Анталопа, Орегон: История города и коммуны Раджниш

Antelope (known as Rajneesh from 1984 to 1986) is a city in rural Wasco County, Oregon, United States. Antelope had an estimated population of 47 people in 2012.

Antelope was originally a stage and freight wagon road stop on the old Dalles to Canyon City Trail. Howard Maupin came to Antelope in 1863 to operate a horse ranch, becoming the caretaker of the stage station that was established by Henry Wheeler. Maupin began raising cattle to provide meat for travelers. Nathan Wallace, who is sometimes credited with being Antelope's first postmaster, acquired the Antelope stage station from Maupin in 1870. Records indicate the community was considered to have been established in 1872. The town 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 city voted to revert to the name Antelope.

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. 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. 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, 18 mile (29 km) 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.

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 34 mile (55 km) northeast of Madras and 143 mile (230 km) east of Portland. Antelope Creek, in the Deschutes River watershed, flows by Antelope.

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

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). There were 28 households, of which 11% (3 households) had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21% (6 households) were married couples living together, 4% (1 household) had a female householder with no husband present, 11% (3 households) had a male householder with no wife present, and 64% (18 households) were non families. About 61% (17 households) of all households were made up of individuals, and 46% (13 households) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.64 and the average family size was 2.70. The median age in the city was 62 years. About 15% of residents (7 people) were under the age of 18; 2% (1 person) were between the ages of 18 and 24; 11% (5 people) were from 25 to 44; 30.3% (14 people) were from 45 to 64; and 41% (19 people) were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 52% (24 people) male and 48% (22 people) female.