The Bohemian Club was formed by bored San Francisco journalists in 1872 or 1873 (sources differ) but soon became the preserve of the rich elite when they purchased a redwood forest in Northern California known as the Bohemian Grove. This was the site of an annual camping get-together, where 2,000 exclusively male business, political, and media leaders came to relax, let their hair down, and forget about their worries.