Antelope (known as Rajneesh from 1984 to 1986) is a city in rural Wasco County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, Antelope had a population of 37.

The city was established in 1872 at a stage and freight wagon road stop on the old Dalles to Canyon City Trail. It was incorporated as the City of Antelope in 1901.

In the early 1980s, hundreds of members of the Rajneesh movement moved in and built a small city in previously unoccupied land they purchased. The Rajneeshees effectively took over the government of the city by outnumbering the original residents with new voter registrations. On September 18, 1984, a vote was held, and the city was renamed Rajneesh, Oregon. By 1985, after several of the Rajneesh movement leaders were discovered to have been involved in criminal behavior (including a mass food poisoning attack and an aborted plot to assassinate a U.S. Attorney), leader Rajneesh left the country as part of a plea deal for federal immigration fraud charges, and the Rajneesh commune collapsed. On November 6, 1985, the remaining residents of the city, which included both original residents and some remaining Rajneeshees, voted 34 to 0 to revert to the name Antelope.

History

The Antelope Valley was probably named by European-American members of Joseph Sherar's party, who were packing supplies to mines in the John Day area. Sherar became known as the operator of a toll bridge across the Deschutes River, on a cut-off of the Barlow Road. In the early 19th century, the area supported many pronghorns, which are not true antelopes, but are often called "pronghorn antelopes". The road crossed the Deschutes River on Sherar's Bridge.

thumb|The historic [[Antelope School building, which currently houses municipal offices and various community functions including the annual harvest dinner event]]

The Antelope post office was established in 1871, with Howard Maupin, founder of Maupin, Oregon, as the first postmaster. The railroad timetable for September 9, 1900, lists a daily stagecoach run from the train terminal in Shaniko to Antelope and beyond. On September 18, 1984, the city was renamed "Rajneesh".

The organization collapsed in 1985 following the discovery by the authorities of criminal activities, such as a bioterror attack a year prior that exposed non-Rajneeshees in Wasco County to salmonella to prevent them from voting. On November 6, 1985, the remaining residents, which included both original residents and some remaining Rajneeshees, voted 34 to 0 to restore the original name, and it was subsequently restored in 1986. Currently, the ranch, from Antelope, is operated by Young Life, a Christian parachurch organization, as a Christian youth camp known as "Washington Family Ranch".

The events of the mid-1980s that involved the Rajneesh group were the subject of the 2003 Forensic Files TV series episode "Bio Attack", and the 2018 Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country.

Geography

thumb|The closed Antelope Café

Antelope, in Wasco County in north-central Oregon, is along Oregon Route 218 just north of its intersection with Oregon Route 293. By highway, the city is northeast of Madras and east of Portland. Antelope Creek, in the Deschutes River watershed, flows by Antelope.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Antelope has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa).

Demographics

thumb|left|Sign on the entrance to Antelope reading "City of Rajneesh", circa 1985

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Antelope had a population of 37. The median age was 56.3 years, 16.2% of residents were under the age of 18, and 29.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 236.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 244.4 males age 18 and over.

0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 20 households in Antelope, of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 15.0% were married-couple households, 65.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 20.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 50.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 35 || 94.6%

|-

| Black or African American || 0 || 0%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 0 || 0%

|-

| Asian || 0 || 0%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0%

|-

| Some other race || 1 || 2.7%

|-

| Two or more races || 1 || 2.7%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 5 || 13.5%

|}

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 46 people, 28 households, and 10 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 43 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.3% White (42 people), 2.2% Native American (1 person), 2.2% Asian (1 person), and 4.3% from two or more races (2 people).

References

Further reading

  • Carl Abbott, "Utopia and Bureaucracy: The Fall of Rajneeshpuram, Oregon," Pacific Historical Review, vol. 59, no. 1 (Feb. 1990), pp. 77–103. In JSTOR
  • Donna Quick, A Place Called Antelope: The Rajneesh Story (August Pr.), 1995.
  • Arthur H. Campbell, Antelope: The Saga of a Western Town, 1990.
  • Entry for Antelope from the Oregon Blue Book
  • Antelope, Oregon from a2zgorgeinfo.com (contains entire text of "Antelope" and "Rajneeshpuram" from Oregon Geographic Names)
  • "Antelope, Oregon certified as the first International Dark Sky Community in Oregon by DarkSky International", DarkSky International (December 4, 2024)