Leonard Knight and his Salvation Mountain

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Salvation Mountain
One of the Most Unusual Sites in North America

People started to notice his peculiar building activities and tourists stopped for a better look. His outgoing personality, charm and love for every creature in God's World mesmerized visitors and they began to support him with paint.

Some of them come back year after year and help him with restoration work. He says, that by now all of California's paint companies are donating all their old paint. Renovation and repainting is ongoing work. The more paint layers he puts on the mountain the sturdier the whole sculpture will become.

After he finished the mountain, work went on with building a Hogan of adobe and straw bales to keep himself cool from the hot desert summers and warm in cooler winter nights. But once finished, he kept on living in his fire track that has a house on its back like a turtle its shell, bedecked with biblical quotations and a landmark in itself.

Leonard’s Home
Photo: shadowplay

Several 'tree-trunks' built of truck tires, plastered with adobe, and salvaged wood branches looking like giant spider webs and covered in several coats of paint, support the domes. Thousands of flowers beautify the walls and according to Leonard make the whole structure stronger since each flower is a slab of adobe. He thrusts his fist in the middle of it before letting them dry and painting them in random colors he has at hand.

Problems in Eden

All was not well in Slab City for a while. The Government became wind of the community of drifters and wanderers who paid neither taxes nor camp fees. Especially Leonard's Salvation Mountain smelled of a monument of a dangerous sect.

Surveyors came and took samples of the soil to prove the toxicity and high levels of lead in the ground. Slab City was declared a toxic nightmare and the removal of Salvation Mountain was decided.

Though the government didn't count with the fierceness of the 'Slabbers' and the friends of Leonard. Signatures were collected and petitions signed. Leonard sent soil samples to an independent Lab and they revealed no unacceptable toxic levels and especially no lead. Salvation Mountain was saved. Leonard hopes that the Government came to its senses because Slab City with its snowbirds and tourists provides income for an otherwise deserted Niland.

Leonard's Visionary Art

Even though he thinks he's not an artist, no one agrees with him on that. Who else but an artist can dream up such work? He only smiles and tells you that he dropped out of grade ten and has no ability to speak of. All he ever wanted was spreading God's simple message. Build a simple structure of some kind to celebrate God, Jesus and their message of Love. He strongly believes that His Love will heal the world.

Today, Leonard's work is hardly a secret. Articles have been written, documentaries made and web pages have been dedicated to his work. He was even part of the book and the film "Into the Wild" by Krakauer His enthusiasm is uninterrupted and he is full of hope that the Internet, of which he says he knows nothing, will spread his message all over the globe.

The Man and his Passion

There's no idle moment in this man's life. He certainly would have earned his retirement, sitting on a little bench in front of his truck with nothing else to do but admire his work. But no, Leonard goes up every morning at 5, fetches a cup of coffee in town and returns to his work. He says there won't be another structure - his days are filled with renovation, repainting and making the whole mountain even shinier.

As soon as the visitors arrive he'll stop and greet all of them enthusiastically. He loves to interact with people and gleams with delight when questions are asked. He genuinely loves people, his eyes dazzling in competition with the bright colors of his mountain. He walks swiftly like a little penguin, flapping his arms while chatting enthusiastically, and answering questions as if it would be the first time somebody had asked.

He is not a religious zealot or preacher, he is non-denominational and his only agenda is the all-encompassing message of Love. He rivals in showing off his unusual shrine and is bursting with happiness.

Whimsical Details
Photo: shadowplay

He never had electricity, running water or a phone out here. He eats straight out of the can - from meatballs to beans, stews, and soups. So much for a healthy living - maybe that alone is worth listening to this man and to understand that good health and happiness have probably a lot to do with living ones life with love and compassion rather than fresh organics and high quality protein.

The Future of Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain was honored by The Folk Art Society of America as one of six folk-art sites in the world "worthy of preservation and protection." The East Coast Museum calls it one of the five greatest pieces of visionary art in the Untied States.

Thanks to Barbara Boxer, D-California, and her resolution to the Senate Leonard Knight's work will be protected long after he is gone, which, according to him, won't happen soon.

Good to Know

Address
Leonard Knight
Salvation Mountain
P.O. Box 298
Niland, California, USA - 92257-0298

Contact
If you wish to conduct an interview, film the mountain or any other request, please contact Bob Sims

How to get there

• 79.3 miles Palm Springs, CA - Niland, CA
• 184 miles Los Angeles, CA - Niland, CA
• 146 miles San Diego, CA - Niland, CA

View Salvation Mountain, Slab City, CA in a larger map

Open
Daily. Bring acrylic paint and canned food as payment but don't forget to mention that it comes from your heart, or he might not accept it.

Best time to visit are the winter months since the mid-day heat of the summer can be unbearably high.

Where to Stay
Calipatria Inn
Niland, CA

Books

• Salvation Mountain: The Art of Leonard Knight by Larry Yust, New Leaf Press, 1998
• Eccentric America, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide to All That's Weird and Wacky in the USA
• Fantasy Worlds by Deidi von Schaewed and John Maizels, Taschen, 1999
• Self-Made Worlds: Visionary Folk Art Environments by Roger Manley, Mark Sloan, Jonathan Williams
• Eccentric Style by Angelika Taschen , Deidi Van Schaewen, Taschen 2002
• The Mad Monks' Guide to California
• Raw Creation: Outsider Art & Beyond by John Maizel

Film/DVDs
Slab City and Leonard Knight were featured in the book Into the Wild and also in the 2007 movie of the same title. The video for Fourth of July by Shooter Jennings is partially set in Slab City.

Video/DVD, TV
Leonard Knight has been portrayed by TV and the written media. VisionTV produced the documentary "Driven by Vision" that can be purchased as a DVD called "Shrines and Homemade Holy Places" where he is featured among other outsider artists.

Video

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