My first west coast visit to Oregon was following the 1982 Rainbow Gathering in the Payette National Forest near McCall, Idaho. Following the gathering I went to Salt Lake City, Utah to ship my tipi and various belongings back to my homeland. After an extended stay in Utah I continued my summer odyssey and went to the Gold Hill area above the flat irons of Boulder, Colorado to visit my new friends I had met at the Gathering. While staying in the Gold Hill area I was invited to a sweet lodge ceremony being led by Wallace Black Elk. I will always recall that the heat was a bit much with one of my friends and he asked to go outside. In the darkness of the sweet I could feel the intensity of the heat and observe the care of Wallace when he intoned, "you can't die in here brother, this is where we come to pray and heal". We went through the cycles of prayer and the opening and closing of the heavy canvas door of the sweet lodge until or final release and exit. Later while sitting in the mountain forest and looking easterly below and beyond out into the plains and distant view of Pikes Peak Wallace Black Elk with a distant gaze spoke, "You see all this pollution created and in the sky and water? It all begins in the mind." Those words I have closely held throughout my life. I am reminded to think good thoughts.
Weeks later I left with my friends on a road trip. "I am about to take my friend home to Seattle", said Mex. We want to come and we will take you to a Grateful Dead concert in Oregon. And that is how I was to have my first west coast journey and discover what was to become my place of choosing: Oregon.
My second summer in Oregon (1983) I was staying with my new friends in Corvallis following the Oregon Country Fair. They were great hosts in taking me to various events and special places to gain appreciation for the communities and locations that would influence the rest of my life.
My friends were scheduled to attend a workshop at Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat & Conference Center *. Sadly at the last moment one had to cancel, and I was quickly offered the opportunity to take their place.
Rolling Thunder was immortalized in the biographical book by Doug Boyd. It was an impactful weekend. I had known of Rolling Thunder and the book and found it notable with his friendship with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead many years before his coming to Breitenbush and holding a workshop.
"An advocate for Native American rights, as well as for ecological harmony, Rolling Thunder traveled widely and was in great demand worldwide for his insight and teachings. He himself joked that he had to make it rain and thunder "in order to clean the polluted air" before he spoke in a new city. Speaking before spiritual, ecological, psychological, and healing gatherings, Rolling Thunder participated in conferences sponsored by the Association for Research and Enlightenment (Edgar Cayce's Foundation), the Menninger Foundation, the East West Academy of the Healing Arts, the Stockholm United Nations Conference on the Environment, the World Conference of Spiritual Leaders of the United Nations, and the World Humanity Conference in Vancouver, B.C., among others."
As Rolling Thunder was leaving true to form there were clouds forming over Mt Jefferson and yes...loud rolling thunder.
At the conclusion of the weekend I learned of the commune's work exchange program, and asked if I might stay awhile and work at the hot springs. And so with a goodbye to my friend he drove away. And now I was introduced and enthralled with the opportunity to connect two passions; hot springs and primeval forest.
(* The present incarnation of Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat & Conference Center was formed April 1st 1977. It began as a consensus based commune and later transitioned to a worker owned cooperative.)
