Thanks to the new Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country, I’ve gained a greater appreciation for as well as an interesting, bizarre and tragic perspective about my home state of Oregon.
The Rajneesh group, a cult believing in free love, came to a tiny rural town called Antelope, Oregon in the 1980s. They came in search of an extensive amount of land to buy in the United States because they admired America’s ideas of the Constitution, under the impression that the statements of freedom could allow them to practice whatever they want.
The series outlines the timeline of events before, during and after their stay in Oregon. Upon arriving, the group built an entire town on what they called ‘a ranch’ in order to support their thousands of followers.
I felt that this series was a fair representation of the group because the producers include interviews from previous citizens of the town of Antelope and from the people who were trying to take them down. However, according to the article “9 Rajneeshpuram Residents on What Wild Wild Country Got Wrong,” there are some things the series left out and misrepresented—including the exclusion of the day-to-day life of the Sanyassins and the inclusive perspectives of “villains and rednecks.”
Whether or not there are positive aspects to being a part of the Rajneesh group, they still participated in some violent acts. The self proclaimed “free-love” group was vigorously training their members to use guns in the event that they were invaded by police, government officials or a group of citizens from Antelope. Another one of the most shocking and unsettling doings of the group was the mass poisoning of citizens in The Dalles, Oregon. By experimenting with salmonella cultures in their lab, some lead Sanyassins were able to contaminate a salad bar at a restaurant in The Dalles, poisoning many people.
My jaw dropped multiple times while watching this new series and yours will too. A new perspective on the somewhat unspoken history of Oregon will leave you shook.