What was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime and a memorable honeymoon celebration resulted in mystery as a brazen young couple disappeared, never to be seen again. Facing one of the United States’ most treacherous landforms, the pair was ready for an exciting trip but instead left the world wondering what had become of them. Theories abound, but what is the truth? Newlyweds Glen and Bessie Hyde wanted to make history, and they did—just not in the way they had hoped.
The Happy Couple
Born on December 9, 1898, Glen Hyde always loved adventure. His family frequently took canoe trips in Canada and the Northwestern United States. He even made a boat and piloted it down the Salmon River to the Pacific Ocean with his sister, Jeanne, in 1926.
He met Bessie Haley, who was seven years his junior, the following year on a boat trip to Los Angeles. An amateur poet and actress, Bessie was instantly smitten with Glen, and the pair were married on April 12, 1928, in Idaho. They became intrigued with a series of expeditions that had taken place the year before they were married. Film crews had attempted to boat down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. These expeditions gathered attention from the national media, especially when one resulted in the need for a search and rescue mission.
Planning the Trip of a Lifetime
With the film crew’s trips in mind, Glen and Bessie came up with a plan. They both craved adventure, and Bessie, a child of the stage, fame. A woman had not yet been down the Colorado River, and Bessie planned to be the first. If the couple made the trip successfully, it could mean media attention, book deals, and maybe even a screenplay of their own.
They began organizing an adventure that would double as their honeymoon. Using fifty dollars and taking only two days, Glen made a wooden scow that would serve as their travel vessel. The boat was named Rain-in-the-Face, and the newlyweds packed it full of supplies they might need for their journey. They included journals, a camera, and even a mattress. However, one item seemed to be missing: life jackets. It is unknown why the pair neglected to include this safety item and even refused to add them later in the trip when a local guide offered them.
The Journey Begins
On October 20, 1928, the trip commenced. Well provisioned, the Hydes left from Greenriver, Utah. Bessie made daily journal entries documenting the journey. She fell out of the boat on October 27 but was unhurt and the next part of the trip was uneventful. On November 5, Glen and Bessie arrived at Lee’s Ferry.
Founded in the 1870s by a prominent member of the LDS Church, the Ferry was closed but still inhabited at the time. Owen Clark, the government agent for the area, tried to convince the couple to stop their trip. Several accidents had already occurred on the river ahead that year, including three fatalities. Clark had concerns that their wooden scow would not be suitable for the rapids that lay ahead. The Hydes dismissed Clark’s worries, confident that they had already passed through the worst parts of the river.
After exploring the Lee’s Ferry area for three days, the Hydes were ready to continue their trek. The next leg of their journey was to take them to Grand Canyon Village, an outpost located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, 5,000 feet above the river. As the couple bid goodbye to Clark and the others at Lee’s, the last glimpse the onlookers saw was Glen almost falling out of the scow, as if the universe was giving him one last warning to heed Clark’s advice. They traveled on for the next week, the rapids getting the better of them at certain points. Glen fell overboard at one point and had gotten the boat stuck several times. It was hard going, but they limped into Grand Canyon Village on November 15.
While in the Village, Glen and Bessie were eager to make the acquaintance of Emery Kolb. A Colorado River veteran who had traveled the water dozens of times, Kolb was also a photographer who had built a studio with his brother, an author. Kolb cordially welcomed them, giving them a tour of the village and his iconic studio. He took several photos of the newlyweds. Later, Kolb remarked that Bessie seemed less-than-enthusiastic, “ready to quit [the trip] right then and there.” The Hydes also spoke to a Denver Post reporter while in town. They assured her they were only weeks from completing their history-making journey. They departed from Grand Canyon Village on November 17. Just after leaving, they encountered Adolph Sutro, a wealthy tourist from California. He asked to join them as far as the upcoming Hermit Camp. The Hydes welcomed Sutro aboard.
Last Known Sighting
Unfortunately, Sutro had joined the Hydes as they encountered some of the toughest rapids on the Colorado River. Though he was with them for only a day, and safely left their company at Hermit Camp on November 18, it was a harrowing experience. Sutro later commented that he did not feel confident in Glen’s ability to handle the boat and was surprised that the Hydes had made it as far as they had. He also remarked that Bessie seemed nervous. Sutro left the Hydes’ craft at Hermit Camp and at that moment, became the last known person who ever saw Glen and Bessie Hyde. There wasn’t a major concern for the couple until December 9, when their planned arrival date in Needles, California, came and went.
Multiple search parties began trying to locate the couple. Glen’s father orchestrated many of the efforts, even convincing Secretary of War Dwight Davis to authorize an aerial search of the river. Searching from the air was fruitful when, on December 19, a scow was spotted snagged in the middle of the river.
Glen’s father, Rollin, was determined to visit the craft and see if he could find his son and daughter-in-law. The Kolb brothers offered to hike to the boat’s location and determine the status of the situation. Though the boat was disabled, its contents were in place. Books, food, Bessie’s journals, the camera, and the couple’s clothing were all there—but Glen and Bessie were nowhere to be seen. It was as if the newlyweds had simply vanished, taking nothing with them. The next year, additional searching was undertaken, but no sign of the couple or what might have happened to them has ever been located.
Conspiracies & Confusion
As is often the case with unexplained endings, the disappearance of the Hydes spawned numerous conspiracy theories and proposed outcomes in the century since their loss. A common theory is that Bessie Hyde murdered her husband, who some argue was abusive, then disappeared, starting a new life. In fact, multiple people claimed to be Bessie in the decades following the vanishing. In 1971, an elderly woman claimed to be Mrs. Hyde on a commercial boat trip, stating that she had stabbed Glen, hiked out of the canyon, and started a new life back East. She later reneged on her claim.
In 1992, a veteran river runner named Georgie Clark died, and rumors began circulating that she was actually Bessie when friends uncovered items relating to the Hydes in her home. This speculation remains unproven. Bones were found in Kolb’s boathouse in 1976, after his passing, including a skull with a bullet hole, but it was determined that it did not belong to Glen Hyde. The remains instead belonged to a man who committed suicide in 1933, but his true identity is lost to history. Others maintain that the couple simply drowned in the dangerous rapids.
What happened to the Hydes? While theories abound, the world may never know the truth about the couple’s fate. What was supposed to be a happy honeymoon resulting in fame and fortune turned into an enduring mystery. Their story is a not-so-gentle reminder of the wild nature of one of America’s favorite destinations.
