This Cedar City Pioneer Woman Was Tougher Than All Of Us

When I was a student at Southern Utah University, I would walk by this statue almost every day.

Jacobbarlow.com

I am embarrassed to say I never stopped to read it. I just assumed it was some pioneer girl or a monument to who-knows what.

Turns out, this statue commemorates an incredible person who endured far more than many of us could even imagine.

Ellen (Nellie) Purcell Unthank was born in England, and from that day forward she endured a series of hardships that make all of my problems look like nothing. Here are the highlights.

Southern Utah University

At age 9, she watched her father freeze to death on the trek from Iowa to Utah.

Just 5 days later, she watched her mother die the same way.

At Age 9, Nellie watched her parents freeze to death on the trek to Utah from Iowa. (canva)

In the snow with NO SHOES, her feet were maimed with frostbite.

She was rescued and brought to Salt Lake City

She continued in the snow, where her feet were maimed with frostbite. (canva)

She was strapped to a board and had her legs AMPUTATED with a butcher knife & carpenter’s saw with NO ANESTESIA. Again, she was only 9 years old.

Nellie had her legs amputated with a SAW and a BUTCHER KNIFE.

Her stumps never fully healed

She was in pain her whole life

Her wounds didn't heal properly, and she was in terrible pain all her days. (canva)

She lived in a one-room cabin with a dirt floor.
She scraped herself across the ground to get around

No wheelchair, no crutches. Nellie pulled herself across the floor with her arms all her life. (canva)

A Polygamist wife, she shared her husband with 2 other women

Nellie was married to a man with 2 other wives. That's not easy. (canva)

She birthed 6 children(also without anesthesia mind you)

She was a mother of 6, and lived in poverty. (Canva)

She made a meager existence by knitting socks and cleaning homes.

She made socks for neighbors and cleaned homes for money. (canva)

She died at the young age of 69.

Ellen Purcell Unthank was a certified BAD*SS who deserves every ounce of tribute she gets. (SUU Special Collections)

Nellie was respected and stood taller than many of her contemporaries who still had all their limbs. She's an example of grit and determination that persists to this day.

So The next time your car won’t start, or you get passed up for that promotion at work, just think to yourself...

“Did I watch my parents freeze to death, get my legs sawed off with a knife, become a polygamist wife and scrape myself across the dirt floor all day to care for my 6 kids all without an income and dealing with the PTSD of watching my parents freeze to death at the age of 9?”

If the answer is “no”, then you have it a lot better than Ellen (Nellie) Purcell Unthank had it.

A statue of Nellie stands at SUU. (jacobbarlow.com)

Today a monument in her honor is placed on the campus of Southern Utah University as a symbol of strength and perseverance in face of adversity. The statue shows Nellie as a young girl, now with her legs restored and basking in the sun.

Up-Close Detail of Monument Plaque (jacobbarlow.com)