CANYON CITY — Authorities are investigating a man's death at the Rainbow Family gathering in eastern Oregon.

Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said in a news release Sunday that the man collapsed near a makeshift medical station. An emergency room doctor attending the festival southwest of John Day tried to save his life.

The East Oregonian newspaper reports the body was taken to John Day, where fingerprints were obtained in an effort to learn the identity.

The festival began Saturday in the Malheur National Forest, with up to 20,000 people expected. The counter-culture peace gathering began in 1972 and occurs each year in a different national forest.

More coverage of the Rainbow gathering:

-- The Associated Press