My daughter and I and a group of photo enthusiasts, had a chance to travel about 150 miles (one way) over the weekend to Niland, CA. This is one of the places we visited.
SALVATION MOUNTAIN
A one man’s work of Art and Love
Leonard Knight, the creator and artist, born on Nov 1, 1931, grew up on a 32 acre farm in Burlington, Vermont, drafted into the US Army at 20. After the war he worked at an Oldsmobile dealership in Middlebury, Vermont until 1956. He first experience the religious teachings when visiting his sister in 1967 in San Diego.
♥♥♥Leonard Knight♥♥♥
Knight’s creation of Salvation Mountain was the result of his failure to make a hot air balloon. He went to Slab City to fly his balloon. It did not get off the ground because it had rotten when he did not have time to put it away during the winter in Vermont.
He started this project with watered-down cement and sand. One day it exploded in a cloud of dust. He rebuilt his creation with bales of straw and adobe. He is a very sweet person, and he answers every question. He hands out postcards with a picture of him at the top of the mountain. This day when we visited, he was showing off his plaque from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA).
The Hogan
It is the domed-shaped home of adobe and sticks used by the native Navajo, that would insulate him in the heat as high as 115ºF (46ºC). The bales are stacked up to 10 feet high. He never moved in here, and still prefers to live in his truck.
During the years, there was a petition signed to demolish this site as being toxic, but however, he took some samples and sent it to a Lab in San Diego, and was tested FREE, even lead.
Leonard Knight said he must have used a lot of gallons of paint, approximately 100,000. People from all over the world visit this place. He survives without electricity, running water, gas, air conditioning or heating, or any of the comforts in life we have. He lives on donated food and other supplies. He has a cat with no name and calls him Kitty Cat. He continues to spread the word of love. He receives $249 monthly social security pension. He also has a volunteer to help him.
Honestly, I was surprised when he said, “I am on FACEBOOK”!
Postscript:
“Leonard Knight has appeared in many documentary films, including Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea, Leonard and the Mountain, Desertopia, Mountain, and God’s Architects. Knight also appeared in the 2007 Oscar-nominated film Into the Wild, in which he played himself. The film is based on the true story of the travels of Christopher McCandless, who visited Knight in December 1991.” Source
This post is linked to
Mosaic Monday
Hosted by Mary at the Little Red House
and
That’s My World
Klaus, Sandy, Wren, and Sylvia
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