The Bohemian Grove is a private campground covering in Monte Rio, California. Founded in 1878, it is owned by a private gentlemen's club called the Bohemian Club. Each year in mid-July, the Bohemian Grove hosts an annual gathering lasting more than two weeks, attended by invited members and guests from politics, business, and the arts.
History
The tradition of a summer encampment began in 1878, six years after the Bohemian Club was founded in 1872. That year, founding member and stage actor Henry "Harry" Edwards announced that he was moving to New York City to further his career. On June 29, 1878, fewer than 100 Bohemians gathered in the redwoods of Marin County near Taylorville (present-day Samuel P. Taylor State Park) for an evening send-off held in his honor.Garnett, 1908, p. 6. The gathering included food, drink, and lanterns, and participants stayed overnight at the site. The event was repeated the following year without Edwards and developed into the club's annual encampment.Garnett, 1908, p. 7.
By 1882, club members camped together at several locations in Marin and Sonoma counties, including what is now Muir Woods and a redwood grove near Duncans Mills, along the Russian River. From 1893, the Bohemians rented the current site, and in 1899 they purchased it from Melvin Cyrus Meeker, who operated a logging business in the area. Over the following decades, the club acquired surrounding land, expanding the property to encompass the basin in which it is located.
Writer and journalist William Henry Irwin described the Grove’s natural setting in the early 20th century:
Not long after the club was founded by newspaper journalists, its membership expanded to include prominent San Francisco–based businessmen. These members provided the financial resources needed to acquire additional land and develop facilities at the Grove. Artists and musicians remained part of the club and continued to contribute to its cultural activities and entertainment.
The Grove is known for hosting a meeting related to early planning of the Manhattan Project in September 1942.Brotherhood of the Bomb by Gregg Herken, chapter 4 Participants included Ernest Lawrence and J. Robert Oppenheimer, along with members of the S-1 Executive Committee and representatives from major universities, industry, and the U.S. military. Although Oppenheimer was not a member of the S-1 Committee at the time, he and Lawrence hosted the meeting. The discussions held there contributed to the broader development of the atomic bomb.
In July of 1950, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon met each other for the first time as guests of former president Herbert Hoover at Cave Man Camp, a section of Bohemian Grove, at a small group lunch party with the host Hoover giving a toast, and Eisenhower giving a short speech, followed by time spent around a campfire. Nixon, for his part, was in the middle of his successful Senate campaign, having impressed Hoover with his political ability, especially for playing a big role in taking down Alger Hiss for committing perjury before the House Un-American Activities Committee, concerning charges of having committed espionage. Eisenhower, at that time the president of Columbia University, was the guest of honor. However, it was more his political future that interested the group of Hoover's associates and friends, who were mostly old-guard conservatives, including Hoover, who were more inclined to support Ohio senator Robert A. Taft in the upcoming 1952 United States presidential election, but were interested in hearing what the potential future president had to say. At the table during lunch, Nixon sat a few seats down on the left across from Eisenhower, who sat to the right next to Hoover, who sat at the head of the table; at some point during the gathering, Eisenhower and Nixon had a brief conversation.
Former U.S. president Herbert Hoover was inducted into the club's Old Guard on March 4, 1953, having joined the Bohemian Club exactly 40 years earlier, the requirement for this status. Redwood branches from the Grove were flown to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City to decorate a banquet room for the occasion. In his acceptance speech, Hoover compared the honor of Old Guard status to his role as a senior adviser to later presidents.
Behavior at the campground has led to numerous claims and even some parody in popular culture. One example was President Richard Nixon's comments from a May 13, 1971, tape recording talking about upper-class San Franciscans: "The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to timeit is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine, with that San Francisco crowd."
In 2019, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors informed the club that after that year, the county would no longer provide law enforcement security.
Unauthorized entries
Several documented unauthorized entries into the Bohemian Grove have been reported.
In June 1980, journalist Rick Clogher entered the Grove with assistance from an employee. He posed as a worker during two weekends of the annual summer gathering. According to Mother Jones, his reporting was the first published magazine account from inside the Grove and appeared in the August 1981 issue of the magazine. In July 1981, ABC Evening News broadcast a television report on the Grove.
In July 1989, Spy writer Philip Weiss entered the Grove and remained there for seven days while posing as a guest. His article, titled “Inside the Bohemian Grove,” was published in November 1989.
On July 15, 2000, Alex Jones and cameraman Mike Hanson entered the Grove and recorded video of the Cremation of Care, an annual ceremony. Jones later stated that the ceremony involved a "ritual sacrifice", a characterization not supported by other reporting. Jones then produced his own documentary: "Dark Secrets Inside Bohemian Grove", while documentary filmmaker Jon Ronson later used footage from the incident in an episode titled “The Satanic Shadowy Elite?”, in which he described the event as resembling an "overgrown frat party".
On January 19, 2002, Richard McCaslin entered the Grove at night and set multiple fires. He was arrested at the scene. Police reports stated that he was carrying weapons and wore a skull mask and clothing bearing the words "Phantom Patriot".
Membership
The Bohemian Club is a private club; only active members and their guests may visit. Guests have been known to include politicians and notable figures from other countries. Particularly during the midsummer encampment, the number of guests is strictly limited due to the small size of the facilities.
The Bohemian Club's all-male membership includes artists and musicians, as well as prominent business leaders, government officials, former U.S. presidents, senior media executives, and other influential figures.Wallace Turner. "At the Bohemian Club, men join, women serve", The New York Times, January 17, 1981Inside Bohemian Grove from Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting Nov–Dec 1991
Members may invite guests to the Grove for either the "Spring Jinks" in June or the main July encampment. Bohemian Club members may also schedule private day-use events at the Grove when it is not being used for club-wide purposes. During these times, they may bring spouses, family, and friends, although female and minor guests must leave the property by 9 or 10 pm.
After 40 years of membership, members attain "Old Guard" status, which provides reserved seating at the Grove's daily talks and other privileges.
The club motto is "Weaving Spiders Come Not Here," expressing an expectation that outside concerns and business dealings be set aside. When gathered in groups, members generally observe this principle, although discussions of business sometimes occur in private conversations. Political and business relationships have developed at the Grove.
Women
Although no woman has ever been granted full membership in the Bohemian Club, four women have been named honorary members: hostess Margaret Bowman, poet Ina Coolbrith (who also served as the club’s librarian), actress Elizabeth Crocker Bowers, and writer Sara Jane Lippincott. Since Coolbrith’s death in 1928, no additional honorary members have been appointed.
Honorary members and other female guests have been permitted access to the Bohemian Club’s City Club building and to the Grove as daytime guests, but not to the upper floors of the City Club or the main summer encampment. Annual "Ladies' Jinks" events were held at the club for spouses and invited guests.
In 2019, Sonoma County Board of Supervisors member Lynda Hopkins published an open letter criticizing the Bohemian Club’s exclusion of women, its limited local investment despite members’ wealth, and what she described as outdated attitudes associated with the Grove.
Facilities
The Bohemian Grove contains the physical infrastructure used during encampments and other club activities.
The main encampment area consists of of old-growth redwood trees that are more than 1,000 years old, with some exceeding in height.
Camps
Sleeping quarters, known as camps, are distributed throughout the Grove. As of 2007, there were 118 camps. Many are patrilineal and serve as the primary social units through which long-term personal, business, and political relationships are formed.
The preeminent camps include: Hill Billies Mandalay Cave Man Stowaway Uplifters Owls Nest Hideaway Isle of Aves Lost Angels Silverado Squatters Sempervirens Hillside Idlewild
Gathering spaces
The Grove includes several dedicated venues used for performances, lectures, and communal meals: Grove Stage – an amphitheater seating about 2,000 people, primarily used for the Grove Play. Field Circle – a bowl-shaped amphitheater used for musical performances and seasonal events. Campfire Circle – a smaller performance space centered on a campfire. Museum Stage – a semi-outdoor venue used for lectures and small performances. Dining Circle – seating for about 1,500 diners. Clubhouse – designed by Bernard Maybeck and completed in 1904; a multipurpose building and the site of a 1942 Manhattan Project planning meeting. Owl Shrine and the Lake – an artificial lake used for concerts, talks, and the Cremation of Care ceremony.Domhoff, G. William, The Bohemian Grove and Other Retreats: A Study in Ruling Class Cohesiveness, Harper and Row, 1974.
Operations
Camp valets
Camp valets oversee the daily operation of individual camps. Head valets perform roles comparable to general managers. Service staff include female workers whose presence is limited to daytime hours and central areas, while male workers may reside on-site in assigned camps or service areas. Housing ranges from private quarters to shared bunkhouses.
Security
The Grove is secured year-round by a private security team. During encampments, security is supplemented by local law enforcement and, when warranted by visiting guests, federal agencies.
Traditions, rituals, and symbols
Symbols The club's patron saint is John of Nepomuk, who, according to legend, died at the hands of a Bohemian monarch rather than disclose the confessional secrets of the queen. A large wood carving of St. John in cleric robes with his index finger over his lips stands at the shore of the lake in the Grove, symbolizing the secrecy kept by the Grove's attendees throughout its long history.
Since the founding of the club, the Bohemian Grove's mascot has been an owl, symbolizing wisdom. A hollow owl statue made of concrete over steel supports stands at the head of the lake in the Grove. This statue was designed by sculptor and two-time club president Haig Patigian. It was constructed in the late 1920s. Quoting The Guardian, London, November 24, 1986. Since 1929, the Owl Shrine has served as the backdrop of the yearly Cremation of Care ceremony.
Cremation of Care