The DeAutremont Brothers
Americas Last Great Train Robbery
Margaret LaPlante
Other books by the same author:
On To Oregon: The Stories of Seventy Families Who Settled The Rogue Valley
Images Of America: Jacksonville
Murdered In The Line Of Duty: Constable George J. Prescott
The DeAutremont Brothers
Americas Last Great Train Robbery Margaret LaPlante
Copyright 2009 by Margaret LaPlante
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1449986544 This book is dedicated to:
Sidney Bates
Elvyn Doughtery
Coyl Johnson
Marvin Seng
Who tragically lost their lives in Americas last great train robbery and to their families and friends whose lives were changed forever. Introduction
The Rogue Valley was ablaze in fall colors on October 11, 1923 as the Gold Special of the Southern Pacific Railroad made its way along the mighty Rogue River towards the California-Oregon border. The Gold Special, also known as Train was carrying mail and passengers on a Portland to San Francisco run. At approximately 12:40 p.m. the train entered Tunnel The events that transpired there soon became known the world over.
Chapter I
Anyone who has ever spent a spring or fall in Southern Oregon will tell you that the weather can change from one season to the next overnight. On October 11, 1923 the day dawned under a bright sunny sky with a daytime temperature expected to be degrees. Winter would arrive shortly but for now the valley was glowing with brilliant autumn colors and the residents were enjoying the final days of an Indian summer.
The Gold Special, or Train as it was also known, was on its way to San Francisco having left Portland early that morning. The passengers aboard the train were enjoying the brilliant reds, oranges and yellows of the fall foliage reflected in the Rogue River as the train wound its way through Southern Oregon. Just past noon the train stopped at the depot in the small hamlet of Ashland, Oregon. The passengers aboard were allowed a few minutes to stretch their legs. Little did they know that they were about to make railroad history.
The train crew handed over the reins to a fresh crew from the Shasta California division whose lives were about to change forever.
The train engineer, Sidney Bates was just beginning his shift. He had been with Southern Pacific Railroad for thirty years. His fireman was 23-year-old Marvin Seng. Both Bates and Seng called the picturesque town of Dunsmuir, California home. Dunsmuir is a small town halfway between Redding, California and the Oregon border. Seng had been for working for Southern Pacific Railroad since 1918 and had a young wife and a baby at home. He was filling in for his friend James McDonald who had another obligation. The previous summer McDonald had almost lost his life while aboard Train when the boiler exploded.
The brakeman coming on shift that day was Charles (Coyl) Orin Johnson who was one day shy of his th birthday. His wife Ruth was planning a party for him upon his arrival home. In the mailcar was Elvyn Doughtery who had agreed to fill in for his friend John Edwards. Edwards had an important Masonic Lodge meeting that morning in Ashland so he asked Doughtery to cover his shift. Doughtery had a wife, Rollie and a four-year-old son named Raymond.
Train consisted of an engine, the tender, one combination mailcar, four baggage express cars and three coaches. The mailcar was made of steel and separated by a steel partition, the front being used for mail and the back being used for pouches of mail and baggage. Doughtery was in the front and Hugh Huffy was in the back. There was a steel door they could crawl through to get from one side to the other. Beyond Huffy was the iceman, whose job was to continually ice the fish that was being transported to California to be sold to restaurants and stores.
The train left Ashland and began to make its way towards California. All southbound trains were required to perform a brake check prior to descending the steep Siskiyou Summit. As Bates approached Tunnel he slowed to a crawl of 5-6 miles per hour. Tunnel was 3100 feet long and mostly made of timber.
What no one knew was that the DeAutremont brothers, twins Ray and Roy age 23, and their younger brother Hugh, age 19, were hiding near the tunnel. As the train slowed, Roy and Hugh jumped from the bushes they were hiding in and climbed aboard the train. Although they had done this numerous times in the past as they traveled from one place to the next, this time they almost missed. In the midst of trying to catch the train, Roy lost his .45 pistol along the tracks. This slowed him down and he would have missed the train completely had it not been for Hugh who saw what had happened and was able to pull Roy aboard the train. Ray was up ahead in the tunnel chain smoking in an effort to calm his nerves.
Roy and Hugh made their way from the baggage car to the tender where they jumped down into the engineers cab, startlingly Bates and Seng. Hugh pointed his loaded shotgun at Bates and demanded that he stop the train once the engine was barely clear of the tunnel. Hugh threatened to shoot if his demands werent met. Bates informed Hugh that he had to turn the warning bell on as he entered the tunnel because that was company policy. Hugh reluctantly agreed to the request. Bates did as he was told and Train came to a stop inside Tunnel with just its nose outside of the tunnel.
Ray was in the tunnel with a detonating device and dynamite which he placed up against the door of the mailcar. He saw Doughtery stick his head out the window in an effort to determine why the train had come to a complete stop. Ray fired his shotgun at Doughtery but missed. Doughtery quickly bolted the window shut and locked the safe.
Hugh Huffy was also curious when the train came to an unexpected stop so he peered out his door in the baggage car. From his vantage point he could see Seng with his hands in the air and he could see that two men were holding guns on him. Huffy quietly closed his door and waited.
As Hugh stood with his gun drawn on Bates and Seng, Roy left to help Ray with the dynamite. The brothers had spent the past few weeks planning to dynamite the mailcar so they could quickly grab what they thought would be at least $40,000 and make their great escape before anyone knew what had happened.
The warning bell continued to clang loudly and that along with the unexpected stop made the passengers and other crewmembers begin to question what had gone wrong. The conductor of the train, C.O. Merritt and brakeman Coyl Johnson started for the front of the train when suddenly a tremendous explosion ripped through the tunnel. Although Ray had had some experience using dynamite, it was actually Roy who plunged the detonator. The blast took out all of the trains windows and filled the entire train and tunnel with smoke. The boys thought if they detonated the dynamite while the train was inside of the tunnel, no one would be able to hear it in the distance. This logic proved to be an incredible mistake because the mailcar was soon engulfed in flames and thick smoke making it impossible to see anything. Hugh ordered Bates and Seng back into the cab and demanded they move the train forward so the mailcar would no longer be inside of the tunnel.
Merritt turned back when the explosion occurred but Johnson continued to make his way towards the mailcar. In his hand he carried a red lantern. He came upon Roy who informed him a robbery was taking place and that his life was in great danger. Roy ordered Johnson to go and tell Bates to move the train forward. As Johnson began to walk towards the cab still carrying his lantern, he startled Ray and Hugh who both fired their guns. Johnson crumbled to the ground uttering his final words, that other fellow said to pull the thing ahead. Johnson was in great distress and Hugh shot him again.
