Lincoln's own memories, and independent records, point to the family of
Thomas Lincoln entering Illinois in early March, 1830, crossing over the
Wabash River by primitive
flatboat or ferry from their former home in
Indiana. After unloading themselves from the boat, the Lincoln family would have hitched up their
oxen to the cart or wagon that carried their modest household goods, and begun to trudge northwest on the primitive trails that led to open, unclaimed farmland in central Illinois. Walker's sculptural installation depicts the scene, with the family, animals, and oxcart depicted in
bas-relief carved in
Bedford stone and a tall young man, representing the young Lincoln, cast in
bronze and given a prominent place on the pedestal in front of the relief. Following their entry into Illinois, the Lincoln family trekked to what is now known as the
Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial near
Decatur, Illinois, where young Abraham parted ways with his family. The Lincoln Trail State Memorial was installed in 1938 during the administration of Illinois Governor
Henry Horner, an admirer of the Lincoln legacy. A bridge had replaced the old flatboats and ferries that had previously crossed the Wabash River. Horner hoped that the Memorial would both pay tribute to the young Lincoln and also serve as a sort of roadside
welcome center to westward-bound drivers on U.S. Route 50, which was then a key east–west trunk route in the central U.S. states. Less than thirty years after the installation, however, the federal Interstate highway system bypassed Lawrence County and its Memorial. As of 2011, the Lincoln Trail State Memorial continues to mark a bridge entry-point into Illinois; the Memorial is an unstaffed site operated by the
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. ==References==