PSU Magazine Winter 2005

The Far Out Story of Vortex I Matt Love '86 has written a new book on the 1970 Oregon rock festival that may have diffused a riot. It was the summer or 1970 and Gov. Tom McCall had a problem. PorLland was Lo host the annual convemion or the American legion in August, and President Richard ixon was expected to speak before 25,000 veterans rallying around the conven– tion's theme , "Victory in Vietnam." Portland antiwar groups had rally plans or their own. They organized what was to be called the Peoples Army Jamboree, which was LO include a series of demonstrations that would draw as many as 50,000 protesters. This, at a Lime when the war was being expanded into Cambodia, and when the country was erupting from the aftermath of the Kent State shootings. ln May, in response to Kent State, Portland State students held a general strike with hundreds or antiwar pro– testers occupying the Park Blocks. On the seventh day of the demonstration, the Portland Police Bureau's riot squad swept through the area in an incident that left 32 protesters and bystanders injured. McCall didn't want a repeat of May or, considering the numbers , some– thing much worse. His solution? A rock restival. lt was called Vortex I: A Biodegrad– able Festival of Life, and was held at Mi lo Mclvor State Park in Estacada. rttorn s, RON coorER Mau love chronicles the event in his new selr– published book, The Far Out Story of Vortex I (Nes– Lu ca Spit Press, Pacific City, Oregon, 2004) lt's a 272-page treasure trove of first-hand accounts by peo– ple rrom all sides of the political spe trum and includes dozens or pho– tographs or what love swears is the only state– sponsored rock festival in American history. The picture love paints is like that of a father (in this case, McCall) bribing his hippie kids to stay away from an important dinner party hes throwing for his boss. He, in essence, sends them to the basement with a keg, a kick-ass stereo, and the promise Lo leave them alone as long as they don't come upstairs. The road to Mcivor State Park was embellished in honor of Vortex I: A Biodegradable Festival of Life. The mini-Woodstock was a high-stakes gamble for the governor, a diver– sionary tactic that could 4 PSU MAGAZINE WINTER 2005 easily backfire. 'Tve just committed political suicide," McCall reportedly said after approving the event. But it could be worth it: the U.S. Department of Justice determined that Portland had the highest risk or violence of any city in the nation that summer. love cites a 3,000-page FBI report that read: "All current information indicates that thousands of dissidents, hippies, anti-Vietnam and anti-military protesters, and other individuals gener– ally bent on bringing down society, the government, and all its represen tatives, will be gathering in Portland for the American Legion national convention, August 28-September 3." Gov. Tom McCall sanctioned the rock concert. Even befo re the Kent Stale shootings, Ed Westerdahl, executive assis– tant Lo McCall , said, "We were told by all the federa l agencies that it was going Lo be worse than Chicago ... the biggest distur– bance the country had ever seen. " McCall got the picture, and inJuly 1970 he wrote directly to the People's Army Jamboree trying to dissuade the group from going through with its plans. The amusing effect of the letter is less an effort to prevent a fiery con– frontaLion than Lo communicate a sim– p le scheduling conOict: "l am nattered that so many people believe Oregon LO be a beautiful state. Everyone is entitled to groove on its beauty. However, the City of Po rLland has limited facilities for the ho lding of conventions, and l am informed that these facilities cannot accommodate two major conventions being held simultaneously."