This Week in Odessa History

A rock festival planned for June 18, 19 and 20, 1971, in a barren sagebrush area just south of Marlin, which was expected to draw visitors from throughout the Pacific Northwest, caused anxiety in the Odessa area for nearly three weeks.

First announced by Spokane news media on May 25, the Seattle promoters of the affair billed it as a major spectacle, featuring nationally famous rock stars.

In Odessa and Marlin, however, there were visions of another Woodstock, but with even worse consequences, for it was feared that law enforcement authorities could never control the assortment of hippies, bik...