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All the United States Utah Cedar City Nellie Pucell Unthank Memorial

Nellie Pucell Unthank Memorial

A monument to a survivor of harsh pioneer life, frostbite, and primitive surgery.

Cedar City, Utah

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Hailey Shannon
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My family was cold. We didn’t stay long.   Travix / Atlas Obscura User
A photo of Nellie Unthank.   Courtesy of Paula Mitchell, SUU Special Collections Librarian
The Nellie Unthank memorial on Southern Utah University’s campus.   Courtesy of Paula Mitchell, SUU Special Collections Librarian
The Nellie Unthank memorial on Southern Utah University’s campus.   Courtesy of Paula Mitchell, SUU Special Collections Librarian
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About

This statue honors a Mormon pioneer, whose faith, courage, and physical indomitability made her a local hero.

She was born Ellen Purcell, but known to family and friends as Nellie, in England in 1846. When she was 9, she, her older sister Maggie, and their parents joined the Latter-Day Saints Church and travelled to the United States to settle in Salt Lake Valley. They traveled with the Edward Martin Company, one of the many parties of Mormon handcart pioneers to settle in Utah.

During the journey, an early snowstorm hit. First Nellie and Maggie's father died, and their mother followed five days later. As the two girls walked through the snow, Nellie's bare feet became frostbitten. They fell behind the company and would have died if not for a rescue party sent by Brigham Young himself from Salt Lake City. By the time she reached Utah, both of her legs were amputated below the knee with a butcher knife, a saw, and no anesthesia. Her stumps never fully healed.

When Nellie was 24, she moved to Cedar City and married William Unthank. The couple had six children. Mrs. Unthank would do chores and care for her family, not allowing her disability to slow her down. She covered her stumps with a leather apron and crawled about her house. She and her children even cleaned the entire Latter Day Saints meeting house once a year as thanks for their support.

In 1991, a statue of a youthful Nellie as a young, smiling girl with legs was dedicated at the site of her former family home on what is now the campus of Southern Utah University.

Related Tags

Statues Mormons Universities Memorials Amputation

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Added By

hcshannonart

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson, color flow, Travix

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • color flow
  • Travix

Published

January 27, 2017

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Sources
  • https://www.lds.org/liahona/1986/10/ellen-pucell-unthank?lang=eng
  • https://heritage.utah.gov/apps/history/markers/detailed_results.php?markerid=1072
  • http://www.healio.com/orthotics-prosthetics/prosthetics/news/print/o-and-p-news/%7B01533ea9-c0f8-4231-92ab-5a37a8395738%7D/mormon-pioneer-lost-her-legs-but-not-her-faith
  • https://www.suu.edu/general/ir/fact03/pdf/campmap.pdf
Nellie Pucell Unthank Memorial
429 Thunderbird Way
Cedar City, Utah
United States
37.674215, -113.06872
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Brian Head, Utah

miles away

Maurice Graham Monument

Springdale, Utah

miles away

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Parowan, Utah

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cedar City

Cedar City

Utah

Places 3

Nearby Places

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Brian Head, Utah

miles away

Maurice Graham Monument

Springdale, Utah

miles away

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Parowan, Utah

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cedar City

Cedar City

Utah

Places 3

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