From Small Town to Big Crime- The De’ Autremont Brothers

The DeAutremont Brothers consist of three men Ray, Roy, and Hugh. Ray and Roy are twins, born in March of 1900 in the state of Iowa. Hugh was born four years later, in February, while the family lived in Arkansas. Their parents were Paul DeAutremont and Isabella Bertha. Supposedly, their father left the family, leading to the older boys finding odd jobs. Hugh, the youngest stayed in Artesia, NM to finish his high school career. He graduated in 1923 from Artesia High School, where he had been a wonderful student. In the 1923 yearbook, “the Rattler,” his picture can be found with the many titles that he earned. These include being the captain of the basketball team, athletic editor of the Rattler, and being President of the “A” Club. It also states that he participated in a senior play and football where he was the beloved quarterback. His chosen quote: “An optimist in the guise of a pessimist.”

His brothers didn’t have such a glistening reputation even before their attempt at robbery. Ray was arrested in 1920 in Washington as an alleged Bolshevik (a Red Scare charge), spending a year in prison. Roy continued working odd jobs until the lumber mill.

All three brothers converged on the lumber mill in Oregon by 1923. Which they did under assumed names. It was at this point that they thought of their plan to rob a train.  They decided upon the South Pacific Railroad’s San Francisco bound express. This train was meant to stop at the Siskiyou Tunnel 13. They had incorrectly assumed that there would be thousands of dollars stored in the train. During the actual robbery attempt, four men fell victim to the three brothers. Three were shot: Marvin Seng, Sidney Bates, and Coyl Johnson. Elvyn Dougherty locked himself in the mail car and was killed by an explosion caused by Roy using too much dynamite to try and open the door.

The DeAutremont brothers fled the scene as officials swarmed the area. They took shelter in a hidden bunk that they had prepared beforehand. As they hid, they were identified through evidence found and studied by a scientist named E. O. Heinrich. However, even with this evidence, the brothers managed to avoid capture for the next four years.

Hugh was arrested in 1927 after he joined the army. His sergeant recognized him from the wanted posters four years prior. Roy and Ray were then uncovered in Steubenville, Ohio. All of them signed confessions to avoid the death penalty. Only one of the brothers lived long enough to enjoy parole. Roy was transferred to the Oregon State Mental Hospital by 1950 and died by 1983, a year after his parole. Hugh managed to receive parole but died three months later to cancer in 1958. Ray, however, was granted parole in 1961. Between his parole and his death (1984), Ray wrote “The Breviary of a Well Adapted Person.” In ’73, Ray participated in a documentary over the Tunnel 13 robbery directed by Jerry Schneider. Some of the film was completed in the Jacksonville Courthouse, the very legal house that held his trial in 1927 (now the Southern Oregon Historical Society’s Jacksonville Museum).

If you would like to read more about the Tunnel 13 robbery, and what the brothers did or who they communicated with during their incarceration, please check out the references provided: