Monte Rio

Well, the grove itself...

It's 2,700 acres of redwood forest near Monte Rio, California, on the Russian River in Sonoma County.

I've watched the videos of...

That's prime real estate, man.

Um, you know, there's a direct connection with John S. Harrington and the Bohemian Grove and its ritual network, okay? [laughs] Uh, if anyone has forgotten what Bohemian Grove is, uh, let me just, uh, pull that up for everybody.

Not the Brohemian Grove, the Bohemian Grove, all right? [laughs] Um, but the Bohemian Grove is a private 2,700-acre redwood campground in Monte Rio, California, owned and operated by the San Francisco-based Bohemian Club, an executive all-male private club founded in 1872.

Uh, the annual gathering each July, more than 2,000 members and in- uh, and invited guests, including corporate CEOs, politicians, and media figures, attend a secretive two-and-a-half-week summer encampment.

Okay? Ah, interesting.

And let's see what it says.

Uh, it's a highly exclusive 2,700 acre private campground located in Monte Rio, California, owned by the San Francisco-based gentleman's club known as the Bohemian Club, founded in 1872.

That's pretty close to the founding of Skull and Bones, actually.

Uh, 2,000 members.

Yeah.

So, Bohemian Grove is in Monte Rio, California.

It's along the Russian River.

It's a private 2,700-acre in the Redwood campgrounds.

This is the notorious Bohemian Grove, a retreat for the world's rich and powerful.

Every July, members of a San Francisco organization known as the Bohemian Club head to their 2,700-acre campground just outside Monte Rio, California, to assemble into camps with names like Caveman, Hillbillies, and Mandalay.

Despite existing since 1872, little is known about the group, its practices, or what goes on at the Grove.

Occasionally, information will leak.

But there are also pranks.

One of the ones I was fascinated by wasn't a Grove member specifically, a club member.

But a guest, according to spy magazine journalist Philip Wise, he was told a story about how William Webster, while he was still FBI director and giving a lakeside talk, ran a prostitution sting in nearby Monte Rio to catch Grove members as a joke.

Did either of you encounter any kinds of other bizarre pranks or things like this when researching this story?