One of the most bizarre periods in Oregon history began over 40 years ago in a remote part of the state still populated by more cows than people.
In 1981, devotees of a then little known religious leader from India, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, purchased a 64,229-acre property in Eastern Oregon called The Big Muddy Ranch.
Rajneesh and his personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, soon established a commune they called Rajneeshpuram that drew thousands of devotees. These devotees called themselves Sannyasins and dressed in red-hued colors to symbolize “the sunrise of the inner world.”
Rajneesh’s personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela in 1983.
What followed — questions of religious freedom, property rights, accusations of attempted murder and ultimately a bio terror attack on the people of Wasco County that sicken over 700 people — brought law enforcement and international news media scrutiny to Oregon.
As a 28-year-old photographer working for the Lewiston Morning Tribune in Lewiston, Idaho, I was among the media that traveled to Rajneeshpuram in the 1980s. Reporters and photographers from The Register-Guard also journeyed to the ranch over the years.
I was excited to see the commune with my own eyes. The place was a feast for the eye and camera. The sight of thousands of Sannyasins dressed in purple, red and orange, a doe-eyed holy man in flowing robes holding court, all staged on a picturesque ranch in sagebrush country was bizarre enough, but the blissful devotees dancing day and night while being guarded by semi-automatic weapon-carrying commune police made the scene otherworldly.
Followers of the Rajneesh movement line a road for a November 1984 drive-by appearance of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh at the Rajneeshpuram commune in central Oregon. The Bhagwan, a spiritual leader from India, amassed a fleet of more than 90 Rolls-Royce cars that he would drive that he would drive through the city for the daily ritual.
When I visited in 1985, little did I know that the commune was falling apart from within. An internal battle between Rajneesh and Sheela came to a head that year as evidence of a conspiracy to murder and poison members of the nearby communities was revealed. The audacious plan was to install loyalists in public office in Wasco County.
Sheela and her confidants fled to Europe one step ahead of the law and Rajneesh emerged from his silence, changed his name to Osho and tried to rally the remaining disciples. But it was too late. Federal and state law enforcement were closing in.
Rajneesh was eventually deported, some of his followers including Sheela were jailed and Rajneeshpuram was abandoned. It has since found new life as a Christian summer camp called Washington Family Ranch.
The story of The Bagwan and commune in Eastern Oregon has filled books and provided material for hour-long documentaries, but here are the highlights.
Timeline of Rajneeshpuram in Oregon
Children of the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh gather on the steps of the school in Rajneesh, formally Antelope, in 1983.
1981 — John Shelfer, husband of Ma Anand Sheela signed a purchase contract to buy The Big Muddy Ranch that spread across two counties (Wasco and Jefferson). The group changed the name to “Rancho Rajneesh.”
1982 — The new residents, all followers of Rajneesh, voted to incorporate as a city they called Rajneeshpuram. Concerns from neighbors, rural land use advocates and politicians soon lead to negative publicity, law enforcement scrutiny and lawsuits against the commune.
1983 — Rajneesh swore a vow of silence and reportedly passed on day-to-day leadership responsibilities for the commune to Sheela.
1984 — As tensions with neighbors escalated, devotees bought property in the nearby town of Antelope, elected their own officials and changed the name of the town to Rajneesh.
1984 — Known as the “sex guru” while in India, as the AIDS epidemic became more widespread in the U.S., Rajneesh began promoting a “Noah’s Ark of consciousness,” advocating for the use of rubber gloves and condoms among his followers.
1984 — In an apparent effort to sway the Wasco County election and bolster their workforce on the ranch, the commune began recruiting people, some homeless, from nearby cities to join the commune. As the fall elections neared, a Salmonella outbreak occurred in The Dalles, the Wasco County seat, that sickened 751 people. It was later revealed to be a bio terror attack by members of the commune under the direction of Sheela, aimed at discouraging voter turnout.
Devotees pray and sway during a gathering in Rajneeshpuram in 1985.
1985 — Sheela and her associates fled to Europe. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh renounced his vow of silence, publicly denounced his former secretary and changed his name to Osho.
A subsequent criminal investigation, the largest in Oregon history, confirmed Sheela and secretive group of loyalists engaged in a variety of criminal activities, including a widespread poisoning in The Dalles along with attempted poisoning of two public officials, attempted murder of Rajneesh’s physician, wiretapping within the commune and arson. Sheela and several associates were extradited, tried, convicted and sentenced to prison in the U.S.
As immigration officials investigated Rajneesh’s legal status in the U.S., he and several others tried to flee the country in two rented Learjets. He was arrested, convicted of immigration fraud and later agreed to leave the country.
1990 — Rajneesh, known as Osho, settled back in India and died at the age of 58 while living in an ashram in Pune, India.
Contact photographer Chris Pietsch at chris.pietsch@registerguard.com, or follow him on Twitter @ChrisPietsch and Instagram @chrispietsch
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Remembering Oregons 1980s Bagwan and Rajneeshpuram
