The Jonestown Massacre, which had a death toll of 918 people, was the most

deadly single non-natural disaster in U.S. history until September 11, 2001. The
Jonestown Massacre also remains the only time in history in which a U.S.
congressman was killed in the line of duty.

Founded in 1956 by Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple was a racially integrated
church that focused on helping people in need. Jones originally established the
Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana, but then moved it to Redwood Valley,
California in 1966.
Jones had a vision of a communist community, one in which everyone lived
together in harmony and worked for the common good. He was able to establish
this in a small way while in California but he dreamed of establishing a compound
outside of the United States.
This compound would be fully under his control, allow Peoples Temple members to
help others in the area, and be far away from any influence of the United States
government.

Jonestown: The Settlement in Guyana

Jones found a remote location in the South American country of Guyana that fit his
needs. In 1973, he leased some land the Guyanese government and had workers
begin clearing it of jungle.
Since all building supplies needed to be shipped in to the Jonestown Agricultural
Settlement, construction of the site was slow. In early 1977, there were only about
50 people living in the compound and Jones was still in the U.S.
However, that all changed when Jones received word that an expos was about to
be printed about him. The expos article included interviews with ex-members. The
night before the article was to be printed, Jim Jones and several hundred Peoples
Temple members flew to Guyana and moved into the Jonestown compound.
Things Go Wrong in Jonestown
Jonestown was meant to be a utopia. However, when members arrived at
Jonestown, things were not as they expected. Since there weren't enough cabins
built to house people, each cabin was filled with bunk beds and overcrowded. The
cabins were also segregated by gender, so married couples were forced to live
apart.

The heat and humidity in Jonestown was stifling and caused a number of members
to get sick. Members were also required to work long work days in the heat, often
up to 11 hours a day.
Throughout the compound, members could hear Jones's voice broadcast through
a loudspeaker. Unfortunately, Jones often would talk endlessly on the loudspeaker,
even through the night. Exhausted from a long day's work, members did their best
to sleep through it.
Although some members did love living in Jonestown, others wanted out. Since the
compound was surrounded by miles and miles of jungle and encircled by armed
guards, members needed Jones's permission to leave. And Jones didn't want
anyone to leave.
Congressman Ryan Visits Jonestown
U.S. Representative Leo Ryan from San Mateo, California heard reports of bad
things happening in Jonestown and thus decided to go to Jonestown and find out
for himself what was going on. He took along his adviser, an NBC film crew, and a
group of concerned relatives of Peoples Temple members.
At first, everything looked fine to Ryan and his group. However, that evening,
during a big dinner and dance in the pavilion, someone secretly passed a note with
the names of a few people who wanted to leave to one of the men from NBC. It
then became clear that some people were being held against their will in
Jonestown.
The following day, November 18, 1978, Ryan announced that he was willing to
take anyone who wished to leave back to the United States. Worried about Jones's
reaction, only a few people accepted Ryan's offer.
The Attack at the Airport
When it was time to leave, the Peoples Temple members who had stated they
wanted out of Jonestown scrambled on board a truck with Ryan's entourage.
Before the truck got far, Ryan, who had decided to stay behind to ensure that there
was no one else who wanted to leave, was attacked by a Peoples Temple member.
The assailant failed to cut Ryan's throat, but the incident made it obvious that Ryan
and the others were in danger. Ryan then joined the truck and left the compound.
The truck made it safely to the airport, but the planes weren't ready to leave when
the group arrived. As they waited, a tractor and trailer pulled up near them. From
the trailer, Peoples Temple members popped up and started shooting at Ryan's
group.

On the tarmac, five people were killed, including Congressman Ryan. Many others
were severely wounded.
Mass Suicide at Jonestown: Drinking Poisoned Punch
Back in Jonestown, Jones ordered everyone to assemble at the pavilion. Once
everyone was assembled, Jones spoke to his congregation. He was in a panic and
seemed agitated. He was upset that some of his members had left. He acted like
things had to happen in a hurry.
He told the congregation that there was to be an attack on Ryan's group. He also
told them that because of the attack, Jonestown wasn't safe. Jones was sure that
the U.S. government would react strongly to the attack on Ryan's group. "[W]hen
they start parachuting out of the air, they'll shoot some of our innocent babies,"
Jones told them.
Jones told his congregation that the only way out was to commit the "revolutionary
act" of suicide. One woman spoke up against the idea, but after Jones offered
reasons why there was no hope in other options, the crowd spoke out against her.
When it was announced that Ryan was dead, Jones became more urgent and
more heated. Jones urged the congregation to commit suicide by saying, "If these
people land out here, they'll torture some of our children here. They'll torture our
people, they'll torture our seniors. We cannot have this."
Jones told everyone to hurry. Large kettles filled with grape flavored Flavor-Aid (not
Kool-Aid), cyanide, and Valium were placed in the open-sided pavilion.
Babies and children were brought up first. Syringes were used to pour the
poisoned juice into their mouths. Mothers then drank some of the poisoned punch.
Next went other members. Some members were already dead before others got
their drinks. If anyone wasn't cooperative, there were guards with guns and
crossbows to encourage them. It took approximately five minutes for each person
to die.
On that day, November 18, 1978, 912 people died from drinking the poison, 276 of
whom were children. Jones died from a single gunshot wound to the head, but it is
unclear whether or not he did this himself.
Only a handful or so people survived, either by escaping into the jungle or hiding
somewhere in the compound. In total 918 people died, either at the airport or at the
Jonestown compound.

Who Was Jim Jones?

Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple cult, was both charismatic and
disturbed. Jones had a vision for a better world and established the Peoples
Temple to help make that happen. Unfortunately, his unstable personality
eventually overcame him and he became responsible for the deaths of over 900
people, most of whom committed "revolutionary suicide" at the Jonestown
compound in Guyana
Jim Jones as a Kid
Jim Jones was born in the small town of Crete, Indiana. Since his father James
had been injured in World War I and was unable to work, Jim's mother Lynetta
supported the family.
Neighbors considered the family a little odd. Childhood playmates remember Jim
holding mock church services in his home, many of which were funeral services for
dead animals. Some questioned where he kept "finding" so many dead animals
and believed he had killed some himself.
The Origins of the Peoples Temple
Founded in 1956 by Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple started in Indianapolis, Indiana
as a racially integrated church that focused on helping people in need. At a time
when most churches were segregated, the Peoples Temple offered a very different,
utopian view of what society could become.
Jones was the leader of the church. He was a charismatic man who demanded
loyalty and preached of sacrifice. His vision was socialist in nature. He believed
that American capitalism caused an unhealthy balance in the world, where the rich
had too much money and the poor worked hard to receive too little.
Through the Peoples Temple, Jones preached activism. Although just a small
church, the Peoples Temple established soup kitchens and homes for the elderly
and mentally ill. They also helped people find jobs.
The Move to California
As the Peoples Temple grew increasingly successful, the scrutiny of Jones and his
practices grew as well. When an investigation into his healing rituals was about to
begin, Jones decided it was time to move.
In 1966, Jones moved the Peoples Temple to Redwood Valley, a small town just
north of Ukiah in Northern California. Jones picked Redwood Valley in particular
because he had read an article that listed it as one of the top places least likely to
be hit during a nuclear attack. Plus, California seemed much more open to

accepting an integrationist church than Indiana had been. About 65 families

followed Jones from Indiana to California.
Once established in Redwood Valley, Jones expanded into the San Francisco Bay
Area. The Peoples Temple once again established homes for the elderly and the
mentally ill. They also helped addicts and foster children. The work done by the
Peoples Temple was praised in newspapers and by local politicians.
People trusted Jim Jones and believed that he had a clear view of what needed to
be changed in the United States. Yet many did not know that Jones was a much
more complex man; a man who was more unbalanced than anyone ever
suspected.
Drugs, Power, and Paranoia
From the outside, Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple looked like an amazing
success. Yet on the inside, the church was transforming into a cult centered around
Jim Jones.
After the move to California, Jones changed the tenor of the Peoples Temple from
religious to political. Jones became even more communist. Members at the top of
the church's hierarchy had pledged not only their devotion to Jones, but had also
pledged over all of their material possessions and money. Some members even
signed over custody of their children to Jones.
Jones quickly became infatuated with power. He required everyone to call him
either "Father" or "Dad." Later, Jones began to describe himself as "Christ" and
then, in the last few years, claimed that he was himself God.
Jones also took large quantities of drugs. At first, it might have been to help him
stay up longer so that he could get more good works done. However, soon, the
drugs caused major mood swings, his health deteriorated, and it increased his
paranoia.
No longer was Jones just worried about nuclear attacks, he soon believed that the
entire government, especially the CIA and FBI, was after him. In part to escape
from this perceived government threat and to escape from an expos article about
to be published, Jones decided to move the Peoples Temple to Guyana in South
America.
The Jonestown Settlement and Suicide
Once Jones had convinced many of the Peoples Temple members to move to what
was supposed to be a utopian commune in the jungles of Guyana, Jones's control
over his members became extreme. It was apparent to many that there was no
escape from Jones's control.

The living conditions were horrible, the work hours were long, and Jones had
changed for the worse.
When rumors of the conditions at the Jonestown compound reached relatives back
home, concerned relatives put pressure on the government to take action. When
Congressman Leo Ryan took a trip to Guyana to visit Jonestown, the trip ignited
Jones's own fears of a government conspiracy that was out to get him.
To Jones, greatly addled by drugs and his paranoia, Ryan's visit meant Jones's
own doom. Jones launched an attack against Ryan and his entourage and in so
doing used that to influence all his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide."
While most of his followers died from drinking cyanide-laced grape punch, Jim
Jones died on the same day (November 18, 1978) of a gunshot wound to the head.
It is still unclear as to whether or not the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.