In November 1928, a young couple set out to make history. Glen and Bessie Hyde planned to become the first to run the entire Colorado River through the Grand Canyon as a married pair, and the fastest to ever do it.
Their homemade wooden boat was found drifting near journey's end. Supplies intact. Camera still aboard. Diary pages filled with adventure.
But Glen and Bessie were gone.
The Empty Boat Discovery
THE SETUP
Glen Rollin Hyde, 29, was a farmer from Idaho with river running in his blood. He'd already conquered the Salmon and Snake Rivers. Bessie Louise Haley, 22, was an artist and free spirit from West Virginia. They met on a passenger ship in 1927 and married the following April, the day after Bessie's divorce from her first husband was finalized.
Glen had a plan: build a boat, run the canyon, set a speed record, and launch a lecture circuit career with his adventurous bride as the first woman to complete the journey.
On October 20, 1928, they pushed off from Green River, Utah, in a 20-foot wooden sweep scow Glen had built himself. He named it Rain in the Face.
By mid-November, they were ahead of schedule, having successfully navigated some of the canyon's most treacherous rapids. On November 16, they hiked up to the rim to resupply and met legendary Grand Canyon photographer Emery Kolb.
It would be one of their last documented encounters.
THE DISCOVERY
On December 19, 1928, a search plane spotted the Rain in the Face drifting in the river near mile 237, just forty miles from where the Hydes would have completed their historic journey.
A rescue party, including Emery Kolb and his brother Ellsworth, reached the boat on December 26. What they found was haunting in its ordinariness.
The scow sat upright and fully intact. Supplies were still strapped in place. Food, clothing, and books remained neatly arranged. Bessie's diary lay aboard, its final entry dated November 30 near Diamond Creek. Glen's camera held photographs, the last taken around November 27.
Everything suggested the couple had been there moments ago… except they hadn't been seen since November 18.
The evidence painted a grim picture. Glen's and Bessie's boots and oilskins were missing. They had refused life jackets throughout the journey, despite warnings. The boat showed no signs of damage that would explain a capsize.
Investigators focused on a stretch of river near mile 232, where historian Otis R. Marston later noted that submerged granite had "damaged, snared, or capsized more boats than any other location in the canyon."
The search expanded across the canyon. Trackers scoured the shores. Aircraft swept the river corridor. No bodies surfaced. No footprints led away from the water. No distress signals had been seen or heard.
Glen and Bessie Hyde had vanished as completely as if the canyon itself had swallowed them whole.
The Intact Boat
THE THEORIES
Without bodies, the investigation could only speculate. The official conclusion was accidental drowning, likely after the couple was swept from their boat in rapids.
The Most Accepted Theory:
Near mile 232, submerged rocks created deadly conditions. If the scow pitched unexpectedly, the Hydes, without life jackets, would have had little chance in the frigid, churning water.
The Kolb Observations:
Emery Kolb's testimony became central to alternative theories. He noted that during their November 16 meeting, Bessie seemed exhausted and anxious. She reportedly looked at his daughter's dress and murmured, "I wonder if I shall ever wear pretty shoes again." Kolb offered them shelter for the winter. Glen refused.
According to Kolb, Bessie confided she was sick of the trip and wanted to go home. Some theorized this tension led to darker outcomes.
Alternative Explanations:
Domestic Violence: Speculation arose that an argument turned fatal. However, those who knew Glen described him as devoted, not dangerous, and no physical evidence supported this theory.
Bessie Survived: In 1971, an elderly woman on a commercial rafting trip announced "I'm Bessie Hyde," claiming she killed Glen in self-defense and escaped. She later recanted, and investigators confirmed she was actually Elizabeth Cutler, a psychology professor known for psychological games.
The Georgie Clark Theory: When famed river guide Georgie White died in 1992, friends found Bessie's original marriage license in her home. Extensive investigation found no actual connection.
The canyon kept its secrets.
THE AFTERMATH
The Grand Canyon has witnessed countless tragedies, but few have captured imagination like the Hyde disappearance. The couple's youth, ambition, and romantic story, combined with the maddening proximity to success, turned their fate into enduring legend.
The mystery has inspired books, documentaries, and an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Brad Dimock's investigative work Sunk Without a Sound remains the definitive account. Lisa Michaels' novel Grand Ambition brought the story to new audiences.
A strange footnote emerged decades later. When Emery Kolb died in 1976, a skeleton was discovered in his boathouse. Initial speculation linked it to Glen Hyde, but forensic analysis in 2008 proved it belonged to a much younger man who died no earlier than 1972, likely a suicide victim Kolb had documented as county coroner.
Today, the Colorado River still runs through the canyon. Glen and Bessie Hyde never emerged from its depths.
Sleep well... and may your journey find safe harbor.
- The Editor (aka Liz)
Ps. Tell me what you think! Do you have any theories, or do you have a similar story you would like to read about? Reply to this email! I’ll be sure to answer you back, my friend.
TOMORROW’S TEASER
In the Texas desert, strange lights dance across the horizon...splitting, merging, vanishing at will. For over a century, no one has explained them.
Lights in the desert
SOURCES
Arizona State University - Glen and Bessie Hyde Collection, Cline Library Special Collections
Brad Dimock - Sunk Without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde
Grand Canyon National Park Archives - Search and Recovery Records, 1928-1929
Northern Arizona University - Emery Kolb Collection, Special Collections and Archives
Unsolved Mysteries - Season 2, Episode 5 (November 29, 1987)
Western History Association - Colorado River Expedition Documentation
Wikipedia - "Glen and Bessie Hyde" (for timeline verification and cross-referencing)
