The Context

Tunnel 13 on the Southern Pacific Railroad, Oregon

Located high in the Siskiyou Mountains just beneath treacherous Siskiyou Pass, Tunnel 13 served as an integral connector on the Southern Pacific rail line for over 100 years. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1977.117.14, #034468)

Prior to rail construction in the 1880s, this portion of the pass was utilized by wagons, stagecoaches, and overland travelers as a main transportation route linking California and Oregon. Pictured here are Mollie Britt, Emil Britt, and an unidentified woman observing construction at the south end of Siskiyou Tunnel. (Southern Oregon Historical Society #001567)

Railroad Tunnel #13 through the crest of the Siskiyou Mountains was the final major link in the through railroad line connecting Oregon and California. Work on the 1650-foot bore by the Portland-based Oregon and California Railroad began in mid-1883 but was cancelled the following year for financial reasons. Three years later, Southern Pacific work crews building north from California completed the project. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1988.4-2, #019337)

These temporary buildings were erected at the north entrance to Tunnel 13 to accommodate the builders of the Southern Pacific over the Siskiyou mountains, 1886-1887. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1963.123.12, #006216)

Railroad construction at Tunnel 13. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1965.7.13, #08389)

South end of Tunnel 13 in the Siskiyous, with workers. (Southern Oregon Historical Society 1964.113.3, #10935)

Southern Pacific turntable at Siskiyou Station near Tunnel 13, c. 1915-1920. (Southern Oregon Historical Society #002320)

Southbound freight enters the north end of Tunnel 13, c. 1912. (Southern Oregon Historical Society)

Southern Pacific train #3602, featuring the same type of engine involved in the Tunnel 13 tragedy. Although the train in this image is fresh from the factory, engines in passenger service were typically well-maintained and would have been kept shining clean for their regular routes, just like this one. (Courtesy Shasta Division Archives)

Train 13 of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company regularly carried mail between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California. The railway, depicted on this 1934 postal route map, crossed the Oregon-California border through the Siskiyou Mountains, passing through Tunnel 13. (US Post Office Department, Postal Route Map of the State of Oregon, Scale ca. 1:633,600, Engraved and printed by US Geological Survey, 1934; Digital image Map ID Postal 0045, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives; Map from the collection of National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

Detail of Jackson County, Oregon, in Postal Route Map, 1934.

Railway Mail and Robberies

This circa 1905 photograph shows sorting equipment for a train car that was fully furnished for use as a Railway Post Office with postal staff working the mail en route. Train 13 on October 11, 1923, had a combination mail and baggage car. Aboard the mail car that day was Railway Mail Service Clerk Elvyn Dougherty. The job of railway mail clerks like Dougherty required knowledge of the routes for efficiently sorting the mail; and the skilled position tended to be well paid and respected within the Post Office Department. Since the Railway Mail Service began in 1864, the clerks faced potential dangers due to derailments, wrecks, and robbery of the trains. (National Postal Museum, A.2006-55)

Both mail and freight cars frequently carried high valued items. The mail shipments could contain payrolls, cash, gold, negotiable bonds, and other valuables. This 1925 photo shows mail sacks prepared for transport on a Railway Post Office car. (National Postal Museum, A.2006-59)

In 1920 three teenagers successfully robbed over $3.5 million off a mail train in Council Bluffs, Iowa, sparking a wave of copycat robberies around the country. In response, in 1921, the Post Office Department armed all its Railway Mail Service and transfer clerks. (US Postal Inspection Service, Record Group 28 National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC)

Railway mail clerks practice with their issued guns for protection on the job. (National Postal Museum)

Criminals targeting the mail, postal vehicles, and post offices racked up over $6 million between 1919 and 1921. The loses spurred the Postmaster General to request assistance from the US Marine Corps. Marine guards deployed to protect the US mail and postal employees starting in 1921. After the program ceased in 1922, crime rates began to increase. (National Postal Museum)