What if I were to tell you that every year, America’s most powerful men, politicians, CEOs, even presidents of the United States gather at a secret retreat in northern California to set the agenda for our nation? In 1878, the Bohemian Club held their first retreat at a place called the Grove.
Over the years, the all-male, invitation-only retreat has included everyone from Walter Cronkite to Warren Buffett. I’ve heard all kinds of crazy stories about what happens at the Grove, from the origins of the Manhattan Project in 1942 to the determination of presidential candidates since 1900, even that the roots of the United Nations
Came out of talks at the Grove. But the members of the Bohemian Club simply do not talk about what goes on, so the speculation is endless. Only the members know what the truth is. But if you tell me that FDR, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton are all members
Of the same secret organization, I want to know what this group is all about. I’m Brad Meltzer. I’ve spent my life collecting stories. [upbeat music] The best include signs, symbols, and codes, secret meanings that are hidden in plain sight. Some have become the basis for my novels,
But I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s out there. And now, history has given me the resources to investigate the rest. This is “Decoded.” [dramatic music] [upbeat music] BRAD (ON PHONE): Who’s ready to join a super secret club? SCOTT: Hey, what’s up, Brad? – Brad. I am.
BRAD (ON PHONE): You are going to one of the most secret, exclusive places in the entire world, to the home of Bohemian Grove. The question is, what is going on in this place? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that is the question. BRAD (ON PHONE): And you know what the most amazing part is,
Mac, is whatever is going on, you’ll never find out because there’s no women allowed in the place. Oh, come on. BUDDY: [laughing] CHRISTINE: Do they know what year it is? BRAD (ON PHONE): Maybe it’s the world’s best funded frat party. But you know what I care about most,
Is that no recording comes out of there. They won’t tell you what goes on. And no one’s allowed inside. And you know what that means? I want to go inside. Exactly. [dramatic music] BRAD: However you slice it, these are some of the men who make the biggest decisions in America.
And they’re meeting annually in the California woods to discuss the future of our country. Not only that, but they’re extremely vigilant about keeping outsiders away. People have tried for years to infiltrate this group with almost no success. So maybe it’s just summer camp for rich people,
But even if it is, why keep it so secret? CRAIG: The Bohemian Club was started in 1872 by a number of journalists. [dramatic music] It was a club to get together after work and have a good time. Pretty soon thereafter, it started to change its character
As it let in non-artists, just patrons, patrons who had money. And artists usually need money. Did they sort of take over and change the flavor of this thing? Let’s take the motto of the club, “Weaving Spiders Come Not Here,” from Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
And that was originally the motto for an intent to not bring your business here. “Weaving Spiders Come Not Here?” Yeah, don’t come here and make deals and weave, you know. SCOTT: OK. But when you have more businessmen, and as we see it eventually morphs into something
Where you have people in the highest levels of major power sectors of society coming there. It’s known now for opportunities for networking that are very beneficial. [dramatic music] BUDDY: You know, I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I think when you’ve got the most powerful people
In the world, the most powerful, influential men who won’t let anyone else know exactly what’s going on, gives a little cause for concern. Craig, how come we can’t go there. If we just wanted to go in to check it out, why wouldn’t we be able to?
To be a full member, $25,000, 15-year waiting list. So it’s quite expensive. If you’re not an active member or you’re not a guest, you can’t get in. [dramatic music] “Weaving Spiders Come Not Here” is a great motto. I want to steal it for myself.
But there’s been debate about what the Bohemian motto means for decades. While some believe that Heimbichner’s assessment is right, others say that the meaning is completely different. They believe that it means that lies are not welcome at the club. And that makes complete sense to me.
What isn’t in dispute though is the exclusivity of the club. There is said to be only 2,700 full members and that the waiting list numbers some 20,000 people. The thing you have to remember is that these guys are ultra-secretive, so information is scarce. And that’s when rumors quickly get started. [dramatic music]
So what is the Cremation of Care? The word “cremation” kind of gives me the willies. Yes. Cremation of Care is the big kickoff ceremony that opens up the camp. And it started in 1881. It’s now done with the voice of Walter Cronkite as the owl, but let’s talk– CHRISTINE: What?
CRAIG: And he was a member. – Hang on a second. Hang on a second. – That is wild. Walter Cronkite’s voice is in an owl? Is the owl. It’s a 40-foot owl. It’s huge. It’s at the owl shrine in the lake. And what they do is they get together.
They’re in red robes. CHRISTINE: He says matter of factly. BUDDY: (DEEP VOICE) I’m Walter Cronkite. CRAIG: You have to do this matter of factly because it’s just too much ripe material. But there’s a huge ceremony, a lot of ritual. And what they talk about is cremating care, the dull care of the world.
So they’re going to go into this big party, and they’re going to kind of put their conscience and their worries aside, so to speak. They end up investing care, all their cares into this coffin. And it’s burned, actually, at the foot of the owl.
And there’s a lot of cheering and all that sort of thing when it happens. When you say partying for two weeks though, I still would love to know what that looks like. CRAIG: All right, what it looks like, well, you have people peeing against redwood trees, getting naked. BUDDY: Yes.
You have fishnet stockings, people in drag, Elvis impersonators. You have a lot of crazy stuff going down. BUDDY: Wait, wait. – So it’s like a– Was J. Edgar Hoover a member? William Casey was a member. It’s like a barbecue at your house.
[laughing] This is my kind of party, cross-dressing, urinating– CRAIG: Get on the list. You got $25,000? BUDDY: These are the people who shape the way we think, what we purchase, whether we go to war. Right. CHRISTINE: How our taxes are spent. That’s right. SCOTT: Who’s elected. CRAIG: That’s right.
BUDDY: So what about infiltrating the Grove? [chuckling] That’s pretty tough to do now. Security is really tight there. You can’t just walk in. BUDDY: That doesn’t mean we won’t try. CHRISTINE: Just makes me want to do it more. SCOTT: More determined.
You tell her something she can’t do, she wants to do it. [dramatic music] BRAD: We all know that secrets are hard to keep. So it amazes me that these guys have been able to do it so well for so long. Now there are some things we do know about the Bohemian Club.
The owl, which is their mascot, is said to represent their thirst for knowledge of all things. [dramatic music] The origins of the name “Bohemian” are also extremely interesting and not what you think. The patron saint of the club is St. John of Nepomuk. He was a 14th century Czech priest
Who was the queen’s confessor. St. John was martyred when he refused to divulge the secrets of the confessions to the king. And the original name for the area that became Czech Republic was Bohemia. [upbeat music] BUDDY: All right, we should just chat with some folks. CHRISTINE: Stop here. It’s a coffee shop.
BUDDY: Information happens at coffee shops, right? SCOTT: Hello. We’re trying to find out a little more about the Bohemian Grove. Do you know if it’s around here, anything about it? CHRISTINE: She doesn’t want to talk to you. Apparently not. BUDDY: We’re just trying to find out about the Bohemian Grove
And maybe how we can find our way there and get in. WOMAN: No way. BUDDY: OK. SCOTT: Do you know anybody that belongs or anything like that? WOMAN: No. Do you know anything about Bohemian Grove? Being local, there’s a lot of people that work there. And it’s all hush-hush.
BUDDY: Wait, so even the employees are sworn to secrecy? Probably. How do the locals feel about the place? I can only speak for myself. There’s a song out that says, “I don’t want to gain the whole world and lose my soul.” BUDDY: [chuckles] Wow.
Really, you feel like those are the kinds of people that come to this? – Absolutely, absolutely. CHRISTINE: They have the whole world but no soul? Yeah. OK, you might think that the locals are afraid to talk, ooh, spooky, someone got to them, but maybe they’re just playing this smart.
Every July, there’s a huge infusion of cash into this small, little town. And the residents might not want to bite the hand that feeds them. Still, Buddy, Mac, and Scott need to find out the other side of this story. [dramatic music] BUDDY: You know, it’s weird.
Only two weeks a year, the thing is ongoing. And then what happens the rest of the year? I’m wondering how tight can security be on this place. CHRISTINE: Yeah, exactly. There’s no one there now, so we should be able to get in. But here’s the deal, guys.
If there are no trespassing signs, we have to be careful because if we pass those we could end up getting arrested. But this is research. It’s different. We’re not trying to steal anything. All right, how hard can it be? [dramatic music playing] BUDDY: Whoa. CHRISTINE: No trespassing.
SCOTT: Not through road, no trespassing. CHRISTINE: Violators will be prosecuted. Yeah, but on the other hand, there’s a parking place up here. And the gate is not shut. SCOTT: OK, you guys ready? We’re going to go for it, just a little further. CHRISTINE: Yeah. [dramatic music]
BUDDY: Oh, there’s a video surveillance sign. CHRISTINE: Oh, whoopsie. [dramatic music] BRAD: The Grove is among the most well hidden places in America, and its location is no accident. The redwood tree canopy is so thick, the place might as well be covered by a concrete dome.
The first piece of the Grove was bought in 1899, and it was made up of 160 acres at the beginning. By the 1960s, Bohemian Grove had grown to the 2,700 acres it is today. So what’s it worth? A woodlands preservation group recently paid $4,800 an acre for land that was nearby.
That would place the value of the Grove for the land alone at $13 million. [dramatic music] – I’m Buddy. – How are you? My name’s Greg. – Good. Good to see you. – Nice to meet you. – Scott. – Scott, nice to meet you. We can’t take a look?
No, it’s private property. Are you a ranger? No, I work for the people that own this. CHRISTINE: We can’t even just go right there and peek in? No. – Seriously? – Yeah. I mean, honestly, I mean, just why? How come?
It’s owned by a private group of people that don’t want to have any cameras in there. – Don’t want us. No. How about just us without the cameras? No. Buddy’s got $100. [laughter] We’re wondering, in the meantime, maybe just a look-see at the 40-foot owl. No.
BUDDY: No? CHRISTINE: He’s got backup, guys. SCOTT: How did you know we were here? – Somebody told me. – Oh, they did? They dropped the dime on us? BUDDY: A little owl? CHRISTINE: Who told you? – A little owl told you? No. [laughter]
CHRISTINE: And are you going to now really, truly kick us off? Uh oh. SCOTT: OK, listen. Nobody’s saying anything. We’ve obviously caused a little bit of a stir here. CHRISTINE: Yeah, that was weird. BUDDY: I mean, within minutes. SCOTT: They don’t want us in there, really badly.
Clearly. CHRISTINE: Now I feel– I mean, now I feel like, yeah, there’s something really interesting going on. BUDDY: OK. SCOTT: All right, let’s see what happens. I think it’s time for us to get out of here. What do you think? BRAD: OK, before everyone gets all uppity,
This doesn’t mean that the Bohemian Club members are trying to eat your babies. But it is a pretty good indicator of how the folks at the Bohemian Club operate. Greg, the security guard, he was real friendly. He was real pleasant to Buddy, Mac, and Scott, right?
But he wasn’t being completely straight with them either. Before Greg came out to talk, he’d already called the local police on us. So of course Bohemian Grove, it’s private property. They’re well within their rights in preventing trespassers. But for the first time, we saw the iron fist that sits inside that velvet glove.
[dramatic music] We’re in Monte Rio, California investigating the Bohemian Club. It’s one of the most exclusive and secretive societies in the world. Every summer, the club holds a retreat at a place called the Grove. And many at the club are some of the richest and most powerful members of our country.
We’re talking about presidents, cabinet members, CEOs, generals, even Hollywood celebrities. The club has a strict policy of never revealing what goes on behind the gates of the Grove. So think of it like “Fight Club” for rich people. And you know rule number one of “Fight Club.”
There are a variety of stories about what happens at the meetings, including decisions about– if you want to believe this– who even gets to run for president. [dramatic music] No big surprise, we’ve already been turned away at the gates of Bohemian Grove.
So now Buddy, Mac, and Scott are about to meet with Mary Moore. She’s a local activist who’s been protesting the club and the Grove since the early 1980s. [dramatic music] MARY: I could care less that they’re dancing around in tutus, having sex with each other, having sex with hookers. I don’t really care.
[dramatic music] There are a few people on a global level that are pretty much profiting off of what a lot of other people are in misery about, wars, rearming America. So what, they want to have a private conversation? Well, the fact that these are public policy
Talks without the public being privy to them. [dramatic music] They actually brag about the fact that the Manhattan Project was conceived at the Grove in 1942. The Manhattan Project, of course, is what led to the atom bomb. Another thing that’s just come down through the oral history,
Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan had a talk there about who was going to run for president first. SCOTT: And obviously, Richard Nixon won that. MARY: Right. And often these talks are indicative of what’s to come in the next year or so. For example, in 1981 Caspar Weinberger,
Who was then secretary of defense in Reagan’s cabinet, spoke on rearming America. And if you know your history, that was the time that the arms buildup happened. BRAD: What Moore is referring to is in the 1980s, Reagan led a plan to refortify the US Armed Forces. Reagan had pledged during the 1980 campaign
To restore our military supremacy over the Soviet Union. It was a fantastic plan. And many point to the Weinberger speech at the Grove as the beginning of this. So you see what happened? It was spoken about at the Grove. And then it happened in reality. [dramatic music]
Moore seems to be angrier about the how than the what in this case. You know what? I don’t blame her. OK, shouldn’t these guys who are in charge of these things be talking about this stuff? I mean, seems like they should be. Sure.
I’ve said all along, not that they care, make these lakeside talks public so we can know, you know, what you’re planning. And we’ll go away. Turn it into a town hall meeting. MARY: Sure. Government, as we all know, does not
Operate the way we learned it in civics, at least the way I learned it in civics long ago. CHRISTINE: Right. But public policy and policymaking decisions, they’re made on golf courses– – Yeah. –in country clubs, stuff like that. MARY: Again, and this is a golf course on steroids.
And it happens to be extremely private. These are not, you know, your soldiers in the military. These are the generals and the admirals. Several of them had spoken up there. These are the Republican presidents, the Fortune 500. Is it overstating things to suggest that the members of the Bohemian Grove
Are the people running the world? It’s not like they’re up there saying, you know, what can we do now to make the world a horrible place? It’s more of greed, and power, and ego– Mhm. MARY: –kind of run amok. Mostly they’re getting drunk and all the things that they’re infamous for.
[dramatic music] Mary has spent the last 30 years investigating the Bohemian Club. And you know why she cares about it? Because it’s right in her own backyard. BUDDY: Oh, this is very cool. OK. OK. Um, gosh, I don’t know what to show you.
These are the programs for the Cremation of Care for within the Grove. This is, again, smuggled out to us by some of the help. But you can see from the covers that they are very much open to interpretation. I would say. And it’s why the Cremation of Care
Has taken up so much speculation. Mary, can I take that picture down for a second? MARY: Sure. So this is the Cremation of Care ceremony? Right. SCOTT: Oh, that’s a real photograph of it? MARY: That’s a photograph. – Big deal. SCOTT: Look at the owl.
BUDDY: The owl is huge. MARY: That’s the owl. Oh, it’s a 40-foot– SCOTT: 40 feet. MARY: –40-foot stone owl. Wow. Like god, you know. It says, bohos in drag. MARY: Since no women are allowed to be members up there, they put on plays every year. CHRISTINE: OK.
And so they have to take the part of the women. CHRISTINE: Of the women. SCOTT: Mary, what is this? MARY: This is a schedule of events. I think that’s from ’86. See, this is my proof– SCOTT: Right. MARY: –that I can tell you who is speaking when– SCOTT: Oh, [inaudible].
MARY: –and what their subject is. And that’s what I’ve done here. I’ve just put 20 years on one piece of paper. Here’s an interesting one. The topic was the problem of big government. I bet you would want to hear what that was about.
I want to hear what all of them are about. SCOTT: I really would like to talk to somebody who’s been inside. The secrecy that surrounds this thing is unbelievable. I mean, we’ve been to the CIA, and it doesn’t seem like the security is as tight as it is at this place.
[upbeat music] BRAD (ON PHONE): What’s interesting to me is it sounds like this Cremation of Care ceremony that has been going on for over 100 years, that has to mean something. And I think it’s worth finding out, what does it really mean? I want to know what it means.
I want to know what multiple presidents are watching for over 100 years. See if you can find us another way in. Let’s see if we can get in this place because sometimes it’s just a matter of asking the right person. – Yeah. BRAD (ON PHONE): But I really would like to get in.
SCOTT: We’re on it. We’ll get back to you. [dramatic music] BRAD: To my knowledge, only one man has ever snuck into the Grove during their July event. In the year 2000, Alex Jones actually managed to covertly record the Cremation of Care ceremony.
And while I want to hear how he interprets what he saw there, what I’m really hoping is he’ll tell Buddy, Mac, and Scott how he got inside. ALEX: Other members of the press have gotten in, but they’ve always been arrested and had their film confiscated.
And in July of 2000, I snuck in and shot some hidden video, the only video to ever get out of the Grove. [dramatic music] SCOTT: How did you manage to sneak in? ALEX: I basically came to the main gate and crawled down through the swamp, and then went up
And got into the main parking area where they have these big, open-backed trucks that come in and take the members in. And I basically just climbed onto the truck with some other members, had a conversation with them. And then they stopped us at an internal checkpoint.
And some security people climbed on, asking us what group we were with. And I knew enough about some of the club’s names inside to tell them I was part of the Hillbillies, which is the Texas delegation, the Bushes and their friends. BUDDY: And your accent worked.
And yeah, I got to say, you kind of look the part. BRAD: So Alex Jones actually sneaks into Bohemian Grove with a video camera. And he shoots the footage of what he saw. Legally we’re not allowed to show it to you because he broke
The law in obtaining it, but I’ve seen it, and it is pretty compelling stuff. SCOTT: Did you ever think you were going to get found out, Alex, while you were in there? – Oh, the whole time. And I basically just sat behind a building
On the grass for the next two and 1/2 hours or so. And then as it got dark, I then went out to witness the Cremation of Care ritual. I’m wondering why you wanted to get in there in the first place. ALEX: Well, I had begun to research Skull and Bones, Skull
And Bones at Yale. Bohemian Grove is where they all get together. BRAD: People love blaming things on Skull and Bones. The rumors run rampant about the legendary secret Yale fraternity. They’ve been accused of stealing the bones of Geronimo, Pancho Villa, and even our eighth president, Martin Van Buren.
But none of that has ever been proven. The club taps members of the Yale junior class to join its ranks. And past members have included William F. Buckley, John Kerry, both presidents Bush, and of course, the late president William Howard Taft. And it was William Howard Taft, the president
Who came here to the Bohemian Grove, who, of course, was a high level Skull and Bones member who first began to talk about a world government, a league of nations, which was then picked up a few years later by Woodrow Wilson. And so this whole system is their plan for a world government.
And it is based on a Germanic death cult. And you’ve got all these world leaders and all these powerful people together before they have the ritual beneath these giant redwoods in this huge– Hall of the Mountain King is what it’s like. It’s scary. You’re talking about a new world order.
You’re talking about a big conspiracy, about these people getting together and talking about stuff that’s going to basically bring us all down. And we’re still here. I know the direction these guys are taking this in. It’s undemocratic. You’ve got all these CIA directors, attorney generals, vice presidents, presidents.
Going head to the Grove? You have the former German chancellor, Helmut Schmidt. He says we have our own Druidic Groves in Germany. But my favorite place to go– and he calls it Druidic– is northern California. [dramatic music] Groves have held a sacred place in the lore of Druids for centuries.
This mysterious order of Celtic priests have performed both human and animal sacrifice in their groves in ancient England. And historically, similar orders, Romans, Greeks, Scandinavians, also all consider groves to be sacred spaces. What happened once the ceremony began? It was so creepy. I had snuck in.
I’d seen the 40-foot stone owl. I’d seen the black altar in front of it during the day. Then as it got dark, to watch over 1,000 prominent people march down the little pond in front of this idol and then to see the ritual unfold from there,
I was thinking one thing, get the footage and get out of here. [dramatic music] BRAD: Some of the wealthiest and most influential men in the country are meeting to discuss some of the biggest ideas not just in America, but worldwide. Are they making handshake agreements? Come on.
I don’t think US presidents are meeting in secret to plot against us. But I do believe that there are people out there who would benefit from hanging out socially with a president. So the question is, how far would those people go? [dramatic music] We’re in California investigating the Bohemian Club.
In the year 2000, Alex Jones actually managed to covertly record the Cremation of Care ceremony. Anyone could have busted him any second. It reminded me of that scene from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” where the non-body snatchers are trying to blend in with everyone else.
When he gets to the spot where they do the Cremation of Care ceremony though, it suddenly gets real dark. It’s a scene that looks like a crowded amusement park at night, you know, when everyone’s standing around shoulder to shoulder, waiting for the fireworks to start. As the ceremony begins, people are
Dressed in what looked like long robes, like a monk would wear. They’re carrying flaming torches. They start walking on and off some sort of stage set in front of this giant owl. [dramatic music] SCOTT: What are we seeing here? – Is that a person?
I mean, it looks like a cross or something. That’s a person. It’s a herald. And he’s saying, for behold, here is Bohemia’s shrine. And holy are the pillars of this house. This is their temple, these redwoods. And while all this is going on, a black carriage comes out,
An old-fashioned hearse led by horses. And there is a body, an effigy there. The owl is saying, there’s only one goddess that can help us, only one true deity. And they bring fire. And the owl starts speaking to them, saying, you’ve got to burn all care.
And it’s an effigy of a child-sized human figure. So then care says, no, you’re not. And a thunderbolt is thrown down. BRAD: And what looks like a comet shoots through the air and at the stage. Alex says it was an elaborate pyrotechnic show, and that was it.
That was the Cremation of Care ceremony. And I can tell you it looks no better, no cooler than what they have in a fraternity, but just with really good pyrotechnics. SCOTT: Oh, I got you. BUDDY: So this is part of the pyrotechnics. ALEX: Yes. And then the owl starts speaking and said, listen,
You got to give me that effigy. You got to burn it right now. And I’ll take care of all your problems. [dramatic music] A word of caution here, and this may be the most important thing I say in this entire episode. It is very dangerous to try to interpret something
From the outside. It’s as if someone unfamiliar with Christianity stepped into a Catholic church and heard a priest in the middle of Holy Communion say the words, this is the body of Christ. This is the blood of Christ. Without knowing the context, a ritual can seem strange or unusual, even a little frightening.
The same goes for the Cremation of Care or any other unfamiliar ceremony. Without context, we cannot possibly know what is going through the mind of the Bohemian Grovers. The only problem, they’re not talking. Alex, have you had any ramifications for having snuck into this place? ALEX: Right after we shot the footage,
I was trying to send it out to the media. And in three separate instances, we would copy the tapes, have them, check them, mail them, and they would be erased. They didn’t get lost three times. They got erased three times. Right when I got home about a week after, we would get death
Threats routinely where they would say, I’m watching you, I see the little chihuahua in the backyard, and in a very mean voice like out of a movie say, I’m going to cut your head off. SCOTT: Oh, jeez. Alex, you’re the most familiar with the place that we know of.
What’s another way to get in there other than through the gate? Well, they do arrest people if they trespass. I mean, it happens all the time. It is a high surveillance area. I saw a lot of cables going up into the trees and saw cameras all over the place.
And the security, since I snuck in, it massively increased. You might be able to get in a little bit, but if you actually try to infiltrate all the way in, the handcuffs are going on you. If we try to go in there, would you go with us?
Oh, yes, this will be my fifth time being there. And I know exactly where it is. I mean, I can lead you right to it. But if you guys want to go in, the risk is up to you. [dramatic music] BRAD: The Bohemian Club didn’t become exclusive just by being secretive.
In fact, I’m fascinated by all the people who are members. This membership list is closely held, and very few people have access to it. But you know why they call this show “Decoded?” Because we actually managed to get the list through an anonymous source.
And it reveals quite a bit about the make up of the club. [dramatic music] BUDDY: I suppose the most shocking find was this bizarre confluence of sort of quirky people. I mean, Jimmy Buffett is a member, the Rockefellers. They aren’t necessarily people that you would expect to be
Hanging out at the same party. [dramatic music] BRAD: OK, here’s where we are. Buddy and Mac are dying to get a look inside the Grove. And obviously walking through the front gate has no way of working, but there is another way. The Russian River runs past the Grove.
And good news for them, it’s public property. So now it’s time to think about a water approach. Could be done. [dramatic music] SCOTT: So what did you find out? BUDDY: Well, I tell you what. In looking down the 2010 Bohemian Club members list, what’s remarkable is the number of them
That are among the top 200 richest men in the world, not just in America, in the world. And they’re here, what, throwing off their dull care for a couple of weeks and transforming into something other? It’s very strange to me. And they start it off with a weird ritual.
My question is, beyond the Cremation of Care ceremony, beyond the lakeside talks, what else are these guys doing? Tell me they don’t talk a little bit of shop after the lakeside chat is over. CHRISTINE: They have to. They have to. After the play is over and they’re pounding booze,
We’ve heard, something’s coming out. [upbeat music] CHRISTINE: I want to get in the Grove even more now. Talking about the sacred space, I want to feel it. If it’s truly a sacred space, I kind of just– I want in. I want to see how it feels.
So how are we going to get in there? It turns out I’ve reconnoitered an alternate route down the Russian River that gets us directly to a swimming hole bordering on the edges of the Bohemian Grove property. Nice. So I think we can take boats, paddle our way right
To the fringes of the Bohemian Grove, and see what we can find out. I like that. We couldn’t do it by land. Let’s try it by sea. – Yes. – Absolutely, I’m game. – OK. Let’s paddle into the Bohemian Grove. Let’s do it. Absolutely. [dramatic music]
These guys are obviously determined to get inside, but they have no idea what they’ll find when they get in there. [dramatic music] The secret of Bohemian Club is among America’s most exclusive. The biggest secret is their 2,700-acre retreat in northern California that they call simply the Grove.
The ultra-hidden spot is home to a variety of summer ceremonies. And outsiders are prohibited from entering. Peter Phillips wrote his doctoral dissertation on Bohemian Grove. This guy has actually spent time at the Grove as a guest of one of the members. And he was able to observe what really goes on inside firsthand.
[dramatic music] CHRISTINE: We’ve tried to talk to people that we know that have friends who are members. We’ve tried to talk to people in town about the Grove. And we’ve just been shut down. How did you get them to talk to you? They respect academics.
My PhD dissertation was on the Bohemian Grove. And you know, after a couple of years they trusted that I was sincere and wanted to portray the club accurately and honestly. [dramatic music] I studied the Bohemian Grove for two years, collecting data, and actually visited the Grove in ’94
As a guest of the Silverado Squatters camp and spent three and 1/2 days there. I remember a fellow dressed up like Mark Twain. And he was doing readings. There were plays. There was poetry readings. There was music throughout the camp at various groups and bands.
You could walk in, there’d be banjo players singing. So it was– it was a lot of fun. Do you think they’re making decisions there that impact all of our lives? PETER: Oh, absolutely. Or they’re in the position to. CHRISTINE: Right. They don’t have meetings at the Grove
To make decisions about specific things. But the members there are able to access powerful people, people that can, you know, make things happen for them in society. So what did you find when you were there and you interviewed them? What was the sociological significance? Since I’ll never be able to visit,
What can I compare it to? The same men go every year and spend two weeks together. And there’s an intimacy there that they call the spirit of Bohemia. You know, they really cherish that. So there’s a personal privacy. So when they had this Cremation of Care ceremony,
They’re honoring the intimacies that they find there. So what’s really happening here? Is this good for these guys? Is it good for us? It’s a concentration of powerful people in one place at one time. CHRISTINE: Mhm. PETER: Are they doing anything nefarious? No. – Right.
But are there results from what happened in the world because of these men’s power– CHRISTINE: Yeah. –and what they’re doing in the world, yes. Military adventures worldwide, globalization and privatization, and wealth concentration. And in that context, I think we need to call them out. [dramatic music]
So just how exclusive is the Bohemian Club? It’s got a $25,000 initiation fee for just two weeks a year, plus a 15-year waiting list. We’re talking America’s real power elite. But I think what Peter says makes a huge amount of sense. There is no question these guys are powerful.
But there’s also no question that people will be more likely to leave them alone if they just did away with the secrecy that shrouds Bohemian Grove. In fact, it’s that secrecy that’s drawing Buddy and Mac to want to get inside and see for themselves. After rolling up to the front gate
And getting stopped by security, Buddy, Mac, and Scott were warned not to come back. And I have to tell you, I’m not sure if it’s smart, but if they do get inside you better believe I want to know what they find. Filmmaker Alex Jones, who snuck into the Grove himself,
Has shown them how he got in and has offered to show them how to ride the public Russian River past the Grove. [dramatic music] Now this is a famous river. It empties out to the ocean. And you had a lot of Italian, Russian, German, Spanish immigrants here.
And then when the railroad came here in the 1890s, that’s when the elites of the East Coast began coming out here. And they developed what is now the Bohemian Grove. [upbeat music] BRAD: So who has what rights when a public waterway flows through private property?
First of all, anyone has the right to be on the river. That’s not an issue, because navigable rivers and their banks are held in public trust. The tricky part is what happens when someone steps onto the river bank. The courts have ruled that the boundary between public rivers
And private property is what they call the ordinary high water mark. But Buddy, Mack, and Scott have no way of knowing whether it’s higher than usual. So to know when they’re trespassing will be anyone’s guess. BUDDY: Here’s the question. Will there be cameras near the swimming hole?
When I snuck into Bohemian Grove a decade ago, there were cameras and motion sensors everywhere. And they knew we were coming. – Really? – Yeah. So I don’t know what’s going to happen. [mysterious music] SCOTT: We thought we were in really good shape going in in this weather. It’s pouring rain.
I can’t imagine anybody’s even standing outside expecting anybody to come. ALEX: You could see it from that one observation point, right? BUDDY: Oh, this is it? SCOTT: Yeah. OK, everybody ease up. Everybody ease up. BUDDY: OK, but listen– SCOTT: Sh, sh. CHRISTINE: Let’s go to the left. Buddy, left.
SCOTT: Everybody stop paddling. Stop paddling. [dramatic music] CHRISTINE: Why aren’t we going– Listen, I don’t see a no trespassing sign, so I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong by landing these boats right now. [dramatic music] So at this point, the only sign says there’s no lifeguard on duty. We’re fine with that.
Here’s the deal with a no trespassing sign. If you didn’t see it, it’s not posted properly. So if you end up going up over here and you didn’t see it, you didn’t see it. Did you see it? CHRISTINE: I don’t see one. Let’s go. – OK.
We’re going to go off and take a look at the woods. I want to go up there. ALEX: That’s the only way up. You go up, there’s a bridge across, and you’re in the main area. OK. [dramatic music] SCOTT: There’s a cop up there. There’s a cop up there. [heartbeat pounding]
CHRISTINE: [bleep]. Here he comes. Get– go, go, go. Go. Go, Alex. Get Alex out of here. SCOTT: The whole mission blew up. It was chaos. The cops came. They’re still up there. I think they’re getting arrested. I don’t know what’s happening to them. You know, these guys are my friends.
I’m really worried about them. I hope they’re OK, but I have no idea what’s going on right now. Let me tell you how this played out from my end of the phone. My phone starts ringing. Don’t forget, they’re on the West Coast. I was on the East Coast. So it’s almost midnight.
And when the phone is ringing at midnight, you know something bad has happened. [dramatic music] We’re in northern California looking into the Bohemian Club and their ultra-secretive retreat, the Grove. Mac and Buddy were going up that hill. They’re searching. They’re trying to find any signs. They can’t find anything.
And then the security guards started screaming at them. And that’s when the real trouble began. [dramatic music] CHRISTINE: [bleep]. Here he comes. Get– go, go, go. Go. Go, Alex. Get Alex out of here. BRAD: We had absolutely no clue where they’ve been taken or even if they were OK for nine hours.
We were terrified. Finally, we got the call that they were at the police station in Santa Rosa, 30 miles from the Grove. Scott was the one who bailed them out. And we’re about to hear for the very first time what happened to them. You’re here. Our lawyer.
Our lawyer’s late. Let’s just put it that way. God. We just started climbing up because there was this bridge. And there was all this interesting stuff. And I just kept thinking, oh, we’re here. We’re really here. And who’s going to be out here?
You know, certainly we can wind our way in there. And then we saw this little sort of house thing, like, I guess a guard house or something. And then I just saw a truck. And then– It’s always scary to be stuffed and cuffed, when you’re
A relatively large fellow, in the back of a police car. And it was very foggy. And so we couldn’t see so well. It was all rather ethereal and a little bit spooky. We were printed. I had my mugshot taken, seriously. And we were in there in the holding,
You know, in holding with some interesting people. Buddy made friends with everybody, like seriously made friends with every single person in holding. BUDDY: Here’s the thing. Clearly the worst part of this whole experience is having to depart the Sonoma County adult detention center in, like, the world’s worst bowling outfit.
Our clothes were wet. – We’re so wet. – Our clothes were wet. That’s hot. The only way I would go back to the Bohemian Grove would be as an invited guest. And I’m guessing that my options for that have limited themselves significantly.
We had– – Let’s go get you guys dry. We had the exit strategy, and we kind of jumped it. I know. I just, I thought we had to. But we’ve had a hell of an experience. SCOTT: All right, well– CHRISTINE: We have nunchucks.
SCOTT: –what lessons have we learned from this, OK? BUDDY: [laughing] CHRISTINE: Being in jail sucks. SCOTT: When you– when you– BUDDY: Oh, god. [upbeat music] BRAD: Buddy and Mac clearly paid a heavy price for their curiosity. Without endorsing breaking the law, I do understand why they did it.
When you shroud something in secrecy, people are going to want to rip back the curtain and know the truth. [upbeat music] BUDDY: Oh, my god. That was intense. They are not playing around. CHRISTINE: No, they’re not. BUDDY: Oh, my god.
When we were first cuffed and in the back of the cop car, and we knew at that point we’re going somewhere in this vehicle but we don’t know where, and it’s so foggy and rainy that the windows are fogged up, and I’m thinking, I’m going to get a ride through the Bohemian Grove.
And I started– I just leaned over and started just rubbing my cheek against the window to get a little view out. It was kind of pathetic, you know. Well, and I– at that point, we had done little hand signals to– I was saying, you look out that side.
I’m looking out this side, because at least we might need to know our way back. And they were hauling ass through the forest. CHRISTINE: They didn’t want us to see. SCOTT: But see, that was the scary part for me, is I had no idea what was happening to you guys.
And frankly, with some of the creepy stuff we’ve heard, I really didn’t know. CHRISTINE: It scared me too. I did start to think, you know, as we get further and further into the forest and down dead ends and stuff, I thought, that’s– That you’d never be heard from again.
I– I don’t want to sound paranoid, but that is– that was a thought. Great writers like Henry David Thoreau pushed things and broke rules in the interest of learning more about our own society, our own culture. And so I think we did a little bit of that on this trip.
They were both extremely brave, Brad. They had their game face on. It took a while, but we got them out. And we are ready to get back on mission here. BRAD (ON PHONE): Did they charge you with anything? CHRISTINE: Yes. BUDDY: Trespassing. BRAD (ON PHONE): And everyone is truly OK?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I’m scared straight, basically. BRAD (ON PHONE): Listen, this is what happens when you’re doing the things that we do. And when we get knocked down, then we get back up again. [mysterious music] BUDDY: Sometimes I think you do get too close to the fire.
And I’m feeling a little bit like that here. So guys, any regrets about the methodology that we tried to use to– I had nine hours of incarceration to think about this. The more I thought about it, the less I was bothered by the Grove, even though they had just arrested me.
I sort of felt like, they’re allowed to do this. It’s their property. And if they want to continue to have presidents, and Saudi princes, and military leaders come here, they need to promise those guys that they’ll be safe. Everyone we talk to has said the same thing
Over and over again, but in slightly different ways. Yes, this place is a confluence of affluence and power. Power, right. I don’t think we can really argue with that. SCOTT: And don’t you think that’s what really scares people about it? I mean, the exclusivity is what scares us. Right.
You’re not letting me in. I don’t get to see what goes on there. So it’s got to be bad. And honestly, there’s a part of me that’s like, damn, I want in because they won’t allow me in. But there’s also a larger part of me
That feels like people are allowed to gather with the people they choose. And they’re allowed to gather– you know, freedom of assembly, right to privacy. Those are bigger concepts to me. SCOTT: It’s nothing deeper. There’s nothing weird going– well, I wouldn’t say there’s nothing weird going on here,
But there’s nothing nefarious going on here. It’s just like you said, Buddy, a bunch of businessmen in a men’s club. It’s a serious, serious fraternity that happens to be some players. BRAD: Looking in from the outside, no one can deny that there are powerful men getting together, forging bonds that potentially can
Be used in the outside world. But when it comes to what Buddy, Mac, and Scott just said, let me respectfully disagree. Sure, I love that people are getting together to discuss vital issues in an informed, civil way. The world needs more of that, especially now.
And I know there are great, honorable men in this club. But what gets under my fingernails about the Grove is that gnawing feeling that, in secret, some people in this country are having more say than others, as if the rest of us are somehow clueless. This country wasn’t founded in secret.
And when a small group, be it Democrats or Republicans starts acting like its own little monarchy, they shouldn’t be shocked when there’s an uprising. To be clear, this is a great club. And breaking laws isn’t a way to get into it, but a bit more disclosure, a bit more transparency
Would go a long way.
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