Edwin Pettit's Escape to Zion — Hidden Alone on the Prairie, Then Delivered Across the River Disguised as "Mary Ann" (1846)
Published October 5, 2026 at 12:07 AM
Contributed by
Todd Morgan
Beaumont, CA, 92223
Edwin Alfred Pettit was twelve years old when his parents died within two weeks of each other in Nauvoo in 1842, leaving him to a court-appointed guardian. When the Saints began leaving Nauvoo for the West in February 1846, his sister and her husband joined them, and Edwin was given to understand that if he wished to go West, there would be a way provided for him — though his siblings and his guardian firmly opposed his going. His first attempt failed when a man sent from the Mormon camp to pilot him to his sister's company on horseback was overtaken by his pursuers. On his second attempt, Edwin slipped out at dawn with his shoes in his hands while his guardian dozed, met a friend by appointment, and tramped all day without anything to eat. Rather than enter camp, he lay out on the prairie all night alone — and when the parties came hunting for the boy, the company's captain had told the people to say there was no such boy in camp, and they failed to find him. Then, disguised as a girl with side combs, false curls, and a sunbonnet, Edwin crossed the Des Moines River on a flat boat among four or five girls, the boatman none the wiser, rode on horseback behind an old friend sitting sidewise like a proper young lady, and at last reached his sister's camp near Indian Creek. He crossed the plains with the Edward Hunter Company in 1847 and arrived in Salt Lake on September 29, 1847, three days before his thirteenth birthday.
In Their Own Words
“I was given to understand that if I wished to go West, there would be a way provided for me. I wanted to go with my sister, but the rest of the children opposed my going, as did also my guardian.”
“...I got up very early in the morning and went downstairs with my shoes in my hands. My guardian was dozing in his chair as I slipped out unknown to him, and put my shoes on outside. I soon fell in with my friend, and we tramped all day without anything to eat to reach the spot where I was to join my sister. Instead of going into camp, I lay out in the prairie all night alone. The captain of this company called the people together and told them if there was any body inquiring for a boy to tell them there was no such boy in camp—I was not in the camp at this time; I was staying out in the prairie. The parties came hunting for me again but failed to find me.”
“Disguised as a girl, and in company with four or five girls, I crossed the Des Moines River on a flat boat, the boatman being none the wiser, supposing I was a girl with the rest. I was wearing side combs in my hair, and false curls covered my head. I was also wearing a sunbonnet in order to make my disguise more complete.”
“...the people would sometimes holler out, "Old man, that girl will fall—she's asleep," because I was trying to hide my face. He turned around and said, "Mary Ann, wake up. You'll fall off and break your neck." I at last reached my sister's camp, near a place called Indian Creek.”
— Edwin Alfred Pettit, Biography of Edwin Pettit 1834-1912 (The Arrow Press, 1912), in I Walked to Zion, pp. 71-73
Sources & References
Edwin Pettit, Biography of Edwin Pettit 1834-1912, pp. 6-10 (Salt Lake City: The Arrow Press, 1912); as excerpted in Susan Arrington Madsen, I Walked to Zion: True Stories of Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail (Deseret Book, 1994), pp. 71-73. (research confidence: high — verbatim from photographed book pages)
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