The Crime, the Victims, and the Legacy

Legacy and Memory

The attempted train robbery and the murders at Tunnel 13 had a tremendous impact on many, especially those in the communities of Southern Oregon and Northern California where the four victims, their families, and co-workers resided. The crime, the long but successful search for the perpetrators, and their trials garnered public attention throughout the 1920s. Since then, the stories have been told and retold in song, film, comic books, history books, documentaries, and podcasts. The collections of museums and archives, including those from which the materials here have been drawn, continue to be sources for new research and analysis of this complex and tragic history.

Public Memory

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There are two copies of the “Picture Story of the Holdup of Southern Pacific Train No. 13, October 11, 1923, Capture and Conviction of the DeAutremont Brothers” about the case known to exist in the National Archives and Library of the US Postal Service. Images from the album are featured in this exhibition and many history books, including Bert Webber’s 1974 publication, Oregon’s Great Train Holdup. The captioned photographs document roles of individuals involved, the crime, investigation, circulation of wanted posters, arrests, trials, and convictions. (Folder 7, PO Inspection Service, Record Group 28, National Archives, Washington, DC)

 
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Professionals and hobbyists associated with postal and railway organizations continue to commemorate the events of October 11, 1923, and honor the lives of the victims that were lost that day. This group from the Southern Oregon Philatelic Society visited the Tunnel 13 site as part of their P.O.S.T. trip in 1979. Wreath-laying ceremonies have become a common occurrence at the site in recent years. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 2019.54.40)

 
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This ‘Gold Bug’ straight razor was donated to SOHS in 2021 with a story relating its provenance to the DeAutremont family. As the story goes, the razor was left in the Russ House boarding house in Albany, Oregon, by one of the DeAutremont brothers in the months prior to the crime. We can verify that Paul DeAutremont, the boys’ father, worked as a barber in Albany at Bud Stover’s Nonpareil Barbershop from 1921-1922, and that Roy was employed in the same shop for a short time. While it’s impossible to verify the razor’s ownership beyond these details, the richness of its story lies in its embeddedness in local lore. The Tunnel 13 tragedy still looms large in Southern Oregon history, and community members continue to feel connected to the stories surrounding the event. In August 2023, this razor was the subject of forensic analyses at the National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon; you can listen to the results of that process in our Underground History podcast. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 2022.89.1)

The involvement of forensic criminologist Edward O. Heinrich, who was based in Berkeley, California, led to identification of the three DeAutremont brothers as suspects in the case. The analysis of the overalls, registered mail receipt, gun, cabin in the vicinity of Tunnel 13, other equipment and debris, and handwriting samples from the perpetrators helped crack the case and ensure convictions. His papers and many artifacts from the DeAutremont case and others analyzed by Heinrich are maintained by UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library. The archival finding guide is searchable online and the project to process and prepare access to the collection is described in the university library’s podcast and online article: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/30/heinrich-collection-at-the-bancroft-library.

Popular Culture

In 1928 the Johnson Brothers band released on Victor Records the song, “The Crime of the D’Autremont Brothers.” The banjo and guitar combo set off the lyrics that begin: “Way out west in Oregon in nineteen twenty-three, The D’Autremont brothers wrecked the train as brutal as could be. ‘Twas train number 13 of the Southern Pacific line, . . .”

The Crime of the D’Autremont Brothers

By The Johnson Brothers

 

Way out west in Oregon in nineteen twenty-three,
the D’Autremont brothers wrecked the train as brutal as could be.

‘Twas train number 13 of the Southern Pacific line,
they had just passed through Siskiyou and were making regular time.

When going through the tunnel upon the engine they came,
shot dead Bates and his fireman, and then they wrecked the train.

Then they killed the brakeman and the mail clerk, too,
and endangered all of the lives of the passengers and crew.

Then they fled to the mountains to hide their brutal crime,
leaving death and destruction on the Southern Pacific line.

Four nearly four long years they were sought in vain,
to pay for the lives and the wrecking of this train.

But God is always good and just, as we all, know well,
they were finally caught at last as the time will always tell.

Now they are in prison for the lives they led,
without any hope of pardon until they are dead.

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This 1966 issue of “The Railroad in Folksong” compilation by RCA Records includes “The Crime of the D’Autremont Brothers” by the Johnson Brothers. This record was purchased at Diana’s Record Shop in Ashland, Oregon. (Southern Oregon Historical Society LIB2012.10.1)

 
 
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The DeAutremont brothers’ case became a darling of the true crime genre, with retellings appearing in comic books, serial publications, and film. This March 1928 issue of True Detective Mysteries contains a feature on “The Capture of the DeAutremont Brothers” told from the perspective of some of the journalists that covered the case. Both the March and April editions of True Detective Mysteries feature the story and are in the SOHS Collection. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 2011.21.1, MS 966)

Personal Memories and the Parole of the DeAutremonts

The brothers eventually received release from the Oregon State Penitentiary. The work on Hugh DeAutremont’s case is recalled in an oral history interview with attorney Noreen Salveit McGraw. She filed appeal briefs and appeared in state and federal courts to handle the state conviction and two pending federal counts. The interview is part of the Oregon Historical Society’s collection: https://digitalcollections.ohs.org/sr-1277-oral-history-interview-with-noreen-saltveit-mcgraw. Hugh died about two months after his 1958 parole.

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Hugh DeAutremont graduated from high school in Artesia, New Mexico in the summer of 1923, just a few months prior to committing the crimes at Tunnel 13 with his brothers. These excerpts from that year’s Rattler yearbook provide insight into his early personality and his life as a student. Note that the photographs used for Hugh in the wanted posters were some of the senior portraits included in this annual. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1967.37.1)

 
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Dorothy Wiberg was a companion of Roy DeAutremont’s prior to the crime. This picture was taken in North Albany, Oregon, where the DeAutremonts lived from 1921-1922. Correspondence from Wiberg’s niece explains: “I did see Roy DeAutremont just once, not far from where this picture was taken. He was well dressed and was walking from Albany to see my Aunt Dorothy. They left walking hand in hand down the lane.” In some reports, Wiberg claimed that Roy had attempted the Tunnel 13 robbery for her benefit. (Southern Oregon Historical Society #027992)

 
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Hugh corresponded with several family and friends while in the Jacksonville jailhouse awaiting his trial. In this letter dated March 28, 1927, Hugh’s mother offers him some words of comfort. (Southern Oregon Historical Society LIB2016.4.1)

 
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Hugh’s father Paul sent him this letter on April 12, 1927. A younger relative named Nellia, presumably a sibling, included a short message and a doodle. (Southern Oregon Historical Society LIB2016.4.1)

 
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While in prison in the 1940s, Hugh DeAutremont corresponded with Mary E. Smith, an old childhood friend from Lakewood, New Mexico. During a visit, Hugh indicated that he would like to make greeting cards, so Mary and her husband provided art paper and ribbons to him regularly thereafter for this purpose. Hugh used these materials to fashion this Christmas card for Mary and her family, which includes the following message: “Dear Mary – I'm sorry to hear that you’ve been ill. I hope you are well now and that you have a nice Xmas. Emily said you are holding up production on some pics of you and her...Thanks very much for what you are doing for me. With your help + Mom Skeen’s I might possibly be down your way before so very much longer. Happy Xmas to you all – H.” (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1976.165.4, MS 202)

 
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Hugh sent this letter to Mary Smith in 1947 detailing his progress with the greeting card project. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1976.165.5, MS 202)

 
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Mary Smith became an advocate for Hugh and his brothers, writing to former Oregon state governor Earl Snell in 1946 to inquire about their release. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1976.165.6, MS 202)

 

Paroles for the twins Roy and Ray DeAutremont came decades after their brother Hugh’s release and death. In 1949 Roy was transferred to the Oregon State Hospital due to mental illness. His parole came in 1982 and he died the following year. Ray received a parole in 1961 and the Oregon governor commuted his sentence in 1972. He died in 1984.

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This oil on canvas, titled “Solitude, Silence, and Mountains,” was painted by Ray DeAutremont in 1956 during his incarceration at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon. Ray was released from prison five years later in 1961. (Courtesy Oregon Historical Society Museum, 82-193.1,.2. https://museumcollection.ohs.org/argus/ohs/Portal/portal.aspx?component=AAAI&record=d5243742-8e7d-497b-a343-49440db81cf5)

 
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After his time in prison, Ray DeAutremont wrote a piece about the things he had learned to make him a better person called “The Breviary of a Well Adapted Person”. (US Postal Inspection Service)

Documenting Tunnel 13 after Fifty Years

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In 1973, Ray DeAutremont returned to the Jacksonville Courthouse -- the site of his 1927 trial which by then had been converted into the Southern Oregon Historical Society’s Jacksonville Museum -- to film segments for Jerry Schneider’s documentary commemorating the crime’s 50th anniversary. (Southern Oregon Historical Society #034465)

 
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Filming the 1973 documentary inside the Jacksonville Museum. Ray DeAutremont is at left, wearing a black hat. (Southern Oregon Historical Society #088933)

 
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Filming the 1973 documentary inside the Jacksonville Museum. Ray DeAutremont is at left in black hat, reviewing documents and photographs with two others. (Southern Oregon Historical Society #034466)

 
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53 years after the attack on Train 13, Ray DeAutremont went back to the scene of his gruesome crime. (US Postal Inspection Service, Courtesy National Archives)

 
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Ray DeAutremont with train crewmen 53 years after the robbery. (US Postal Inspection Service, Courtesy National Archives)