True Life Tuesday: Glen and Bessie Hyde

Stories like this make me very happy that I am not the outdoorsy adventure type.

Glen Hyde was born on December 9, 1898. He was a farmer fro Twin Falls, Idaho. Bessie Haley was born on December 29, 1905. She was originally from Parkersburg, West Virginia and was separated from her husband. They met in 1927 while on a passenger ship traveling to Los Angeles. They were married on April 10, 1928 - one day after Bessie's divorce was final.

In October 1928 they decided to take a trip through the Grand Canyon. Glen's goal was to set a new speed record for traveling through the canyon. Bessie would also make history by being the first woman to run the canyon. They went to Green River, Utah so Glen could build his own boat. Glen was fairly skilled with river travel having already gone down the Salmon and Snake Rivers but Bessie was pretty much a novice. 

The couple was last seen on November 18, 1928 when a photographer took a photo of them. They were last seen heading toward Hermit Rapids. Glen's father launched a search for them once they did not make their destination of Needles, California by their December 6th arrival date. On December 19th a search plane spotted their boat on the river. The boat was intact and supplies were still strapped in place. No trace of the couple was ever found.

There were a few theories about what happened to the couple. In 1971 an elderly woman on a Grand Canyon rafting trip claimed to be Bessie Hyde. She stated that she stabbed Glen because he was abusive but she later recanted her story. Some people believed that famed rafter Georgie Clark was Bessie however it was never proven and Clark's early life was well documented. Finally, in 1976 a male skeleton with a bullet hole in his skull was found on the rim of the canyon. Many people thought this maybe Glen Hyde however it was later determined to be the remains of a man who committed suicide in the 1930s.