Memorial to the Start Westward

The sculpture is a part of the monument which also includes 4 obelisks and a landing on the Muskingum River. It consists of three standing men atop a rock, with a rowboat, 2 men and a woman behind them. They represent the first landing of the pioneers and the beginnings of westward expansion beyond Allegheny. The grouping depicts several figures in eighteenth-century dress. Two figures look toward the new lands of the west while the other looks toward the land left behind. The middle figure's head was broken in 1961 and subsequently replaced. Made from sandstone, the work has seen deterioration due to the elements over its lifetime. It has undergone a number of restoration efforts, and as of 2020 is housed under a temporary shelter to protect it from further damage.

It was dedicated on July 8, 1938 by Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the 150th anniversary of the Ordinance of 1787 and the opening of the Northwest Territory by the Federal Commission established to organize the celebration. Erected on the site where Arthur St. Claire was inaugurated as the first governor of the Northwest Territory.

The artist, Gutzon Borglum, is best known for the monuments he created at Stone Mountain (Georgia) and Mount Rushmore (South Dakota).