A commune built by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh on a remote Oregon ranch, which collapsed after leaders orchestrated the largest bioterror attack in U.S. history to influence a local election.
Followers of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh purchased the 64,000-acre Big Muddy Ranch in Oregon in 1981, incorporating it the following year as the city of Rajneeshpuram. The commune grew to roughly 7,000 residents at its peak, and clashed repeatedly with local Oregon communities over land use and political control.
In September 1984, commune leaders — attempting to sway a county election by suppressing local voter turnout — contaminated salad bars at ten restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon, with salmonella, sickening 751 people in what remains the largest bioterror attack in U.S. history. The plot backfired, driving voters to reject Rajneeshee-backed candidates. The following year, senior aide Ma Anand Sheela fled the country, and Rajneesh himself was arrested attempting to leave the U.S.; he pleaded guilty to immigration fraud and was deported. The ranch was sold at auction in 1988.