Detonator used by the DeAutremonts

Object Details

Hugh DeAutremont, American, 1904 - 1959

Ray Charles DeAutremont, American, 1899 - 1984

Roy A. A. DeAutremont, American, 1899 - 1983

Description

The DeAutremont brothers stole this DuPont Blasting Machine No. 3 from the Oregon City Construction Company and used it to perpetrate the holdup and attempted robbery of a mail train. Made of 5/8-inch thick wood joined with mortice and tenon and flathead screws, the device has a plunger, a leather strap handle, and two butterfly connections. The metal advertising plate on top of the device provides instructions for use.

The twins Roy and Ray DeAutremont and their younger brother Hugh ambushed the Southern Pacific train #13 at tunnel #13 near Siskiyou, Oregon, on October 11, 1923. They used too much dynamite to blow open the mail car doon and the explosion and fire burned much of the mail and claimed the life of the Railway Post Office Clerk aboard. The brothers shot and killed three railway employees at the scene as the attempted heist went tragically wrong. Law enforcement, including the US Postal Inspection Service, gathered this detonator and evidence during the investigation. The expert analysis of a forensic scientist led to the identification of the three DeAutremonts as suspects. An extensive international manhunt resulted in the arrest of Hugh DeAutremont in 1927, followed by the apprehension of his brothers a few months later. All three were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hugh died in 1958, Roy died in 1983, and Ray died in 1984.

Credit line

National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

October 11, 1923

Object number

1991.0025.1

Type

Crime Evidence

Medium

wood; metal; leather; paper

Dimensions

Height x Width x Depth: 17 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 6 in. (44.45 x 21.59 x 15.24 cm) Weight: 26 lb.

Place

Oregon

See more items in

National Postal Museum Collection

On View

Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum

National Postal Museum

Associated Event

DeAutremont train robbery, 1923

Topic

The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929)

Postal Administration

Record ID

npm_1991.0025.1

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8bb148fcb-7a17-489f-917d-a14a08d2a9bf