Sunk Without a Sound : The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde
by Fretwater Press

	Sunk Without a Sound : The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde
	Customer Rating: Sales Rank: 58017 Available from Amazon
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Book Description

The mystery of Glen and Bessie Hyde is whitewater navigation's equivalent to Mallory and Irvine's disappearance on Everest in 1924. Just four years later in October 1928, the Hydes, a bright, attractive, and talented young couple built their own wooden sweep scow and launched on a honeymoon voyage down the Green and Colorado Rivers through Grand Canyon. Bessie was the first woman to ever attempt the river. Halfway through Grand Canyon they talked to the press, then disappeared into the gloomy November depths of the gorge. They were never seen again. Despite an extensive series of searches, no trace was found except, eerily, their boat: upright, intact, fully loaded, and snagged in calm water. Glen and Bessie had vanished without a trace. For the next seven decades their tale evolved from simple facts to convoluted folklore and myth. A woman appeared on a river trip in 1971 claiming to be Bessie, having murdered Glen and hiked out. In 1976 a skeleton was found at Grand Canyon with a bullet through the skull. Size, age and circumstance suggested it was the body of Glen Hyde. In 1985 a woman surfaced with a tale of her father, Glenn Hyde, who had disappeared in 1928, but reappeared seven years later with tales of having rafted rivers. He said he had attempted the Colorado through Grand Canyon but "it didn't work out." And he carried a scar on his back from a knife wound, delivered by a woman named Bessie. And in 1992, when Georgie Clark, the most famous of all river runners, died, her past was discovered to be pure fiction. She had been born Bessie, and her lingerie drawer held a marriage record for Glen and Bessie Hyde. And a pistol. Author and boatman Brad Dimock tackled this story with an obsession, tracking each clue, lead, and rumor, even going to the extreme of building a replica of the Hydes' archaic sweep scow for a harrowing journey through Grand Canyon with his own bride. The resulting book, a masterful interweaving of past and present, of pathos and humor, is a classic in outdoor adventure, mystery writing, literary nonfiction, and investigative journalism. With 304 profusely illustrated pages, this beautiful book is not only a joy to look at, but a true page turner.

Reader Reviews

I love this book Just this April, that my wife and I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time together. For me, it was the first time ever. We mostly hiked here and there on the South rim and a bit down into the canyon, but it was nothing big, though it was pleasant. However, I was intrigued with the tales of Glen and Bessie and I wanted to know more. I got another Grand Canyon book through Inter-Library loan and it mentioned that a fellow named Dimock was in the process of publishing a book about them.

So I finally got this book and devoured it, once I got my hands on it. This guy not only heavily researched the Hydes, he also built a similar boat and took it through the Grand Canyon, albeit with a sweep boat as back up. Then he went by kayak to personally survey the area where the Hydes most likely died.

I admit to being taken aback a bit by the book cover, which shows two people in modern garb and wearing life perservers in whitewater. However, who is better to show there than the author and his wife on the replica of the Hydes' "Rain in the Face" while barreling down what is presumably the Colorado River?

I would even bet that this failed exploit provided the idea for Dana Lamb's book "Enchanted Vagabonds", in which he builds a boat and supposedly paddles it with his young wife all the way from California to Panama. However, Dana selected a route where cheating is possible.

I want to thank Brad Dimock for answering what can be reasonably argued about Glen and Bessie.