Hannah Blakesley Finch Morley

Common Roles/Uncommon Lives »

Courageous pioneer woman who buried her first husband and four sons and who crossed the plains to Utah in 1848. She was also one of the few pioneer women to keep a journal. Morley eventually settled with the first group of pioneers in Manti, Utah. There, along with her second husband, Isaac Morley, she battled rattlesnakes, severe weather, and the Sanpitch Indians. Her last son, Simeon, was taken hostage as a baby by Ute Chief Walker in exchange for promised goods and supplies from Salt Lake City. The statue pictured in the Utah Women’s Walk represents the reunion of Hannah with her son.