Although one of the newest in Oregon, Rajneesh Lookout is by its own right historic. When the 64,229 acre Big Muddy Ranch was purchased in 1980 to become the cult city of Rajneeshpuram, life in the nearby ranching town of Antelope changed rapidly. Converts from all over the U.S. and distant lands of the world flocked to the emerging commune in remote Wasco County, many arriving from Portland on a newly certificated carrier, Air Rajneesh. In 1985 they built a unique two-story wooden ground house lookout with catwalk to watch for fires in the new community under construction. Then in the 1990s they left as quickly as they came. Much of the commune burned in subsequent wildfires and the lookout stands empty as a reminder of a tumultuous chapter of history that many Oregonians would just as soon forget.