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Grand Canyon Pioneers Society - Monthly Bulletin - February 1999 |
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GCPS Meetings for 1999
| February 13: | The program will be presented by Brad Dimock, river runner and one of the co-authors of a book about Buzz Holmstrom, Doing of the Thing. We'll meet at Poco Diablo Resort in Sedona 11:15 AM for lunch and have the program at 1:00 PM in one of the hotel's conference rooms. Poco Diablo is located at 1736 Highway 179. |
| March 13: | Join the Grand Canyon Pioneers for a ride on Verde Canyon Railroad in Clarkdale. We'll meet at 1:00 PM at the Depot at 300 North Broadway in Clarkdale. Check in with Tom Carmony. We'll take the 2:00 PM train. The railroad has a cafe and picnic area if you would like to meet for lunch. No matter where you have lunch, be at the depot at 1:00 PM. March is the best time of year to ride the train because the golden and bald eagles nest along the Verde River. Fares are Adults: $35.95; Children ages 2-12: $20.95; Seniors 65 and over: $32.95. Make your check payable to Grand Canyon Pioneers and give it to Tom Carmony the day of the excursion. |
| April 4: | Easter Sunrise Service in the Grand Canyon. See article on page 3. |
| April 17: | A talk about NAU collections by Diane Grua at the NAU Library, 10-12 AM, lunch at Furr's. |
| May 15: | Mike Anderson reviews his new book, Living at the Edge, a history about explorers, exploiters and settlers of the Grand Canyon area. |
| June 12: | Annual Picnic and a tour of the Grand Canyon Cemetery by Stew Fritts prior to the picnic. |
| July 17: | Jim Tuck of the National Park Service will be doing a program on the Grand Canyon Master Plan Implementation. |
| August 17: | To be announced. |
| September 18: | Program by John Westerlund at NAU on the Navajo Depot. |
| October 16: | Annual Meeting. |
| November 13: | Possible Tucson meeting - Ruth Stephens Baker will give talk on Shiva Temple Climb, tour of Historical Society, and a talk by Debbie Shelton, curator of photos about the Bass Collection Photos. |
| December: | No meeting. |
A Question
Does anyone know where Grand Canyon pioneer Martin Buggeln is buried? Please respond to the Editor.
A Mystery To Solve--A Report on the January 16th Pioneers Meeting
Most everyone who has access to a TV saw the episode of the "Unsolved Mysteries" program about honeymoon couple, Glenn and Bessie Hyde's ill-fated Grand Canyon river trip. The program attempted to give the facts about the disappearance of the two during a Colorado River trip from Green River, Utah to Needles, California in a home made boat that someone said looked more like a coffin than a boat. The couple made the trip to the foot of Bright Angel trail, paid a visit to Emery Kolb at his studio and proceeded on down stream scheduled to arrive at Needles in the middle of December, but never arrived at their destination. Just what happened was and is still an unsolved mystery.
So it was that on January 16th the Pioneers, who usually deal in cut and dried historical facts, were presented with a mystery to unravel. Betty Leavengood, our outings coordinator, tied up with Richard Quartaroli, historian with the Cline Library to start the New Year off with a puzzle. Serious researchers both, they had their fun with the members attending by presenting them with the facts shown in slides, charts and video tapes only to seemingly contradict themselves with other more or less misleading facts. So it was a fun session for all.
Betty, who has just completed a book on women of the Grand Canyon presented facts of Bessie's early life before she met Glenn in San Francisco and married him a short time afterward. On the other side, Richard related the story of Glenn Hyde pointing out his forceful domineering character that possibly sheds light on the outcome of their trip.
Several interviews indicated that Bessie, by the time she reached the foot of Bright Angel Trail had had enough of river running and desired to settle down and live a normal life. Glenn on the other hand demanded they continue and in some instances, according to those who recalled the story, forced her to continue.
When the two failed to arrive at Needles at the expected time Glenn's father contacted Emery seeking his help in searching for the two. The pilot of an Army airplane flew him downstream between the canyon walls at a dangerously low altitude until they discovered the scow in the river below Diamond Creek. Emery organized a search party and proceeded to Peach Springs, Arizona and down the trail to the river where they pieced together a makeshift boat to make their way to 237 Mile Rapid. Here they found the scow caught on a rock with the Hyde's possessions still intact, as they had left them, but no sign of the honeymooners.
Here is where the mystery begins. What happened to the couple? Rather than accept the most obvious solution that they were drowned in the river, people made a mystery of the disappearance, dragging in little tantalizing bits such as: Emery Kolb developed a fancy for Bessie and killed Glenn so he could have her? And that Bessie, tired of the river, killed Glenn and hiked out of the canyon to begin life with a new name. Or yet another that both Glenn and Bessie hiked out of the canyon leaving the impression they were both dead hoping to collect the insurance. The plot thickened years later after Emery's death in 1975.
The discovery of a skeleton in the Kolb garage soon after his death cast suspicion on Emery. Many people presumed this to be the remains of Glenn Hyde and pointed the finger of guilt in his direction. Was it the body of Hyde? Where did the skeleton come from and whose bones were found in the old Rust boat secured in the rafters of the Kolb garage?
Gale Burak said she and Emery talked about the remains once while she worked for him and Emery explained he found the bones years before in an abandoned prospector's shaft somewhere between Grandeur Point and Grand Canyon Village. He had kept the skull in a can around the studio for a long time before he stored the remains in a bag in the garage. Thelma Self relates that Emery Lehnert, Emery's grandson, mentioned long before the death of his grandfather that Emery had a skeleton with a bullet hole in the skull in the house and that his grandfather would now and then assemble it on the kitchen table. At the time Lehnert did not know what had become of it. In the summer of 1969 Lewis Farnsworth, Jr. worked as a general helper around the studio. When not busy, he took great pleasure in climbing around over the boat stored in the rafters of the garage and even induced Emery to give him the motor stored there. Lewis claims nothing else was in the boat at the time.
The skeleton seemed to come and go. Shortly after Emery's death Lehnert conducted Robert Buelow, an anthropologist for the National Park Service, through the studio; the tour complete he invited Buelow to the garage to show him something of interest to him as an anthropologist. Lehnert climbed up, reached into the old canvas boat and began handing down pieces of dust-covered human bones. Buelow turned them over to the park authorities and, in turn, delivered them to the Coconino County sheriff's office in Flagstaff where they remain today.
The sheriff's report based on the information given by a forensic specialist at the University of Arizona, indicated the skeleton belonged to a young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two- years. The report further stated the person died of a gunshot wound in his temple. The forensic tests proved it was not the remains of Glenn Hyde. The belt buckle found with the remains did not match the one Hyde wore in the photograph Emery took when the couple visited him. This cleared Emery of murder. Finding the remains of a man in the Canyon in the early days was not unusual. Many prospectors headed into the gorge and disappeared; possibly some committed suicide rather than starve to death. The idea of murder in those times cannot be entirely ruled out. Regardless of how one looks at the story, it would seem impossible for the remains to have been those of Glenn Hyde. This was not the end of the tale.
In the fall of 1971 a woman by the name of Liz joined a boating trip down the Colorado River. She seemed to know a great deal about the river, more than any first time river runner should know and after a time stated she was none other than Bessie Hyde. Her story stated she and Glenn had an argument and that he was abusive and beat her. As a result, just above Diamond Creek she stabbed him and walked out of the canyon, caught a bus and headed east. This added more mystery.
Not that those present at Saturday's meeting can solve anything, but to add to the fun, Richard passed out a ballot for us to vote on what we thought the answer might be. Look for the results in the next Bulletin.
EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE in the GRAND CANYON
Each year a group hikes into the Canyon to Utah Flat for a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the trimmings. Tradition. Each Labor Day weekend a number of individuals - young and old - hike to the top of Mount Whitney the highest peak in the continental United States. Tradition. The hike into the Grand Canyon for Easter Sunrise Service is not about tradition. The hike into the Grand Canyon for Easter Sunrise Service is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This is an "easy" Grand Canyon hike. No rock scrambles, no hiking on the edge, no cross-country route finding, few opportunities to break a bone(!) - an "easy" Grand Canyon Hike.
We camp out at the South Bass Trail Head on Friday night, April 2nd. Hike to the Esplanade Saturday morning, April 3rd. Saturday afternoon and evening a time to relax, explore, and conversation with friends. Sunday morning, April 4th, we hold the Easter Sunrise Service at an overlook of the South Bass drainage area. The service includes prayer time, communion, making a joyful noise to the Lord, and a message.
It is an "easy" hike out of the Canyon. The most difficult part of the trip is the few miles of rutted road from Pasture Wash Ranger Station to the rim. Please join us. You will be rewarded with a spectacular sunrise view of the Grand Canyon, a message, and fellowship. Please advise me if you plan to attend.
Letter From Dorothy (Phillips) Waldorf
A year ago my sister-in-law, Marcie Phillips gave me a membership to this society. I have truly enjoyed every publication for I was born at the South Rim on a snowy cold day January 12, 1923. My brother, Harry Phillips Jr. was born there eighteen months later. My father was a ranger for the National Park Service and spent his whole life in and around the Canyon. My mother came out as a Harvey Girl from Chicago, met this handsome Ranger and never went back. I have any, many old photos from those days plus memorabilia that I'm sure belongs in a museum and my husband and brother and I hope to go back for a visit and take what I call "the treasures" of my father's early life.
In the last issue of your magazine I recognized the names of quite a few "old timers". My father could speak Navajo and Hopi and Supai, and was a boyhood friend of Bill Bass whom we would visit quite often. . . . I hope to get to the Canyon this Spring.
Sincerely - a true Pioneer,
Dorothy (Phillips) Waldorf
A Note From John Azar
Our restoration project this year will be the Eddie Hatch Cabin at the confluence of Kanab Creek and Snake Gulch. The materials will be packed in on mules and it will take 10-12 days. I'm looking forward to seeing and working on this historic building.
The Bulletin welcomes comments, stories, or Reflections and Remembrances.
Please send them to
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Tom Carmony
206 W. Caroline Lane Tempe, AZ 85284-3021 |
or e-mail them to carmonys@extremezone.com
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