Category: Permanent Exhibitions

Announcing the 2026 River Runners Hall of Fame Inductees

Post author By Candice Cravins
Post date 07/23/2026

Announcing the 2026 River Runners Hall of Fame Inductees

The modern history of the Colorado River Basin is riddled with extremes. This year is no different, and the River Runner’s Hall of Fame is celebrating historical high water runs during an alarmingly low water year. We also welcome an inductee noteworthy for her youth, and a trio of European kayakers who helped shape the sport out west. The John Wesley Powell River History Museum’s mission is to celebrate the significance of river history through the cultures and landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, and the River Runner’s Hall of Fame (RR HOF) is an integral part of that mission. Since 1990, the museum has inducted individuals and groups for remarkable contributions to the history and protection of the Colorado River system and positive impacts on its river running community.

For 2026, the RR HOF selection committee has chosen individuals who are courageous and curious in spirit. As the management of this river system enters a new era, we need such traits more than ever, and we hope that this year’s inductees will inspire future generations of river runners to think big, go big, and live big. This year’s honorees are Mildred Davis, Walter Kirschbaum, Roger Paris, Ulrich Martins, Linda Wittkopf, and Kenton Grua. The celebration of their contributions to river running history will take place in Green River, UT, on October 2nd and 3rd.

“Each of these individuals came face-to-face with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and had the courage to seize the day,” said Matt Williams, selection committee member. “They embody what boating on the Colorado River Basin is all about, and their ethos not only shaped but continues to inspire the culture of river running across the Plateau. While water levels enter a new era of uncertainty and high-water firsts become less likely, we believe that their brave spirits and love of this River system stand to teach us a lot about what makes boating on the Colorado River Basin so special. What other firsts can and should the next generation of river runners be striving for?”

Mildred Davis – Millie’s first time on the rivers of the Colorado Plateau was in 1950, as a 14-year-old on a trip with her dad Bill down the San Juan into Glen Canyon. From there, they hiked from the North Rim and joined a Mexican Hat Expeditions trip departing from the base of the Kaibab Trail. At 15-years-old, Millie was the first woman to go down Westwater Canyon, immediately before flying to Craig, CO, so that her and her dad could descend the Yampa and the Green, finishing in Green River, UT, and catching the train back to Chicago. The following year, they returned to row from Flaming Gorge through the Gates of Lodore, and Millie became the first woman to row Disaster Falls and Triplet Falls.

Roger Paris, Ulrich Martins, and Walter Kirschbaum – “Coming from war-torn Europe following World War II, Roger Paris, Ulrich (Uli) Martins, and Walter Kirschbaum came across the pond to compete in the Fibark Race in Salida, Colorado,” explained selection committee member Mike Milligan. “Thereafter, they switched to adventure kayaking, making numerous first descents on the Colorado and Green Rivers and influencing the next generation of kayakers in the west.”

In addition to their combined commitment to teaching and mentoring the next generation, each kayaker stands out for their individual contributions to pushing the sport forward on the Colorado Plateau and across the country. Walter Kirschbaum won the 1953 world championship in kayak slalom before being the first kayaker to run Cataract Canyon without portaging (1959) and the Grand Canyon without portaging (1960). Ulrich holds the record for the lowest water run in the Grand Canyon in 1963, and in 1972, Roger was selected as a coach for the USA at the Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Linda Wittkopf – Across her epic career, Linda (known amongst her friends as “Big Linda”) rowed for many Moab outfitters and was one of the most well-loved river rats in the community. In 1983, when the National Park Service closed Cataract Canyon at about 105,000 cfs, Linda and Edward Brian Coombs launched in separate boats, rowing from sun-up to sun-down to set the speed and high-water records, which would stand for a year. Then, in 1984, Linda returned to break her own record, rowing Cataract Canyon at 115,000 cfs on a Sidewinder Expeditions commercial trip with four other guides. To this day, Linda’s 1983 speed records and 1984 high water records stand, and across the rest of her storied career, she mentored and inspired countless female guides on the Colorado Plateau.

Kenton Grua – Kenton’s contributions to boating in the Grand Canyon are impossible to quantify. In 1977, after spending years scouting routes from the River, he hiked the length of the Canyon from Lee’s Ferry to the Grand Wash cliffs. Then, in 1983, Grua, Rudi Petschek, and Steve Reynolds set a speed record (breaking the 1980 record set by Grua, Petschek, and Wally Rist) that will likely never be contested by a rower, riding Glen Canyon Dam’s emergency releases on a high-water run of utterly epic proportions. In addition to rowing dories down the Canyon for 30 years, in 1988 Grua founded and was the first president of Grand Canyon River Guides. Above all else, “Kenton was kind and patient, doing everything he could to make sure that everyone on a trip could experience it to the fullest,” 2025 HOF inductee Loie Belknap Evans recalled. “For example, he would take extra time and care to ensure that everyone could participate fully on hikes. Even when it would have been easy to discourage them from coming, he helped them overcome limitations and feel success.”

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The RR HOF induction ceremony is the museum’s largest fundraising event. In recent years, it has grown into an unmissable fall gathering for the Colorado River Basin boating community. As selection committee member Levi Jamison reflected, “I believe that, in the past, this thing we call ‘river-running’ was a means to an end, but in modern times it has grown into a spirit, a culture, and perhaps could even become a movement. The shared heritage we have with those who ran the river in the past is worthy of celebration and discovery, because it gives us perspective on where we are culturally, environmentally, even spiritually. I hope this event continues to help our community remember our connections to the past, ground ourselves in the present, and become better stewards to the rivers and canyons we are all connected through.”

The RR HOF selections are made by consensus via a volunteer committee (committee members who are related to nominees or are nominated themselves do not participate in the vote to choose inductees). The public is welcome to nominate future inductees. Individuals wishing to submit nominations must fill out a nomination form detailing the nominee’s contributions to the Colorado River system. The form can be found at https://johnwesleypowell.com/river-runners-hall-of-fame-nomination-form/. The museum’s website also features an archive of all RR HOF inductees, along with information about current and upcoming exhibits, events, and activities. Those interested in supporting the museum and learning more about the 2026 RR HOF induction ceremony are encouraged to visit the website at https://johnwesleypowell.com/, follow the museum on Instagram @jwpmuseum or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jwpmuseum, or call Janet Smoak at (435) 564-3427. We hope to see you in October!

-Matt Williams, Annie Payne, Bobby Hollahan, Eva Hatch, Jack Schmidt, Janet Smoak, Latimer Smith, Linda Jalbert, Levi Jamison, Mike Milligan, Roy Webb, Susan Munroe

Donor Spotlight History Permanent Exhibitions

Donor Spotlight: Roy and Becci Webb

Post author By Candice Cravins
Post date 04/16/2025

Donor Spotlight: Roy and Becci Webb

New Custom Cradles for Four of the Museum's Wooden Boats

Roy and Becci Webb have been steadfast supporters of the museum for many years, generously giving their time, energy, and resources to help preserve and share the rich history of river running. Roy has played a vital leadership role, serving as Chair of the museum’s nonprofit board and as a dedicated member of the River Runners Hall of Fame Committee.

In 2024, Roy was honored with induction into the River Runners Hall of Fame, recognizing his lasting impact on the river community. A river running historian and archivist, he’s quick to credit Becci for being by his side every step of the way. “Becci has always been a generous and giving person,” Roy shared. “She’s supported me in everything I’ve done throughout my career on the river—from her first river trip ever, a very high water adventure in Split Mountain, to taking care of the kids and home while I was off in some canyon, to everything I’ve done for the museum.”

The Webb family’s commitment to the museum goes beyond leadership—thanks to their generous gift in 2023, four custom boat cradles were constructed by Songbird Oars. These beautifully crafted cradles provide improved support, movement, and display for the museum’s treasured collection of historic wooden boats.

We’re deeply grateful to Roy and Becci for their unwavering dedication and generosity.

History Permanent Exhibitions River Runners Hall of Fame

Announcing the 2025 River Runners Hall of Fame Inductees

Post author By Candice Cravins
Post date 04/09/2025

Announcing the 2025 River Runners Hall of Fame Inductees

The history of the Colorado and Green Rivers is full of daring exploits and fascinating individuals, and the John Wesley Powell River History Museum is dedicated to commemorating them all. The museum’s mission is to celebrate the significance of river history through the cultures and landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, and the River Runner’s Hall of Fame (RR HOF) is an integral part of that mission. Since 1990, the museum has inducted over 30 individuals and groups for remarkable contributions to the history and protection of the Colorado River system and positive impacts to its river running community.

For 2025, the RR HOF selection committee has chosen individuals known for their work as educators, writers, and historians. This year’s honorees are Loie and Buzz Belknap, guidebook creators and Sportyak pioneers; Gary Nichols, Utah’s “King of Kayaking” and dedicated outdoor educator; and Brad Dimock, historian, storyteller, boat builder, and long-standing river guide. The committee has also chosen to induct Bessie and Glen Hyde, a long-overdue recognition of their historic 1928 attempt to navigate the Grand Canyon in a wooden sweep scow.

“Each of these individuals has, in some way, made river running more accessible,” said Susan Munroe, selection committee member. “They’ve written the guidebooks and the history books, and they’ve physically brought people into the river community through college courses or by putting them at the oars of their very own Sportyak. Even the Hydes, despite their tragic end, showed that you didn’t have to be a scientist or a surveyor to run the Colorado River.”

Loie and Buzz Belknap are best known for developing the “Belknap Guides,” waterproof river maps that have been the standard text for most sections of the Green and Colorado Rivers for over 50 years. Buzz also piloted a jet boat in the historic uprun of the Grand Canyon in 1960. Loie was one of the first female trip leaders for Canyonlands Expeditions and later helped run Fastwater Expeditions, which ran Sportyak-only trips through Desolation Canyon and on the San Juan and Dolores Rivers. The Belknaps’ guidebooks and Sportyaks helped make river running accessible for individuals with a range of skill levels.

Gary Nichols is credited with 16 first descents of sections of Utah rivers. He’s the author of three guidebooks, including the “River Runners’ Guide to Utah and Adjacent Areas.” Gary spent 41 years as an instructor in the University of Utah Outdoor Education department, where he taught and created more than 30 outdoor classes, including kayaking, canoeing, and backpacking. He introduced over 10,000 students to the outdoors, including the Colorado River system. His legacy is the hours spent with those students, elevating their appreciation for Utah’s rivers “so that, through awareness, we can work to preserve them” (quoted in Vamoose Utah, May 30, 2016).

Brad Dimock has been a guide since the 1970s and was a founding member of the Grand Canyon River Guides and the Colorado Plateau River Guides organizations. Through his own publishing company, Fretwater Press, Brad has researched, written, and published biographies of some of the greatest river runners of all time. As a boat builder and instructor, Brad commemorates and evolves the craft of Colorado River wooden boat building, including building (and rowing) replicas of historic crafts. Brad’s work as a builder, teacher, and author entwine to tell the story of river running through both words and boats.

Bessie and Glen Hyde, “the Honeymoon Couple,” were the first husband-and-wife team to run the Green and Colorado Rivers. They began in Green River, Utah, in 1928, with a heavy wooden sweep boat. Glen was familiar with sweeps from time he spent running rivers in Idaho. The couple successfully navigated Cataract Canyon, making Bessie the first woman to make that descent, and ran most of the Grand Canyon (they were last seen at Hermit Rapid) before disappearing. The committee felt that it was fitting to induct the Hydes at the same time as Brad, who not only wrote their biography but also built a replica of their sweep scow and piloted it down the Grand Canyon.

The John Wesley Powell River History Museum will host an induction ceremony for this year’s honorees on Saturday, October 4, 2025. The RR HOF induction ceremony is the museum’s largest fundraising event. In recent years, it has grown into a weekend-long social occasion for the Colorado River river-running community, with events such as a mini-film festival, local beach clean-up event, and an informal boat parade.

“The annual ceremony speaks to the core of the museum’s mission,” museum director Janet Smoak explained. “We come together as a river running community to honor the people whose contributions inspire, teach, and amaze us. It’s also an opportunity for our friends, new and long-standing, to support the museum’s research, events, and exhibits that preserve and share the stories, history, and science associated with the Colorado Plateau’s rivers, landscapes, and cultures.”

The Hall of Fame selections are made by a volunteer committee (committee members who are related to nominees or are nominated themselves do not participate in the vote to choose inductees). The public is also welcome to nominate future inductees; individuals wishing to submit nominations must fill out a nomination form detailing the nominee’s contributions to the Colorado River system. Please contact Janet Smoak at (435) 564-3427 to learn more. Nomination forms may also be submitted online here.