Leonard Knight
and his Salvation Mountain

by Fida Wild

Just a few miles outside of Niland California, Leonard Knight built Salvation Mountain in honour of God - his version of a holy shrine. It is an extraordinary piece of Visionary Outsider Art one doesn't expect in the middle of California's desert.

Slab City - a world apart from glitzy Los Angeles and the fine living of Palm Springs - is a refuge for thousands of snowbirds and people on the drift in the winter month as well as approx. 150 residents year round.

It has its name from the slabs that were left behind after the barracks of General George S. Patton's training camp were torn down. A Military camp where Pilots of Enola Bay practiced their missions and dropped dummy bombs.

The site is part of the park that belongs to the state of California but is uncontrolled and no fees are charged.

Snowbirds, squatters, aged hobos and wanderers immediately took over after the Military left, living there free of charge in their creative campsites in the middle of the unforgiving desert - without electricity, tap water or sewage to this date.

Salvation Mountain - A Tribute To God

One of the "Slabbers" is Leonard Knight, born November 1, 1931 into a family of farmers in Burlington, Vermont. He never felt at home anywhere - until he arrived in Slab City in the mid eighties.

Leonard Knight
Photo: caveman

To understand his burning desire to spread God's Message, one has to know that the Love of Jesus had hit him unexpectedly but all encompassing one mid-morning at the age of 35, sitting in his truck in front of his sister's house. She was a devote Christian and preaching incessantly all day. He felt extremely uncomfortable and sought refuge in his car to get away for a moment.

Sitting there, he started to recite the Sinners Prayer: "Jesus I am a sinner. Please come into my heart." He repeated that over and over again, unbeknownst even to him as to why. All of a sudden, he felt a surge of happiness and love spread through his body. Immediately he experienced a clear understanding that God IS Love. It was as simple as that and not the complicated thing people made of it. He was instantly a changed man.

Salvation Mountain
Photo: caveman

Back in Nebraska, he felt an urge and desire to share his insight and God's simple message of love with his church. Though his message was part of the bible: accept Jesus into your heart, repent your sins, and be saved; the church leaders smiled mildly at him and said it was a bit more complicated than that.

He was so sure of his message that he searched for a way to let everybody know how simple it really was. When he saw his first hot air balloon, it was pretty clear to him that this would be the best way to spread the word.

Odd jobs kept him financially going, but building a hot air balloon became the real calling. He got to work with a donated sewing machine, stitched square by square of fabric into a huge patchwork canvas for his project. Trial and error kept him going for over 10 years.

Work took him south and when he visited the area around Slab City, he knew instantly that this was the place to be and finish his work on his. But, according to himself: "I just couldn't get the thing up in the air, and then it just would rot on me." For the first time he was close to giving up his dream and move once more.

A Man Made Mountain

Before leaving the area for good he thought he would give himself another try and build a 'small structure' to promote God's Love for all With a smile he says: "I was just going to stay for one week. It's been a very good quarter-of-a-century-long-week!"

Inside the Cave
Photo: shadowplay

What started out with half a bag of cement to build a small structure of maybe 8 feet poked four years later 50 feet high up into the air. Once started, he couldn't stop. Salvation Mountain was born.

He put old junk to good use, covered it with cement and sand - as it turned out much too much sand. After 4 years of sweat and passion, the whole mountain just started to fall apart and Leonard was left with a pile of rubble at his feet.

The Works of Leonard Knight
Photo :shadowplay

This time, giving up was not an option for Leonard. Instead, he was thankful to God, showing him this way that Salvation Mountain would have been a danger to others and needed a better structure.

The second time he started out using native adobe clay, mixing in straw and whatever junk he could find for strength. He toured the local dumps to find paint, with which he would cover each finished section immediately to protect it from wind and rain. He needed a lot of paint. The first few coats would always get sucked into the clay and he slapped between 10 and 15 coats of paint on the whole surface.

See of Galilee
Photo:shadowplay

He says he used the "ugly colours" as base and the "pretty ones" to embellish Salvation Mountain with all sorts of decorative objects - flowers, birds, trees, hearts, and waterfalls that end in the "Sea of Galilee" - and again and again sayings from the Bible and his simple message of God Is Love.

Giant red and pink words God is Love and right underneath a huge red heart with the words "Jesus I'm a Sinner. Please Come Upon My Body and Into My (Heart)" are the centerpiece of his work. Stairs and walkways lead up the mountain where a big but simple cross adorns the top.

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