Archives West Finding Aid

Robert Rafael "Bus" Hatch and his brothers Alton and Tom began boating in the Vernal, Utah, area in the late 1920s. They ran the Green River in 1931, the Green and Colorado through Cataract Canyon in 1933, and the Grand Canyon in 1934. In 1935-36, they ran the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, as well as the Main Salmon. By the end of World War II, Bus Hatch in particular had become known as a river runner. With the controversy over the planned Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument in the late 1940s and early 1950s, many people turned to Bus Hatch and his sons, Don, Ted, and Frank, to take them down the Green and Yampa Rivers. During the controversy, Hatch River Expeditions outfitted river trips for both pro-dam and anti-dam groups, trips that often included over 100 people. This was the true genesis of Hatch River Expedtions. After the controversy, and through the 1960s, the name Hatch became synonymous with river running, especially in the western United States. By the end of the 20th century, Hatch had become one of the best-known river outfitters in existence. [maybe add this:] Bus Hatch died in 1967, and two of his sons, Don and Ted, took over and expanded the business. By the late 1970s, it had grown so much that they split it between them, with Don taking the Green, Salmon, and upper Colorado Rivers, and Ted concentrating on the Grand Canyon. Don died in 1994; Ted retired and sold his business to his son Steve in 2007. Meg Hatch, widow of Don, sold her part of the business the same year, but the Hatch name, and the Hatch legacy, will be recognized whenever people run a wild river.