This Oregon Town Was Infamous For Its Cult, But It Just Became The State’s First Dark Sky Community

A small Oregon city with an estimated inhabitants of solely 37 people is the primary within the state to change into a Dark Sky Community, that means an included place the place the standard of the night time sky is preserved by lighting ordinances that cut back gentle air pollution, training, and different measures. If this seems like a commendable achievement, it’s.

However this isn’t the primary time Antelope, Oregon has been within the information. The city was as soon as house to an notorious cult that dedicated a horrible crime, a legacy that makes Antelope certainly one of America’s wildest cult sites and one of many darkest true crime spots in the world.

A spot the place gentle air pollution is decreased for perfect night time sky views

Darkish Sky Worldwide was created out of considerations from astronomers and ecologists over rising light pollution levels, which have doubled over the previous quarter-century. These considerations led to the muse of the Worldwide Darkish-Sky Affiliation (IDA) in 1980.

In 2001, Flagstaff, Arizona turned the primary of over 200 locations in 22 international locations to be licensed with Dark Sky status. There are a number of forms of accreditation, together with for a spot, a sanctuary, a reserve, a park, a lodging, or a group. Antelope turned the first town in Oregon to qualify for a Darkish Sky Group certificates when it obtained approval in 2024. Nevertheless, it was solely the fifth place total within the state to obtain some type of Darkish Sky standing.

Sunriver turned the primary Darkish Sky Place in Oregon in 2020, adopted by Prineville Reservoir and Oregon Caves Nationwide Monument, each of which have been granted Darkish Sky Park standing. The Oregon Outback Darkish Sky Sanctuary was additionally permitted earlier this yr.

The Heinous Crime For Which Antelope, Oregon Is Recognized

A bio-terror assault was utilized in an try to vary election outcomes

Antelope was one of many most obscure towns in Oregon till the early Nineteen Eighties when it turned the house of Indian mystic Bhagram Shree Rajneesh. His preaching of free love and positivity proved so standard that on the peak of his energy, the utopian commune (referred to as Rajneeshpuram) close to Antelope (redubbed Rajneesh) was stuffed with 15,000 purple and orange-clad followers. These followers and gross sales of his books additionally crammed Rajneesh’s pockets, permitting him to purchase the 64,000-acre Large Muddy Ranch and a reputed 93 Rolls-Royce vehicles.

Nevertheless, neighbors didn’t just like the Rajneesh Motion. Land use squabbles and authorized disagreements quickly adopted, which led to a number of felony acts by the Rashneeshis. One was a conspiracy by seven high-ranking commune members to assassinate the US Lawyer for Oregon, Charles Turner. That failed.

An try to swing an election by incapacitating voters practically succeeded, although, and stays the largest bioterrorism incident in U.S. historical past.

The Rajneesh Motion knowingly contaminated salad bars with salmonella within the close by city of The Dalles, inflicting 751 people to change into unwell. Luckily, nobody died. However Rajneesh was deported in 1985 and returned to India, the place he shortly amassed as many followers as he had within the U.S.

What Antelope, Oregon Is Like In the present day

Turning into Darkish Sky licensed has helped the city transfer past its darkish previous

As soon as Rajneesh had been deported, Antelope largely returned to obscurity, save for the 2018 Netflix present Wild Wild Country – a documentary collection on the Rajneesh period in Oregon – and the latest information of the city’s Darkish Sky Group certification.

The Large Muddy Ranch, previously house to the Rajneesh commune, was donated by its subsequent proprietor, a Montana billionaire, to a Christian non-profit referred to as Young Life that seeks to assist younger folks uncover and deepen their religion. It’s a working ranch that cultivates livestock like cattle, pigs, and chickens.

Antelope, in the meantime, is a type of ghost towns that are still considered home by a number of dozen residents. It’s not notorious anymore, or one of many best places for true crime enthusiasts to visit in the U.S. As a substitute, it has rebranded itself with the unofficial motto, “The place the place you’ll be able to see the Milky Manner from Major Avenue.”

“I actually wished to see Antelope be identified for one thing higher than that long gone incident,” Darkish Sky Oregon co-founder Michael McKeag informed
Oregon Live
, explaining his participation in serving to Antelope change into Darkish Sky licensed.