It is likely that Maria arrived in Utah in 1851. Her name does not appear on the 1850 Utah census, and the first documentation to place her in Utah is her rebaptism in Salt Lake City on 10 August 1851. Further research is needed to confirm her identity, the year she arrived in Utah, and the name of the pioneer company she traveled to Utah with.
In 1851, she was living in the Salt Lake City 19th Ward. The Salt Lake Stake Record of Baptisms list her name as "Maria," but the 19th Ward records show her name as "Mariah."