Antelope (Or.)

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.