Glen and Bessie Hyde
In 1928, Glen and Bessie Hyde embarked on a honeymoon trip down the Green and Colorado Rivers and disappeared in the Grand Canyon. Search parties, including one led by Emery and Ellsworth Kolb, scoured the region looking for them. Rescuers instead discovered their boat still intact with their possessions inside, including Bessie's diary and camera. Their story remains one of the more famous and infamous tales in Grand Canyon history. It also remains unsolved, appearing on network television in a November 29, 1987, episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
Glen and Bessie Hyde, Nov. 17, 1928.
Thanks in part to television publicity the story of Glen and Bessie Hyde spawned multiple theories and legends. Most notably, after the death of river runner Georgie Clark in 1992, rumors surfaced that she was actually Bessie Hyde after friends found documents related to the Hydes and a marriage license identifying her as Bessie DeRoss in her home.
"Missing in Grand Canyon," from Jeanne Ethel Hyde Brent Allen's scrapbook.
Several books also use Special Collections materials to offer their take on the mystery. Brad Dimock's Sunk Without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde examines the history and culture surrounding the Hydes' story. In Grand Ambition, Lisa Michaels uses the Hyde story as the backdrop for a novel of mystery and love. Other publications fall somewhere in between, toeing the line between historical accounts and pure speculation.
Bessie Hyde (left) and Glen Hyde, photographs from Bessie Hyde's camera.
Will anyone solve the mystery? Definitely maybe. Come to the archives and explore photographs from Bessie's camera and read letters and diary entries to uncover clues and take a stab at it.
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