"I WONDER IF I SHALL EVER WEAR PRETTY SHOES AGAIN"




A newly married couple sent out to make history on their honeymoon. Glen and Bessie Hyde wanted to float the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Glen would send a time record, and Bessie would be the first woman float the rapids. But their ambition turned into mystery. The Hyded were never seen again after November 18 1928.


Glen Hyde was an experienced rapids rider, and built the scow they would sail in. Bessie was a bohemian, having dabbled theater and poetry writing. The two met as passengers on a boat sailing to Los Angeles. Bessie had a husband, but by 1928 the two married - one day after Bessie's divorce was finalized. The honeymooners left Green River, Utah October 20, 1928. They wanted to reach Needles, California by early December.


The pair were last seen November 18, 1928. They stopped in the Grand Canyon and hiked to fetch supplies. They met with photographer Emory Kolb who took pictures of Glenn and Bessie. When Kolb noted their lack of life jackets, the pair laughed, and stated they made it halfway through their journey without needing them. Kolb noted Bessie seemed weary to go back, stating - "I wonder if I shall ever wear pretty shoes again." The pair spent at least 12 more days on the water.


Though Glen and Bessie had been ahead of schedule, Glenn's father grew concerned when he hadn't heard from them and called for a search party. An airplane spotted the scow upright, packed with supplies and Bessie's journal, but no Glenn or Bessie. No trace of the couple turned up despite thorough search efforts. Theories abounded as to what happened, but nothing was ever proven. Glenn and Bessie Hyde had seemingly vanished.


In 1971 an elderly woman along for a rafting trip announced to the other rafters she was. She claimed she shot Glen because he was abusive, and she had lived in hiding for 40 some years. Given that Glenn was known to be good natured and not abusive, no one believed the woman and she eventually admitted to lying. Upon the death of Georgie Clark, a female rapids rider, Bessie and Glenn Hyde's marriage certificate, a birth certificate with the name Bessie de Ross, along with the pistol, were found in Georgie's personal effects. Clark's early life was fairly well documented, so odds were she wasn't really Bessie Hyde. For Glenn and Bessie Hyde missing 95 years, the honeymoon is truly over.


SOURCES :

Debczak, Michele. "An Empty Boat In the Grand Canyon : The Mysterious Disappearance of Glen and Bessie Hyde." Mental Floss. 23 November 2022.


Glen and Bessie Hyde. Wikipedia.

FURTHER MEDIA ~
Turney, Sarah, host. "Glen and Bessie Hyde." Disappearances, 18 November 2023.


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