Bessie Louise Hyde

Bessie Hyde along with her husband, Glen Hyde, have been missing since November 30, 1928. The couple had set out on a honeymoon trip on October 20, 1928 to Grand Canyon National Park, that they estimated would take at least a month and a half to complete. Bessie and her husband planned to travel down both the Green and Colorado rivers. On November 16, 1928 the couple stopped at Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim to restock on supplies. During their stop, they spoke with a reporter from the Denver Post who assumed their final destination was only a few weeks away. A couple of days after restocking in Grand Canyon Village, on November 18, 1928, Bessie and Glen hiked along the Bright Angel Trail where they met brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb. The two brothers were famous photographers who were in charge of a cliffside studio. After the couple asked the Kolb brothers to take their picture, Emery had mentioned that he noticed that the couple did not have any life preservers. After warning the two about the dangers of the river’s current, and offering them life preservers, Glen laughed as he refused his offer. Emery also mentioned that Bessie looked unsettled about proceeding on with the trip. Moments before the couple and the two brothers parted ways, Emery’s daughter appeared, nicely dressed, and Bessie remarked “I wonder if I shall every wear pretty shoes again.” People whom Bessie and Glen ran into during their layover later stated that Bessie seemed to have wanted to abandon their expedition, and Bessie’s remark was seen as her way of wondering if should ever return from the trip. After the couple’s disappearance had been noticed, reports came in that the couple was accompanied by a man, Adolph G. Sutro, when they re-entered the Grand Canyon. If those reports were true, Sutro, who was taking photographs of the canyon and even rode a short distance in the Hydes’ boat, was possibly the last person to see the couple alive. By early December, when the Hydes should have returned from their trip, they were officially noticed as missing. Search efforts were organized, and on December 20, 1928, the Hydes’ scow was located down the river, 15 miles south from Diamond Creek, by a piolet who was conducting an aviary search. When their boat was searched, food, clothing, books, and both of Bessie’s journal and camera were found. The last photo taken was shot somewhere near river mile 165 on or about November 27, 1928, and her last journal entry was on November 30, 1928, near Diamond Creek. Glen’s father, Reith Hyde, hired a group of men, including the Kolb’s brothers, and searched the areas that the couple most likely traveled, near Diamond Creek. This search lasted 41 days, but they were never found.