Commune Converts Into Christian Camp

Thu., Sept. 18, 1997

Associated Press

County officials on Wednesday unanimously approved a plan to put a Christian youth camp where the Rajneeshee commune of the 1980s once stood.

Representatives of Young Life, a nationwide Christian youth program, had been working with Wasco County planners and neighbors of the Big Muddy Ranch for almost a year to soothe concerns of those who recall the turbulent years of the commune led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Indian guru and his followers left a legacy of sham marriages, poisoned salad bars at local restaurants, conspiracy to murder and intimidation.

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