Vortex Voices

(The following is a compendium of Vortex Voices I collected during the researching of the book. They tell the story, the many sides of it, so well.)

“Hosting an official pot festival would probably cost him the election. Tom knew that. I told him that’s the likely outcome. I also told him it was the only responsible thing to do. We cannot have hordes of people running around Portland.” Ed Westerdahl, Governor McCall’s Executive Assistant.

“I’ve just committed political suicide,” Governor McCall, after giving the go ahead for Vortex I. Governor Tom McCall.

“I hope they all go to hell. What is their purpose except sex and drugs?”

From a letter to Governor McCall

“Why is it that you are so willing to coddle these filthy ugly longhairs?”

From a letter to Governor McCall

“We needed to express our highly romantic notions of the cultural revolution.” Lee Meier, The Family

“We had nothing on the material plane that showed that it could happen, that it was physically possible. We didn’t have a site. We didn’t have any money. There was nor real organization. But we had this belief that it was going to happen. That’s all.” Glen Swift, The Family.

“The hippies at least profess peace and love for their brothers. Nowhere else do I see a people that even try to say such a thing. The hippies have made a start that most of us are afraid to take.”

Jim Remington, letter to the Oregonian

“This place is holy. In the future this place will be regarded with the same adoration as Jerusalem, Gethsemane.”

A Vortex organizer as quoted by the Oregonian

“I wish God would destroy this park and all in it right now–I would gladly go.”

A Vortex visitor as quoted by the Oregonian

“Yeah, I was there man, in a band called Mother Smucker’s Jam, it was wild, insane. I was 21 years old living with two horny chicks in a chicken shack near Estacada on some old freak’s land. I might have been the first person there. Vortex man, it was my first gig!” Mike Esquire

“I’ll never forget walking from the area where we were set up, over to the edge of a hill sloping down to the Clackamas River. As we peered over the edge, we were shocked and delighted to observe around a dozen young girls naked in and around the water. Needless to say, four guys fresh out of high school, went absolutely wild.” Don McFadden, Jacob’s Ladder

“I was working my gold mine in the Siskyous and needed a ride into town for supplies. I got a ride and ended up in a state park 300 miles away. Some kind of festival I had never heard of was about to take place and I got drafted to help run the stage. I met John Lennon down in front and he was a really nice guy, and wanted to talk, but I had to do a job.” Harold Wilson.

We were tearing down local barns to build the stage. It was not going well. One day a helicopter landed and a bunch of suits come out. We thought it was the FBI, but it turned out to be timber executives. I remember taking off my gloves so I could hold hands. We formed a circle, said a silent prayer, and then one of them said, “Let’s get down to business. What do you need?” The next day a crane, pro crews, and beautiful, old growth lumber showed up.” Reggie deSoto

“I remember seeing a woman directing traffic topless and she wasn’t using her hands. It was quite a treat.”

From Clackamas County Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Landles

“A bunch of Legionnaires showed up at the gate swigging from bottles of Jack Daniel’s. They had come directly from the airport. It was headed for violence when a blonde surfer dude with nothing on but boxer shorts jumped up on the barricade. “I just got back from Vietnam 17 days ago and I was shooting people, man. Inside, here, that’s what you fought for man, so we could Rock and Roll!” They all embraced and went inside Vortex together.” Garrick Beck

“We got grub from the Family’s communal kitchen and bread from the Jesus freaks. The Jesus freaks had brought a large supply of unleavened bread. When you went to their camp to ask for some, they would always say, “Yes, but man does not live by bread alone.” Larry Klinger.

“A dump truck brought in some reject presto logs, back then they burned in different colors. The drivers asks, ‘What color logs you want?” I said, “We’re already seeing colors.” David Dumas

“About 200 people from PAJ got about 20 feet from the stage. All of a sudden ladies all around them dropped their clothes, lovely, lovely. Every one of these men had two ladies on them saying “peace brother, love brother.” It was the most effective technique in non-violence I’ve ever seen in my life.” Ed Westerdahl

“There was a National Guardsman, some kid, stationed on the other side of the Clackamas River. He walked into the river and started taking off all of his uniform. Went totally naked. Hundreds of people went out to surround him, and put clothes on him. We gave him some ID and he made it out of the park.” Garrick Beck

“Have you heard about the lockers? Yeah, the drug lockers. All the law enforcement agencies in the area took all their confiscated drugs and gave them away at Vortex…the sandwich board guy was giving it away…he was probably a narc…all the different pots were blended together, it was incredible.” They probably emptied every drug locker in the state.” Tom Cherry

“It was that night when I saw the flat bed trucks slowly drive into the crowd I remember seeing at least 3 at different points in the crowd the one nearest my panel had I would say about 10 or so huge gunny sacks like you would see full of  cotton (big), any way I could see they were throwing something out from these bags I yelled out over here and sure enough one of the guys on the back of this truck threw one at me I missed the first toss but caught the second one and later found out the one I missed, was caught by one of the people with me. well guess what, it was a good 1/4 pound maybe more of pot, it looked like it was compressed into a block and with my friend catching one we had a lot of pot for 5 people and the next day everyone around us was lighting up all day long.” Ron J.

“A guy in his late 60s/early 70s dressed like Gene Autry in silver and sequins came riding up on a horse. I had a joint and he had a pint of whiskey. I traded him a couple of swigs of the pint for a hit off my joint. Then he rode off into the sunset.” David Dumas

“I was the first private car into Vortex, a new Dodge Yellow Charger with seven miles on the odometer. I drove a bunch of hippies back and forth to Salem to meet with McCall. I remember running a mile at full speed down to the river, on mescaline, and not even being winded. I had been drafted but didn’t know it and ended up serving six months in jail for refusing to enlist.” Ted Veremonte

“The whole episode was a great contribution to an understanding between the ages and generations.”

Governor McCall

“It still makes my stomach turn to see all the Vortex people so happily stoned and dancing in the mud. They were every bit as self-indulgent and uncaring about the war as their parents.”

Doug Weiskopf, People’s Army Jamboree.

“Now that I stayed home from my vacation and worked so I can pay taxes so the governor can throw an orgy for all the punks at McIver Park, I am interested in a little breakdown of the costs.”

letter to the Oregonian

“I was convinced we were going to make a counterculture vision that would last.” Lee Meier, The Family

“I feel I inadvertently participated in a sell-out, The state redirected the energy of people like me and it worked, absolutely.” Michael Carr, The Family

“They used rock festivals, our culture, to crush our political dissent.”

Michael McCusker, People’s Army Jamboree

“It was the greatest event in the history of the world,” Barry Adams, Rainbow Family.

“Yeah, it worked. Because nothing happened in Portland.” Bill Brooks, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Deputy

At Vortex, the small freedoms of being able to go naked and smoke dope were won while the larger freedoms like the right to live in a humane society where people have control over their lives were lost.”

Editorial from The Bridge

“Is it all right now for mobs of people to do what no one person can do? Do we reason with adults and require compliance with the laws, then resort to trickery and bribery with young people (an insult to most young people by the way)? These are the double standards of Vortex. These are the enduring damages we’ll pay for in countless ways. We’re paying for them already.” Bob Straub, State Treasurer.

“The Vortex crowds were not bought off protesters. They were local kids who had no interest in political marches, but were interested in a party…In that sense, Vortex had its intended effect. But the myth that Vortex drained off thousands of people who would have rampaged through downtown still lingers.”

Brent Walth, Fire at Eden’s Gate, Tom McCall and the Oregon Story.

“It worked, it absolutely worked.” Ed Westerdahl.

“This was a model, a model to decide whether we will be able to hold peaceful conventions in the United States.” Governor McCall.