mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
California’s Mojave Desert is an enormous, undulating swath of brown, gray and alkali white; driving through it is such a monochromatic experience that you almost feel like you could go into color withdrawal. That’s why Salvation Mountain, just south of California’s own Dead Sea, the Salton, is such a shock to the system. It’s a man-made mountain covered in 100,000 gallons of technicolor paint, one man’s 25-year project. I was lucky enough to visit with a friend last week, and this is what we discovered.
Driving up, the first thing you notice is that it’s an absolute riot of color. There are no subtle shades here: it’s all primary colors, glowing blue and red and gold in the merciless desert sun. The next thing you notice is that every bit of it is covered with Christian messages: God is Love; Catch the Jesus Fire; even slightly nonsense phrases like Jesus Bible Jesus. Confused or not, the message comes across loud and clear.
Confronted with all these colors and bold messages, we parked and climbed tentatively out of the car, expecting to be accosted at any moment by a crazy man, his brains addled by overexposure to the sun. Not at all: a meek and charming old man named Leonard came toddling up to us in a wide-brimmed hat, smiling and saying he’d love to show us a few things. We agreed, and the tour began.
Leonard Knight came to the desert outside of Niland, California in the mid-80s. “I only meant to stay a week,” he said, “but 25 years later, here I am still.” He was an artist and a craftsman set on doing something big, that would send a simple message: “God is love.” His first project was an enormous balloon covered in God-is-love-style slogans, and while it was impressive, it never got off the ground. But it inspired him to do something a bit more grounded: hand-sculpt a mountain.
There was never a master plan for Salvation Mountain — Leonard just keeps adding onto it as he sees fit. He does most of the work himself — though people come and bring him paint and supplies — mixing adobe out of straw, water and clay, which is abundant nearby. And his enormous structure is more than just a mountain: it’s also a warren of shady grottoes, filled with and made from painted trees, tires, windows and anything else he might find in the desert that could be useful. Bales of hay also seem to be one of Leonard’s main building blocks.
About 10 years ago, Imperial County started threatening Leonard. He built Salvation Mountain on public land and had no legal claim to it, and the county’s worry — officially, at least — was that all that lead paint he had used was seeping into the ground and poisoning the water supply. But after extensive tests, experts concluded that the water supply was fine, and to protect Salvation Mountain from wrecking balls and bulldozers on a more permanent basis, California senator Barbara Boxer had the Mountain declared a national treasure — the only such monument ever to be read into the Congressional Record aside from Mount Rushmore.
Leonard gets thousands of visitors each year, and he tries to give everyone who comes to his mountain a personal tour. He lives on the premises, very simply, in a 1958 Airstream trailer without electricity or running water. This is his front door:
If you’ve ever been to the Watts Towers in South LA, you know how amazing this kind of one-man folk art can be. The problem with the Watts Towers is that you spend all your time there wondering what the man who built it must’ve been like — at Salvation Mountain, equally if not more impressive than the Watts Towers, in my opinion — its creator is there, and he’ll happily give you a tour free of charge. He’ll even try to give you free DVDs and postcards as you leave, and poo-poohs the suggestion that he take any money from you.
If you’re ever in the area, be sure and stop by — Leonard’s 74 years old, and may not be giving tours for much longer. We wondered what would happen to Salvation Mountain after he was gone, but didn’t quite know how to ask him. I hope there’s someone out there who’ll take care of it the way Leonard has.
Follow me to salvation … on Twitter.
More “strange geographies” —
The Salton Sea
My Town’s Aborted Suburb
East LA’s Abandoned Hospital
Comments (16)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
I’m completely taken with these photos, Randy. They’re unbelievable. Both on this and the Salton piece, the colors are just absolutely staggering. Really beautiful work…
posted by Mangesh Hattikudur on 6-22-2009 at 2:26 pm
Amazing. I would love to visit Salvation Mountain and Leonard. Had never heard of this before, not even from friends living in California.
posted by septerr on 6-22-2009 at 3:07 pm
I agree – this is fantastic! Also fantastic: That the ad on the page is for Christian Singles with a picture of the very married Kris Allen.
posted by Diana on 6-22-2009 at 5:13 pm
I agree with Mangesh! The photos are fabulous, what camera are you using? Truly breathtaking images of an extraordinary place.
posted by dangermouse on 6-23-2009 at 1:49 am
A small portion of this amazing site and its creator was featured in the recent movie “Into the Wild” (which I recommend highly though it is rather disturbing). Thank you for a more detailed and broader look at the place.
posted by Jonathan on 6-24-2009 at 8:03 am
I have recently discovered first hand the true beauty of the west with it’s monuments both God and man made. I’m so glad that Barbara Boxer declared THIS particular monunment a national treasure which is has been made by both! While I have not yet been to Salvation Mountain, I will indeed aim to get there someday. I too saw the movie “Into the Wild” which does feature this most colorful praise haven in a couple of scenes. Fantastic!
posted by Nancy on 6-24-2009 at 9:52 am
Call me crazy, but I think God did a better job. The mountain was beautiful without the paint.
posted by Valerie on 6-26-2009 at 3:47 pm
The mountain speaks for itself. As people drive into the desert driveway, their faces already show amazement – even the brutal desert heat could not keep them in their nicely air conditioned environment-vehicles. It didn’t matter where they had known about Salvation Mountain or how long ago. It does not matter whether they have a spiritual or religious bone in them or not. It does not matter if they are able to walk or need canes and wheelchairs. They come from near and far places. They come and leave with enthusiasm. Leonard Knight is a humble man who is so inspired by his Creator God. Leonard is focused and dedicated to the mountain that he would not leave it no longer than it takes to eat his meal, except, maybe, to take an extra minute or two to get a cetain color paint that he was inspired to color with. Not even sleep can take him out physically; he sleeps in his beautifully painted truck-house in the premises. It is simple living to the max. There is no electricity nor water in this desert place, however, there is a man with a heart electrified by his God and within the man a running living water. Visitors come from different parts of the world. Truly, it has become global for sometime now united with smiles on their faces. Many can not stay away and so they come once again and then again and again bringing along others. No one leaves this mountain without smiles on their faces – salvation smiles back at them. Other visitors come bearing a gallon or gallons of paint and donate money to buy paint or paint brushes. Children, who are old enough to walk up the mountain, beg their parents to go up again and again. Parents mostly oblige; perhaps they, too, secretly want too run up also. Bring your cameras and cooler. Load up your cooler with ice/water and allow yourselves be amazed by Salvation Mountain. Meet the man himself, Leonard Knight. He is a man who paints and lives outside the box and so does his Creator God. If he is not there, he will be back soon enough! It is worth the wait.
posted by Arlou on 8-6-2009 at 7:40 pm
My tattoo is carved beneath my eyelids as I go about the day, affecting the world one breath-blue gaze at a time.
posted by anonymous on 8-18-2009 at 5:27 pm
Normally, I would agree with Valerie. Mountains are usually more lovely as Nature intended them to be… without paint and other manmade decorations marring them. But even as an atheist, I can appreciate this amazing creation – and Leonard’s longtime dedication. May Nature bless him!
And the pictures are truly stunning – how fortuitous that the clouds were so dramatic during your visit! I’ve heard of this place before, but I nonetheless appreciate your sharing this adventure with us. Thanks!
posted by Laura Martone on 9-2-2009 at 12:28 am
I had the opportunity to visit Salvation Mountain and meet Leonard last March. He is an amazing man, and he absolutely loves where he is and what he is doing. He told us that love was the most important thing, that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Though the mountain has Bible verses all over it, his main message is just love one another, which is the most important message of all.
posted by Katie on 9-24-2009 at 1:56 pm
I’m with Laura Martone.
I think the guy is nuts for writing all that mess, but he’s still a talented artist. It has beautiful colors and is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
posted by Kels on 9-24-2009 at 2:46 pm
And nice comment Katie. I absolutely believe in love.
posted by Kels on 9-24-2009 at 2:48 pm
What a waste of time. Couldn’t have he done something productive? Like help people who need it?
posted by Amanda on 9-24-2009 at 7:22 pm
Fantastic. He is like the West Coast Howard Finster.
posted by Alice on 9-30-2009 at 10:35 pm
what kind of paint is used? i hope it’s not polluting the environment.
posted by jerry on 10-2-2009 at 12:03 am