10/07/2026
It has been a difficult week for the river community.
On Saturday, we lost Augustus “Gus” Scott, longtime river runner, collector, photographer, storyteller and generous friend of the John Wesley Powell River History Museum.
Gus belonged to a generation that knew Glen Canyon before the dam. In the 1950s, he traveled its river and side canyons, recording what he saw in photographs and journals and participating in the exploration and documentation of a landscape he knew was about to change forever.
Throughout his life, Gus continued that work of remembering.
He collected photographs, books, boats, river-running equipment and other pieces of the history he had lived. He shared his memories through oral histories and gatherings of veteran river runners. Most importantly for generations yet to come, he made sure that much of what he preserved found its way into public collections.
The John Wesley Powell River History Museum has been one of the beneficiaries of that generosity for many years. Gus and his wife, Sandra, donated historic river-running boats and gear, including equipment connected to legendary river runner Bert Loper, along with books, photographs and other materials.
More recently, when the John Wesley Powell Museum in Page, Arizona, closed, the collection Gus had donated there was transferred to our Museum in Green River. As a result, an even larger part of the historical record Gus spent a lifetime preserving is now in our care.
That is a responsibility we do not take lightly.
Gus remained connected to the river community and to this Museum, attending River Runners Hall of Fame gatherings and supporting our exhibits and programs. His photographs, journals, oral histories, objects and memories have helped document an era that can no longer be experienced firsthand.
Within a single weekend, the river community lost both Ken Sleight and Gus Scott—two men who carried living memories of Glen Canyon before the dam. Their passing reminds us why preserving these stories, photographs and objects matters.
We are deeply grateful to Gus and Sandra for their friendship, their trust and their extraordinary generosity to this Museum. Our hearts are with Sandra and the Scott family as they mourn his loss.
Gus spent a lifetime preserving river history. We are honored to help carry that work forward.
Rest well, Gus. The things you saved—and the stories they carry—will remain.
Photograph taken at the 2023 River Runners Hall of Fame by Annie Payne
