Tragedies of Legendary Railroad Detective's family

Lenard Harris was a fearless lawman who kept the peace in California's 19th Century not only on the streets of Sacramento but on the rails of the Southern Pacific Railroad in California and Arizona.

When the train was robbed in Ceres, California on September 8, 1891 by notorious robbers John Sontag and Christopher Evans, Harris was the train detective onboard who took a shot to his neck. He survived and went on to only be killed by robbers in Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz area.

His family sustained a series of tragedies. Their three infant children died, a son (W.H. Harris) was crushed to death coupling rail cars, another son (Len Harris Jr.) was shot after he kicked a dog and another son was fatally shot by his wife's alleged lover in self defense.

Amanda Harris, the 45-year-old wife of Lenard Harris, died at a young age from a cerebral hemorrhage.

The tragedies continued for other members of the Harris family. Leonard Harris IV who was the mayor of Reno in the 1950s, lost his wife and son in a botched residential robbery. All three are buried in the Harris family plot in Sacramento.

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