Get the full EPUB
The EPUB is part of the HistorIQly Plus library. The case file on this page stays free to read.
This EPUB is already in your library. The case file on this page stays free to read.
Download EPUBPlus includes every book in the library. See what Plus includes
Every book in the library is yours to download.
All EPUBs are in English. Translations are coming.
Every July, behind a chain-link fence in a California redwood forest, the most powerful men in America gather for a secret two-week retreat. Presidents, generals, bankers, and tycoons perform torchlit rituals before a forty-foot stone owl. Their conversations have attracted scrutiny, but attendance alone establishes no policy decision.
The Manhattan Project was discussed here. Nixon later described his 1967 address as a political milestone. And until recently, most Americans had never heard of it.
1872
Founded by San Francisco journalists and artists. Within a decade, the businessmen had taken over — bankers, railroad barons, and senators replacing the poets and painters.
40 ft
Concrete and steel, built 1929. Houses audio equipment. Voice of Walter Cronkite.
16 days
Every July. ~120 camps. Off-the-record Lakeside Talks by world leaders.
Presidents
Visitors and members have included Hoover, Nixon, Reagan and the Bush family.
The Evidence
The Stone Idol
A forty-foot concrete owl dominates the lakeside stage — hollow, wired for sound, its voice once recorded by Walter Cronkite. Before this shrine, robed figures perform the Cremation of Care each July, burning an effigy of "Dull Care" in a ritual dating to 1881.
The Ritual
Torchlit processions, robed priests, a coffin containing an effigy, pyrotechnics lighting up the redwoods. Since the early 1880s, the ceremony has become an encampment tradition — a theatrical "banishing of worldly cares" that conspiracy theorists call something far darker.
The Clubhouse
The six-story Bohemian Club headquarters sits just blocks from San Francisco's financial district. Inside: a 611-seat theatre, reading rooms, bars, and a dining hall. The waiting list for membership stretches decades. Dues are substantial. Women need not apply.
Behind Closed Gates
The Founding
San Francisco journalists found the Bohemian Club — a fraternity of artists, writers, and actors. The owl is their symbol. Their motto: "Weaving Spiders Come Not Here." Within a decade, the businessmen arrive.
The Manhattan Project
Federal atomic research officials meet at the Grove in September. The programme develops through government laboratories, military administration and industrial plants.
Eisenhower Meets Nixon
At Cave Man camp, future running mates spend time together — introduced by Herbert Hoover. Within two years, they're on the same ticket.
Jones Infiltrates
Alex Jones enters the Grove with a hidden camera and films the Cremation of Care. His documentary fuels decades of conspiracy theories about Satanic rituals and shadow governments.
The Thomas Scandal
ProPublica reveals years of travel and hospitality accepted by Justice Clarence Thomas from Harlan Crow, including Grove visits. Thomas says he relied on advice about personal hospitality. The Court publishes a code of conduct amid broader ethics scrutiny.
Key Figures
Richard Nixon
Called his 1967 Lakeside Talk "the first milestone on my road to the presidency." His contacts with Reagan there form part of the history of the 1968 nomination contest.
Herbert Hoover
Joined in 1913. Attended nearly every encampment for fifty years. His Saturday afternoon Lakeside Talk was the climactic event of every gathering until his death in 1964. He introduced Eisenhower to Nixon.
The Grove Endures
Every July, the gates open. The most powerful men in America shed their suits, pour their drinks, and gather beneath trees that have seen it all before.
Not a conspiracy. Something more ordinary — and more troubling: privilege, exercised in private, raising questions about access and public accountability.
Get the Full Book
Explore the club’s origins, documented gatherings and the allegations surrounding its influence.