Inside Bohemian Grove
The Story People Magazine Won't Let You Read
Extra! November/December 1991
When Dirk Mathison, San Francisco bureau chief for People magazine, infiltrated the exclusive Bohemian Grove retreat this summer, he got a view into the U.S. elite that very few reporters have glimpsed. Unfortunately, that elite includes the management of Time Warner, the owner of People, which prevented Mathison from telling his story.
Bohemian Grove, a secluded campground in California's Sonoma County, is the site of an annual two-week gathering of a highly select, all-male club, whose members have included every Republican president since Calvin Coolidge. Current participants include George Bush, Henry Kissinger, James Baker and David Rockefeller -- a virtual who's who of the most powerful men in business and government.
Few journalists have gotten into the Grove and been allowed to tell the tale (one exception is Philip Weiss, whose November 1989 Spy piece provides the most detailed inside account), and members maintain that the goings-on there are not newsworthy events, merely private fun. In fact, official business is conducted there: Policy speeches are regularly made by members and guests, and the club privately boasts that the Manhattan Project was conceived on its grounds.
Given the veil of secrecy that surrounds the Bohemian "encampment," a reporter needs to enter the grounds covertly in order to get a full portrait. Mathison entered the grounds three times July 1991, aided by activists from the Bohemian Grove Action Network.
He witnessed a speech -- "Smart Weapons" -- by former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who stated that the Pentagon estimates that 200,000 Iraqis were killed by the U.S. and its allies during the Gulf War. Other featured speakers included Defense Secretary Richard Cheney on "Major Defense Problems of the 21st Century", former Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano on "America's Health Revolution -- Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Pays", and former Attorney General Elliott Richardson on "Defining the New World Order".
Mathison's entree into the secret world of the Grove was cut short on July 20, however, when he was recognized by two of the participants in the festivities -- executives from Time Warner, People's publisher. More loyal to the Grove than to journalistic endeavor, they had the reporter removed from the premises (San Francisco Weekly, 8/7/91).
Mathison already had plenty of material, however, and turned in an article to his editors, which was scheduled to appear in the Aug. 5, 1991 issue. They were pleased with the piece, according to Mathison: "They liked it enough to expand it a bit," he told Extra!.
But then the story was suddenly killed. Landon Jones, managing editor of People, told Extra! that the decision had nothing to do with the Time Warner executives. "It was cut partially because he hadn't been there long enough to get a complete story. Secondly, we felt very uncertain about reporting what we did have, because, and this is my fault and I take responsibility for this, I simply didn't realize it was technically trespassing."
For his part, Mathison said he did not know why the story was killed, and implied it would be nearly impossible to find the real reason. "It's easier to penetrate the Bohemian Grove than the Time-Life Building," he told Extra!.
But the story raises questions about the ability of a media entity to report critically on an elite when its executives are enthusiastic members of that elite. Indeed, the Time organization was noted for sending a corporate plane to the Bohemian gathering every year, according to long-time Grove-watcher Kerry Richardson.
Time Warner is not the only media corporation with Bohemian connections. The list of Fourth Estate bigwigs who have been members or guests is extensive: Franklin Murphy, the former CEO of the Times Mirror corporation; William Randolph Hearst, Jr.; Jack Howard and Charles Scripps of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain; Tom Johnson, president of CNN and former publisher of the Los Angeles Times.
When Associated Press president Louis Boccardi spoke at one of the Grove's "Lakeside Talks" about kidnapped reporter Terry Anderson (Spy, 11/89), he referred to his audience as men of "power and rank" and "gave them more details than he said he was willing to give his readers."
Walter Cronkite, now on the CBS board, hangs out at the same lodge at Bohemian Grove as George Bush and the former chairs of Procter & Gamble and Bank of America; Cronkite's voice has served as the voice of the Owl of Bohemia, a fixture in the club's mock-druidic rituals.
The media figures attending the retreat all agree not to report on what goes on inside. The prohibition seems to apply to reporters who are not guests or members as well: In 1982, NPR got a recording of Henry Kissinger's speech at the Grove -- but declined to air it (Spy, 11/89). Also in 1982, a Time reporter went undercover as a waiter in Bohemian Grove; like Mathison's People article, his story was killed.
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Remeber our current President and many past Presidents are members of this club as is the Governor of California.
Part of the opening ceremony of the two-week encampment, it features members wearing red-hooded robes who burn an elaborate effigy at the base of the 40-foot owl altar. The effigy symbolizes the cares of the world that these men carry. [Or Cremation of conscience for 2 weeks of hellraising and conspiratorial racketeering.]
Hooded priests praise the owl and a black-hooded boatman crosses the lake with the bound effigy.
In his film, Jones said he can make out a bound child begging for its life and that he heard screams. "Those aren't rumors anymore," he said. [Why did this journalist refuse to watch a copy of this video as research for writing this article, or at least watch the FREE video clips off Jones' website?]
British writer and filmmaker Jon Ronson also used the film in a documentary on Jones' effort to get inside the grove and view the opening ceremony.
Moore countered that what Jones watched was a simulated sacrifice and that his film trivializes years of work by protesters.
Moore went on Jones' radio talk show to explain that the protesters' goal is to raise awareness about what club members do with their power and influence and not the seemingly silly things members do inside the grove. [Since when is child sacrifice "silly"? And why the heck is SHE defending Bohemian Grove when she is self-appointed head of the "Bohemian Grove Action Network" - or should it be named "Inaction" Network, since she didn't even have protests this year!]
"They're floating policy ideas up there," she said. "That message is getting lost in the general craziness of child sacrifice and the owl worship and the rest of it. It could become a distraction from what we're trying to accomplish."
Discussions at the grove often deal with government, military, economic, and science and technology topics. Other activities include plays and comedy -- some with men in drag -- drinking, dining and dominoes.
Members and guests have included former presidents and Cabinet secretaries including Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, George Schultz and Caspar Weinberger.
Others who have attended include the late CIA Director William Casey, Secretary of State Colin Powell, nuclear physicist Edward Teller, leaders of IBM, Dupont, Bank of America and the World Bank.
Secret meetings of such an elite, powerful group also worry Jones, a frequent critic of U.S. government conduct and domestic and foreign policy.
Jones gained a measure of notoriety for leading the effort to build a memorial church at the site of the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas. The church complex burned during the 1993 standoff between federal authorities and David Koresh and his followers, killing 76 Davidians.
"A spotlight deserves and needs to be shown on what's happening there," he said of the Bohemian Club encampments.
McCaslin's break-in, however, could make access even more difficult if the already tight security during the encampment is bolstered.
"Now they'll be able to militarize it even further," Jones said.
McCaslin, a clean-cut man with a slight Southern accent, managed to set a small fire that caused minimal damage during his foray into the camp. He also left Bible pamphlets at the foot of the owl statue.
He said a security official for the club interviewed him for more than an hour at the jail on Monday.
"We are reviewing our security procedures and will take those steps necessary to provide adequate security at the grove both during upcoming summer events and during the rest of the season," Oggero said.
You can reach Staff Writer Michael Coit at 521-5470 or
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I looked at a part of the video and it's pretty poor quality. It seems like that guy is more interested in selling his video than in exposing wrongdoing.
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If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
If you're certain you know everything, there's little opportunity to learn anything.
While I understand the political and social implications of politicians and the wealthy conspiring in private enclaves, what is the point of dragging this particular item out today 14 years later? We have plenty to be concerned with today of more importance than a story that was spiked over a decade ago. If there are specific alegations or charges against individuals that should have been made it is far to late, if there is a pattern of continued abuse of power and wrong doing coming from the members of this group, then let them be aired and cleared up.
Inside Bohemian Grove
