The Puzzling Disappearance Of Glen And Bessie Hyde: A Couple Who Set Out To Make History In The Grand Canyon

In 1927, Glen and Bessie Hyde caught each other’s eyes while traveling on a boat to Los Angeles. Glen was originally from Idaho and had recently sailed from the Salmon River to the Pacific Ocean in a boat, known as a scow, that he built by hand.
Bessie, too, shared his adventurous spirit. She was a bohemian artist who enjoyed poetry and theatre.
And although Bessie was technically married upon meeting Glen, the pair felt undeniable chemistry. So, she filed for divorce, and just one day after the separation was finalized in 1928, Glen and Bessie tied the knot.
The pair opted to celebrate their nuptials by planning a romantic adventure through the Grand Canyon. At the age of 29, Glen was already an experienced river runner who had successfully navigated the Snake and Salmon Rivers. Bessie also shared his venturesome spirit, and at 22 years old, she was ready to tackle a novel challenge with her new husband.
At the time, traveling through the Grand Canyon together would have made Glen and Bessie history makers. Glen’s goal was to become the fastest person to traverse the Grand Canyon’s length by boat. And, joined by Bessie, his wife would become the first woman to ever complete that journey.
So, not only was this trip supposed to be an idyllic honeymoon, but the newlyweds also believed accomplishing such a journey would bring them overnight success and financial stability. More specifically, the Hydes were hopeful they would return home and find lecture invitations and book deals awaiting them.
With this in mind, the couple set out from Green River, Utah, in Glen’s handmade scow on October 20, 1928. They planned to travel southwest and reach Needles, California, in early December.
Glen and Bessie had packed enough supplies, and the couple’s river-riding skills held up as they navigated the Colorado River. So, the first leg of their travels actually went quite smoothly.
Along the way, the Hydes also got to meet a lot of new people. One of whom was Emery Kolb, a photography studio owner from the canyon’s southern rim.

Simon Dannhauer – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Emery was also an avid boat rider who knew about the river’s sometimes-turbulent nature first-hand. At one point, he reportedly noticed that the Hydes did not have lifejackets and pointed it out to Glen and Bessie.
Glen took Emery’s concern lightly, though, and just laughed the comment off. He also claimed that he and Bessie had made it halfway through their trip without a problem thus far.
Now, in later reports, Emery revealed that Bessie had been acting strange. Apparently, the newlywed had appeared hesitant to get back out on the water– either from exhaustion or anxiety about the rapids ahead.
Glen may have encouraged Bessie to keep forging along. After all, they had already traveled so far, and history would not be made if they finished their trip early.
So, Bessie ultimately agreed to keep going. But, she reportedly made an eerie comment to Emery before getting back on the scow.
“I wonder if I shall ever wear pretty shoes again,” Bessie said, referencing Emery’s daughter’s outfit.
One of Emery’s friends, Adolph G. Sutro, was also a photographer who opted to join Glen and Bessie for numerous miles. Then, Adolph and the newlyweds decided to split up at a turbulent locale known as Hermit Rapid. This was the last place both Glen and Bessie were ever seen alive.
The Disappearance Of Glen And Bessie Hyde
Glen and Bessie were last seen on November 18, 1928. Then, after no one heard from or saw the couple again, a two-week rescue effort ensued.
The search was fruitless for a while until a plane traveling over the Grand Canyon spotted a small boat floating down the Colorado River. The boat was about 140 miles from where the newlyweds were last spotted. And, flooded with hope, a rescue group on the ground traveled to check out the scene.
There, Glen and Bessie’s scow was discovered in perfect condition. It was still upright and loaded with supplies. Bizarrely, though, the newlyweds were nowhere to be found.
Among the traveling gear was Bessie’s diary, which contained entries dated up until November 30. This indicated that the Hydes had successfully spent an additional 12 days traveling.
Plus, according to the entries, the couple was actually ahead of their travel schedule. The couple reportedly made it to Diamond Creek, which is 12 miles away from where the abandoned scow was eventually discovered. Moreover, no entries in the diary indicated that Glen or Bessie had any intentions of cutting the trip short.
Once the scow was found, a widespread search of the area was launched. But, this effort ultimately turned up no answers, and the disappearance of Glen and Bessie remained cold for decades.
However, by 1971, a woman named Elizabeth Cutler brought the cold case into the limelight again. That year, Elizabeth went on a river tour of the Grand Canyon with a tour group. And while sitting at a campfire one evening, she claimed to have been Bessie Hyde. Moreover, Elizabeth alleged that she stabbed and killed her husband during an argument and claimed to have been living in hiding since then.
Some people did not believe Elizabeth and instead thought that she was trying to pull a prank or gain some attention. Then, after the woman was eventually tracked down by a journalist, she actually denied the entire story.
In fact, Elizabeth not only denied claiming to be Bessie, but she also claimed to have never heard of the Hydes, to begin with.
Nonetheless, this strange tale did not die with Elizabeth’s denial. Instead, more questions about Grand Canyon travelers’ true identities began to rise.
By the time Georgie Clarke, an iconic Grand Canyon river guide, died in 1992, some people actually began to question her identity. She had left behind some personal effects, which included a pistol, a birth certificate that listed her born name as Bessie DeRoss, and even the Hydes’ marriage certificate.
However, Georgie’s early life was reportedly very well-documented. So, the discovery was not enough to reopen the Hydes case.
Theories Run Rampant
Following the tale allegedly told by Elizabeth Cutler, some people also firmly believed that Glen had been murdered. However, the identity of the supposed killer was not so straightforward.
In 1977, a skeleton was found in the garage of Emery Kolb’s studio– which, again, was located on the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. And upon investigation, it was found that the skeleton had belonged to a young man in his twenties who matched Glen’s height and build.
The victim’s cause of death was also clear– since the unidentified man was discovered with a bullet wound to the skull.
Now, the time of this discovery did not leave much time for any pursuit of justice. Instead, Emery had actually passed away the previous December. So, he was unable to respond to the allegation that he murdered Glen and hid the remains for 50 years.
By 2008, though, this theory was officially put to rest. That year, a photography collection was donated to the Grand Canyon Museum by the son of a former park ranger. And among the collection were several photos that showed a human skeleton.
One of the museum’s technicians ultimately connected the dots and linked the skeleton to previous reports of an unknown man who had died from a reportedly self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1933.
How exactly the remains wound up in Emery’s garage was never uncovered. However, Joe Sumner, a retired Grand Canyon National Park criminal investigator, learned that Emery had once served as a county coroner jury representative. So, it was concluded that Emery probably acquired the skeletal remains after the death inquest.
So, with the skeletal theory put to rest, the disappearance of Glen and Bessie Hyde has remained a puzzling mystery.
Although, the newlyweds’ decision to venture into turbulent waters paints a picture that likely involves no stolen identities or murder.
Primarily, the Hydes opted to travel without life preservers, meaning that a large enough rapid could have forced them overboard.
At the time, the Grand Canyon’s bottom was also not yet as developed or trafficked as it is today.
So, if Glen and Bessie had been swept into the Colorado River water, it would not have been terribly difficult for the two bodies to vanish without a trace.
Nonetheless, the case of the Hydes remains an unsettling Grand Canyon mystery. According to the National Park Service, there have been dozens of recorded unsolved missing person cases which date back to the 1950s. In addition, some even suspect that hundreds more disappearances have not been recorded.
This fact just goes to show how incredibly easy it is to become lost while traversing the parks system’s 85 million acres of preserved land.
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