Give us feedback!

Run 232 Mile (Killer Fang Falls) Rapid, Colorado River, Arizona

Glen and Bessie Hyde were newlyweds who disappeared while attempting to run the rapids of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon, Arizona in 1928. 232 Mile (Killer Fang Falls) Rapid (4–7) – Bessie Hyde of the 1928 wrote in her journal up to this rapid. Her journal was located in her abandoned sweep scow below this rapid. They were last seen Sunday, November 18, 1928, when they boated away downriver below Hermit Rapid. The couple had hiked Bright Angel Trail out of the canyon to resupply a few days earlier. At the South Rim they approached photographer Emery Kolb at his studio and home on the canyon rim, where they were photographed before returning down into the canyon. Some Colorado River historians, such as Otis R. Marston, note that Adolph G. Sutro rode from Phantom Ranch to Hermit Rapid with them in the scow. The Sutro reference regarding riding with the Hydes for one day and possibly being the last to see them is mentioned specifically in the Ken Burns PBS documentary series National Parks: America's Best Idea, and in Marston's book. A search was launched by Glen's father Rollin even before the couple were to be considered overdue at Needles, California on December 6, 1928. On December 19, a search plane spotted their scow adrift around river mile 237; it was upright and fully intact, with the supplies still strapped in. A camera recovered from the boat by Emery and Ellsworth Kolb revealed the final photo to have been taken near river mile 165, probably on or about November 27. The search uncovered evidence to indicate the couple made it as far as river mile 226, Diamond Creek, where it is believed they made camp. Bessie noted in her journal that they had cleared 231 Mile Rapid. Historian Otis R. Marston made a compelling case that the couple were most likely swept out of the boat when their scow hit submerged rocks in the heavy rapids near river mile 232. In describing the rapid, Marston noted "...pieces of granite wall lie submerged where they have damaged, snared, or capsized more boats than any other location in the canyon." No trace of the Hydes has ever been found.
Show more
No Ratings Yet
Flag as inappropriate
Share on Tumblr Share via E-mail