–Indians, prairie fires, and stampeding buffalo. These Pioneers are looking for water and a place to camp. This huge monument weighs over 16,000 lbs. and stands on a pedestal of Minnesota pearl pink granite with a concrete base.
Inscription:
Whither thou goest I will go
Where Thou lodgest I will Lodge
Thy people shall be my people
And thy God my God
Presented to the people of Kansas City by Howard Vanderslice, the inscription reads: “To commemoratethe Pioneer Mother who with unfaltering trust in God suffered the hardship of the unknown west to prepare for us a homeland of peace and plenty”. Vanderslice’s own mother had traveled across the plains in search of a better life.Proctor created the piece in California, had it cast in Italy and the molds and casts were destroyed after completion. The sculpture is located in Penn Valley Park near the Santa Fe Trail.
Nearly 200 hundred years after the area’s first fur trading post was settled on the bluffs of the Missouri River, Kansas City is preparing to honor the French pioneer Francois Chouteau who established it, and the Native Americans with whom he traded. Francois Chouteau...
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