The DeAutremont Brothers

by Margaret Laplante

  Back in Oregon the twins found legitimate work on a road construction project but Ray couldn"t shake the thought that robbing a bank would solve his every problem. He contacted an old cellmate from Monroe who suggested that he and the twins rob a bank in the town of Yacolt, Washington. It didn"t take much work for Ray to convince his twin that a simple bank job was their ticket to a better life.

  The three aspiring criminals agreed to meet in Yacolt on July 2, 1922. For reasons unknown, Ray"s friend never showed up. Undeterred the boys decided to spend the day “casing” the bank. A light drizzle turned into an icy downpour with cold winds but still the boys waited from their vantage point across from the bank. They grew tired and hungry but they figured that once they pulled off this seemingly easy bank job, they would be warm and well fed. They watched and waited all day and decided that at 5:30 p.m. they would rob the bank while the one local police officer was having his dinner. The one thing the boys may have been correct about was that this particular bank was an easy mark for a robbery. The twins were still watching the bank in the pouring rain when a large Buick pulled up, blocking their view. This incensed them a bit until they realized with great astonishment that the occupants of the Buick were robbing their bank. Ray immediately started towards the bank when Roy caught him from behind and brought him to the ground. Roy reminded Ray that the men inside the bank were no match for them as the twin"s guns weren"t loaded and they had no ammunition. The bank robbers jumped back into their Buick and disappeared down the street leaving the twins frustrated and angry. The boys returned to Portland feeling as though the world was against them. The next morning they awoke feeling somewhat optimistic and decided to hop a freight train to the coastal town of Seaside, Oregon. The boys thought with the 4th of July celebration going on, no one would notice if a bank was robbed. The town had a boardwalk which was filled with families enjoying a sunny day at the beach. The twins were growing hungrier by the hour so they decided a simple bank job would more than supply them with the food they so desperately wanted. At first Roy and Ray thought that the Seaside Bank looked good, even though the local police station was within shouting distance. But the more they talked about it, they came to the realization they would need a vehicle to haul away the proceeds of the robbery. In as much as neither of them knew how to operate a vehicle, they came to the conclusion that stealing an automobile, learning how to drive and robbing a bank was probably more than they could handle in one afternoon. Casting aside their dreams of sudden wealth, the boys kept on walking until they reached the town of Cannon Beach.

  By now they were famished and were just looking for a simple robbery. Roy"s eyes landed on a small confectionary shop that was bustling with business. Once again the twins took up surveillance, this time in a ditch across the street from the shop. They debated just how much money the shopkeeper would have, $300, $500 maybe a $1000. After much discussion they decided to wait for the shopkeeper to leave the store at the end of the day, and then they would rob him at gunpoint as he headed home. Ray questioned Roy as to what they would do if the shopkeeper put up a fight. He reminded Roy they did not want to end up being hanged for murder. Roy assured him everything would be fine. Whether or not their plan would have worked, we will never know because as the shopkeeper made his way home, the boys were fast asleep in the ditch. They awoke the next morning hungry and angry at themselves. The boys forged for food in the garbage cans and found barely enough to sustain themselves.

  Hoping to change their luck, the boys began walking back to Seaside while trying to figure out how best to commit a crime. Once they arrived in Seaside they realized a holdup was not feasible due to the large crowds and thus potential witnesses. They considered themselves above a purse snatching which didn"t leave them with many options. As they walked through town, Roy saw a poster advertising a foot race that was to take place on the beach that afternoon. Memories of being the fastest kid in his school came flooding back and despite the gnawing hunger, Roy was certain he could win. Excited by the prospect of a cash prize of $10, the boys decided this legitimate, noncriminal act was the way to go. Roy"s confidence soared only to come crashing down when three men passed him by. A disappointed Roy managed to come in 4 th . Once again the boys left the coast feeling completely defeated and depressed. They hopped a freight train and made their way back to Portland.

  The remainder of that summer found the boys working at various logging camps in Oregon. They were joined by their older brother Verne. At the time Hugh was living with his mother in New Mexico and preparing to enter his senior year of high school.

  During the winter of 1922-1923 the twins lived in Eugene, Oregon. Roy worked as a barber but his eyes were still giving his problems and he feared he was going blind. Ray was unable to find much work which only added to his belief that the world was against him.

  During the spring of 1923 Ray rode the rails to New Mexico to visit his mother and younger brothers Hugh and Lee. Hugh was just finishing up high school where he excelled in sports. He was the captain of the basketball team; he played on the football team, was the athletic editor of the school yearbook and was the president of the “A” club. His class photo had a caption under it inthe yearbook that read, “An optimist in the guise of a pessimist.” By all accounts Hugh seemed to have a bright future as he completed his high school education in the spring of 1923. It was during this trip that Ray talked to Hugh about moving to Oregon upon graduation and helping his twin brothers pull off a bigcrime. Ray wasn"t sure what that crime would be but he was setting his sights on a one time deal that would have them set for life.

  Upon returning to Oregon Ray found work at a logging camp earning $5.60 per day. That job ended due to a labor strike. Soon after the twins found work at the Silver Falls Lumber Company in Silverton, Oregon. Everything seemed fine and they even returned to church, this time at the First Christian Church. It was there that Roy met a young lady by the name of Dorothy Wiberg. It wasn"t long before he was in love and even spent time with her family in Albany. While in Albany he had some professional photos taken at a studio. Those photos would come back to haunt him someday.

  Hugh moved to Oregon during the summer of 1923. Hugh"s otherwise promising future gave way to his desire to be close to his twin brothers. He was quickly taken in when they began talking about their dreams of pulling off one big heist.

  The 1920"s saw the rise in gangster crimes and many Americans couldn"t help but be intrigued with the likes of Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Bugsy Siegel and others. The brothers became fascinated with the exploits of Roy Gardner who was enjoying great success in robbing trains. It didn"t take much for the boys to decide this was their ticket out of their current lifestyle. They figured all they had to do was to pull off one big train robbery and they"d be set for life. Given the twins serious lack of success as criminals, one has to question just how they thought they could pull off such a monumental job as robbing a train. Up until this time the boys had been lawabiding citizens making an honest living, with the exception of Ray"s one run-in with the law. But this was all about to change. As they sat night after night plotting and planning, they became increasingly confident that they could rob a mailcar.

  The twins found themselves out of work on September 1, 1923 when the Silver Falls Lumber Company called a strike. This turn of events put a plan into motion that would change their lives forever. All three brothers headed to Portland and rented a room in a hotel. By now even Hugh, fresh out of high school, was so intrigued by crime that he took the alias of his new-found hero, Jesse James. The boys spent enough time in Portland to lay in a supply of materials they believed they would need for their caper. They purchased a repeating shotgun, .22 and .45 caliber cartridges and some camping equipment. They visited an automobile lot and purchased a 1918 Nash Touring car so they could make a fast get-away. The automobile was registered to Roy and the first two payments were made at the time of purchase.

  The boys piled into the vehicle and headed north looking for the pe
rfect place to hold up a train. They had driven almost to Seattle without any luck when Ray remembered seeing an area in the Siskiyou Mountains while traveling to New Mexico. He decided that would be an ideal spot for a train robbery. They turned the car around and headed south. When they reached Eugene they stayed with their father for a few days. During that time they added to their cache of supplies at a local store. One day while driving they came across a construction site of the Southern Pacific Railroad. They returned to the site later that night and stole some dynamite, a roll of blasting wire, some blasting caps and a detonating device. When it was time to leave Eugene, they told Paul they were heading to Puget Sound to do some hunting. They actually continued on their journey to Southern Oregon. Once they reached the Siskiyou Mountains they stopped and began searching for the perfect hideout. They located an old abandoned shack and moved right in. The boys soon discovered that all southbound trains had to perform a brake check at nearby Tunnel 13 which required a brief stop before the train could begin its steep descent towards the California border. Further checking revealed that Train 13, also known as the Gold Special, due to the large amount of mail it carried, passed through on a regular basis. Back in the heyday of gold mining the Gold Special carried large amounts of gold from Oregon to the mint in San Francisco.

  Apparently the boys were not superstitious or they might have questioned the wisdom of Train 13 and Tunnel 13.

  They spent their days preparing for the train robbery by target shooting and walking the terrain to spot any potential problems. They even practiced setting off the detonating machine. After a lengthy discussion the trio decided it would be too risky to use the Nash for a quick getaway. Instead they decided it would be better to return to the cabin after the robbery and just lay low until things cooled off. It was decided that Hugh would drive the Nash to Eugene and store it in their father"s garage. Then after the robbery when the coast was clear, Ray would ride the rails to Eugene, fetch the car and return to pick up his brothers.

  Like most well laid out plans of the DeAutremont brothers, this one was not without its share of problems. First off, as Hugh drove the Nash down the mountain, he literally ran into a cow. Hugh went into the nearby town of Ashland and had the vehicle fixed at the Park Garage which delayed his journey by three days. Hugh finally made it to Eugene, arriving in the middle of the night. He concocted a story for Paul about the weather being lousy during their hunting trip and that he had dropped the twins off at the Silverton Lumber Camp. He explained that he needed to store the Nash in Paul"s garage for safekeeping. The next morning Hugh announced that he was heading to Silverton to join his brothers. As Paul said goodbye to his son on that cool, crisp morning, he had no idea that he would never again see Hugh as a free man.

  As confident as the boys seemed about their plan to rob a train, Roy must have had some doubts that he would live through the experience. He took out two life insurance policies, one for his older brother Verne and one for his girlfriend Dorothy. He sent the policy to Verne by registered mail, which would come back to haunt him in ways he never could have imagined.

  Meanwhile, back in the mountains, Roy and Ray were becoming increasingly worried about Hugh"s whereabouts. Hugh chose to actually buy a ticket for the train ride to the Siskiyous, known as „riding the cushions" as opposed to „riding the rails." Hugh got off at the Ashland Depot and was waiting around to hop a freight train that would carry him close to the shack, when he aroused the suspicions of a Special Agent of the Southern Pacific. Hugh quickly made up a story about being on his way to San Francisco. The agent searched Hugh"s pockets and came across some friction tape, flashlight batteries and bulbs. Hugh told the agent a story about why he had those items and reiterated that he was traveling to San Francisco. The agent took enough money from Hugh"s wallet to buy him a ticket to San Francisco leaving Hugh with mere change. Hugh managed to give the agent the slip and walked the distance to the cabin.

  The twins had about given up on Hugh since he was several days late in returning from Eugene. They had done a „dry run" trying to hop aboard a train at the summit. Not wanting to be seen, they opted to do their practice run late at night. Ray managed to jump onto the train without any problems. Roy did manage to jump aboard but in doing so he banged his knee quite severely. The pain was so overwhelming that he let go and fell off the train. Having witnessed this, Ray jumped from the train and ran to assist Roy. Eventually they managed to hobble back to the cabin. Doubts of being successful at robbing a train seeped into their minds and they began to question their ability to, as Ray would later say, “get into the crime business.” The twins decided to give Hugh one more day but if he wasn"t back by the evening of Monday, October 9 th they would call the whole thing off. They spent that Monday brooding in the cabin and packing up their supplies. While packing they heard Hugh coming towards the cabin. Had he arrived an hour later, life may have been entirely different for many people. As relieved as the twins were to see their younger brother, their relief turned to anger when they learned that people in the area now knew their names, not the least of which was a special agent with the railroad and the automobile mechanic who had fixed the Nash after the run in with the cow. This new information caused the twins to once again rethink the whole train robbery plan.

  Building a campfire that night, they huddled around the fire and reminisced about their lives. The twins were just 23 and Hugh was 19. Up until this time they had proven they could earn a living doing hard, physical work and there was no reason to believe they couldn"t go back to that. Roy"s eyesight was still bothering him so he figured he would be blind soon so the thought of robbing a train still appealed to him. Ray continued to feel that the world was against him so he was fine with going ahead with the plan. Once the twins had decided to go ahead and rob the mailcar, they tried to talk Hugh out of it fearing they were ruining his chances at a normal life. Hugh was taken in by his big brothers" plans and wanted to stay with them out of loyalty. They warned him he could end up a dead man but this did not dissuade the young man just out of high school.

  If ever there was a time to rethink their plans, this was it. The twins did question their ability to pull off the robbery based on their bumbling experiences the summer before. Nevertheless, as the last of the embers faded in their campfire, the trio decided it was all or nothing and they set their sights on robbing Train 13 as it approached Tunnel 13 the very next day. They knew in their hearts there was a chance they would not live through the experience. The decision they made that night before drifting off to sleep would forever change the lives of many people.

  Chapter III

  What the brothers di dn"t know was that the blast from the dynamite had been heard at the Southern Pacific maintenance camp just over the California border. Leonard and Chester Smith were on their lunch break when they heard a terrific explosion. Fearing the boiler had blown on Train 13 they grabbed their fire extinguishers and headed over the summit to Tunnel 13. They were the first on the scene and they soon found a disoriented Merritt who whispered, “They all died.” Realizing this was a murder scene and not a malfunction of the train, they sent one of the passengers, M.C. Micander to run for help. He ran to the nearest operator station and asked that they send a Telegraph out. That first Telegraph simply stated “explosion Tunnel/Train thirteen/killed several, injured many believed to be hold-up. Please notify Associated Press.”

  Shortly thereafter, Sheriff Charles Terrill of Jackson County, where the crime had occurred, received sketchy details of a hold up of Train 13 wherein crewmembers had been murdered. He quickly formed a posse and they set out for Tunnel 13. Across the California border, Sheriff Caulkins did the same thing in Siskiyou County. When the sheriffs arrived on scene they were met by train passengers who had been trampling on the evidence. Despite this setback, Sheriff Terrill did find some evidence including, a detonator machine, a .45 Colt pistol, a pair of overalls, three knapsacks, a can of black pepper and some footpads that had been soaked in creosote. Sheriff T
errill interviewed a couple of witnesses who provided just enough information for him to be able to issue an all-points-bulletin for two men aged 25-30, slight build, 5"7”-5"8”, 160 pounds.

  Later that afternoon the local Medford and Ashland newspapers headlines screamed, “4 Killed S.P. Holdup in Siskiyous.” Soon the Siskiyou Mountains were teaming with posses from sheriff offices from Josephine County, Coos County, Curry County, Siskiyou County, as well as Department of Justice agents, the National Guard from both Medford and Ashland, Southern Pacific Railroad special agents, prohibition officers, local game wardens and the local city police. Sheriff Terrill sent for a team of Redbone hounds from Seattle to search the area for the killers.

  Clues began to pour in as the local communities found out about the crime. The citizens were outraged at the heinous crime and made no secret that they wanted the criminals to hang.

  Most of the initial reports indicated a black Hudson automobile had been used for the getaway. Cars carrying male passengers were stopped and the men questioned. Men walking in pairs or worse yet, a trio suddenly found themselves behind bars hoping their alibis would hold up. The search stretched from Redding, California to Roseburg, Oregon (approximately 250 miles).

  Within days Southern Pacific Railroad reported that “the bandits secured no loot” and all registered mail had been accounted for. They further stated that all registered mail had been in a safe that Doughtery had locked at the first sign of trouble. Later it was reported that most letters in the mailcar were wholly destroyed but in a few cases only the edges of the envelopes and letters had been burned. The letters that could be salvaged were sent on to the intended recipient with a note explaining what had happened.

  There was some excitement when it was reported that the bandits were hiding out in the Klamath County Forest. That lead was soon found to be inaccurate. Even the bloodhounds were found to be in error when they indicated the bandits had followed an old stagecoach road near the Siskiyou Summit.