Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh drives one of his Roll-Royces as Ma Anand Sheela walks alongside in this photo from The Oregonian archives.

By Kristi Turnquist | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Oregonians who lived through the brief, tumultuous early 1980s residency of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh -- and his thousands of followers who set out to build a utopian city on an old ranch site in Central Oregon -- remember it all too well.

There was the conflict with the folks in Antelope – population 40 – which led to the guru's followers briefly taking over Antelope and renaming it Rajneesh; battles with the land-use watchdog group, 1000 Friends of Oregon, over the establishment of the city of Rajneeshpuram in rural country; and the commune's leaders bringing in homeless people from around the U.S. in an attempt to win a Wasco County election.

And how can we forget the poisoning of salad bars and other establishments, which sickened hundreds of people in The Dalles? Or the plots to assassinate Oregon government officials?

The six-part documentary series, "Wild Wild Country," which begins streaming on Netflix on March 16, revisits this story, which all these years later is still amazing, enraging and utterly fascinating.

Directors Chapman Way and Maclain Way previously made "The Battered Bastards of Baseball," the terrific 2014 documentary about the Portland Mavericks baseball team. The brothers are even more adept at making the story of the Rajneeshees come to life, both for those who were there and those unfamiliar with the saga.

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In “Wild Wild Country,” the filmmakers have access to tons of archival footage, since news organizations – both in Oregon and beyond – covered the Rajneeshee story in enthusiastic detail. Indeed, it's a parade of local newscasters, some of whom are still on Portland screens.

It helped that the material had juicy elements. When the Bhagwan and his followers arrived in Oregon in 1981, it didn’t take long for locals to start hearing about the group’s free-thinking attitudes toward sex. The guru – who had stopped speaking in public by this point – presided over a community clearly identifiable by their clothing, all in shades of red, purple and pink, which made them look like a color-coordinated cult.

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Things got even hotter, as the guru’s personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, delighted in saying provocative things. In one interview after another, Sheela called Oregonians who disagreed with her bigots. She dropped curse words on national television. She insisted she wasn’t interested in turning the other cheek when, after a Rajneesh-owned hotel in downtown Portland was bombed, the Rajneeshes armed themselves with high-powered weapons.

Oregonians may have resented it when the Bundys and their loyalists took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016, but that reaction was mild compared to the canyon-wide gap between Rajneeshees who saw themselves as joyful and enlightened, and locals who suspiciously eyed them as dangerous interlopers.

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That gulf really comes to life in “Wild Wild Country” in the new interviews conducted with Oregonians, such as Jon Bowerman (son of Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman), and former followers of the Bhagwan.

Sheela, now known as Sheela Birnstiel, is interviewed at her home in Switzerland, where she’s running homes for the aged and mentally disabled. Not surprisingly, she generally refuses to take responsibility for the crimes that she and other members of the community were eventually imprisoned for, though she does say, “I have to live with myself.”

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Philip J. Toelkes, who was Swami Prem Niren when working as a lawyer for the Bhagwan, is still devoted to the guru’s spiritual teachings: “He remains the master of masters.”

The only real note of regret comes from Jane Stork, an Australian who was a close associate of Sheela’s, and says she only later began the process of “breaking the spell.” Stork recounts how she and a group from the commune came to Portland with the intention of killing Charles Turner, U.S. Attorney for Oregon. In another chilling moment, Stork describes her attempted murder of the Bhagwan’s doctor.

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Then-Oregonian reporter Les Zaitz, interviewing an uncle of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in India in 1984. The Oregonian/file

Les Zaitz, the investigative reporter and former Oregonian staffer who chronicled much of the story of the Bhagwan, his background and crimes committed by those around him, is also interviewed. Zaitz recalls detectives arriving at The Oregonian to inform the reporter that they had credible evidence that “I had been targeted for murder,” as Zaitz says.

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Rajneeshpuram collapsed in 1985, as authorities sought to link commune leaders and members with food poisonings, murder plots, immigration fraud and other crimes. The Bhagwan was deported, and returned to India. Sheela and others were convicted on various charges, and served prison sentences.

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At more than six hours, “Wild Wild Country” may sound like a long sit. But the episodes fly by, thanks to the skills of the filmmakers and a true story more outrageous than anything you could make up.

“Wild Wild Country” streams on Netflix beginning March 16.

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Related: Rajneeshes in Oregon: An untold history

Some 25 years after the Rajneesh empire in Oregon collapsed, "amid attempted murders, criminal charges and deportations," Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Les Zaitz returned to the story, writing about aspects that had never before been made public. Zaitz' series of articles made use of government files and interviews with participants who were willing to talk for the first time. As the editor's note launching the series said, access to this information made it clear that "things were far worse than we realized." Read Zaitz' five-part series here.

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Ma Anand Sheela, outside her home in Switzerland, in a 2011 photo taken by Les Zaitz for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Ma Anand Sheela: Rajneeshes' public face left Oregon but holds onto blame, bitterness

In 2011, Les Zaitz also wrote an Oregonian/OregonLive story based on his visit with Ma Anand Sheela, now Sheela Birnstiel, at her home in Maisprach, Switzerland. As Zaitz wrote:

"Birnstiel said Oregon shares the blame for the troubles between its residents and the worshipers who believed in the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. 'We had done nothing to them. We legally bought a ranch. We legally went about our work.'

She said bigots and corrupt politicians oppressed the sect.

'Have they really followed their Constitution? This is the question I would like answered,"' Birnstiel said."

Read the entire story here.

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Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP

"Wild Wild Country" directors on telling "the craziest story" in Oregon history

Chapman Way and Maclain Way had already been to Oregon to make "The Battered Bastards of Baseball," the 2014 documentary about the Portland Mavericks. But when they first heard about the bizarre saga of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Ma Anand Sheela and the followers who tried to establish a city in rural Oregon in the 1980s, the brothers could hardly believe it was true. But it was, and the result is their Netflix docuseries, "Wild Wild Country." Read what they say about how they approached the story in our interview.