77 year old Leonard Knight has been building a four storey adobe and hay bale monument to his mantra, "God is Love" for over 30 years. Using the color scheme of a gum ball machine and the blue prints for a mound of mashed potatoes Leonard inspires dozens of visitors a day. Passages from the King James Bible, along with his favorite untoiling or spinning symbol, a flower, ornament the mountain. The flowers are made with globs of adobe and a pressing fist. With a New England accent, Leonard said, "I can make 300 flowers a day." He wakes up at 4 am each morning and lugs gallons of paint and buckets of adobe up ladders and through a maze of caves. Battling the blanching desert sun he tirelessly repaints. Leonard sleeps in his mountain matching box truck when its cold; and on a tattered, clothes strewn couch beside the truck when its warm. He wears a light blue mechanics jump suit and a Quaker brimmed straw hat; both are flecked in the colors of the mountain. I introduced myself and asked about his project. He said, "God speaks to me through my rib. He told me where to find the material to make this (Salvation Mountain). I have been here for 30 years and its starting to receive a lot of attention. It's in the Internet." It is. Sean Penn found Salvation Mountain there and used it for a scene in "Into the Wild." Leonard keeps it simple. Built like an offensive lineman and wearing a T-shirt as a turban, his protege Chey, a disgruntled former music producer from Joshua Tree, CA said, " People come out here with their huge Bibles wanting to explain the more intricate details of Gods will to Leonard. Leonard responds to them with, 'You are all very smart and important people.'" Painted red in a rolled dough font, I look up and see the giant words, "God Is Love" on the cap of the mountain. Leonard has struggled to keep his land. According to Chey, the town of Slab City has cited him for environmental violations associated with the lead paint he used a few decades back; and tried to have the hill demolished. Pro love lawyers intervened and were able to legally designate the mountain a national folk art landmark. Leonards dream will never be touched by town or state. Salvationmountain.us
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