Hey, I have a crazy connection to this song as well. One of my dad's great old friends who used to work as a hospice nurse actually cared for Ray DeAutremont as he was dying from cancer. Jinx Davis' wife was also a hospice nurse with my dad's friend Jan and that is how he came across the story...straight from the source. I love this real outlaw story, and Jinx Davis' song is fantastic so a while ago I did my best to transcribe it. If anyone is still checking this post I hope they enjoy it. THE DeAUTREMONT BROTHERS By Jinx Davis Album: Oregon Country It was early October in 1923. Oh, high up in the Siskiyou, the eagle she flew free. While forests they was tinder dry, and little sign of rain, The DeAutremont brothers they set out to rob a train. Now Hughy was the youngest boy. the twins were Roy and Ray, And they was young and desperate as they set out that day. High against the sky so blue the eagle could be seen, While the boys they sat there waiting by the tunnel called Thirteen. Now the train they called the Gold Special was headed south that day. Pullin' out of Ashland, it was rolling on its way, Climbing through the Siskiyous and heading for the top, And as the train rolled slowly by, up Hugh him and Roy did hop. Well, they ran up aboard that train and brought it to a stop Inside the tunnel called Thirteen just as she reached the top. Ray he grabbed the dynamite to blast the mail-car door, And down the mountains and the canyons you could hear the roar. Well, the blast ripped the mail-car door. It killed the mail clerk too. The fire raged. the smoke poured out. Ray turned a pale hue. Knew that he had ruined the job, he made an awful sound. And the brakeman stumbled through the smoke, Ray gunned him down. Then Hugh and Roy they panicked too, and they killed the engineer. They also gunned the fireman down whilst he was standing near. All three brothers took off running down the mountainside. Just stumbling and a-lookin' for a place that they could hide. In Medford and Ashland and the little towns around, Posses they was forming up where able men were found. Sheriff says, "We'll catch 'em, boys, and justice will be done. Now grab your guns and hunting dawgs. We'll get 'em on the run." But the brothers knew the mountains well. They made their getaway. Shaking hands then, they split up. Each went his separate way. For four long years the lawmen searched the country up and down. Finally they brought them in. Each brother had been found. Well, they brought them back to Medford. The jury had their say, For murder of the railroad men that black October day. Sent up to Salem to the penitentiary. When the boys walked through the gates, they threw away the key. And the years rolled by and Hugh died, Roy he went insane. Now Roy's only prison is the one inside his brain. Ray grew old and weary till they finally let him go. Now he has desires to watch the shadows grow. In memory of railroad men in Oregon today, They still recall the murders of the railroad crew that day. The uselessness in wasted life, where not one thing was gained. In tunnel 13 on that day when death in fire rained. And down in southern Oregon up in the Siskiyous, In autumn when the nights grow cold and the leaves turn many hues, Eagle she's still soaring there against the sky so blue. She hardly ever worries about the crazy things men do. [Repeat first verse] [End]
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