Slab City: Leonard Knight, Salvation Mountain, dies at 82

I've visited the area in Grand Theft Auto V, but never knew it existed in real life until I saw the OP's picture. Very cool!

Roy&Lynne wrote:
Unfortunately, the paint often had lead in it and it really polluted the area.

And just over the hill you might find live war heads.

Roy&Lynne wrote:
Unfortunately, the paint often had lead in it and it really polluted the area.

There is a giant list of stuff that needs to be cleaned up in that desert long before you will ever get to Salvation Mountain! Don't forget- Nearly all paint had lead in it when Leonard started his project. For the last decade he was pretty careful about what donated paint he accepted and how much he would accept.

Unfortunately, the paint often had lead in it and it really polluted the area.

Ray what I was trying to say was that when he came to that area in the early 70's he felt the overwhelming presence of God there. His repented of his sins and prayed the prayer that is on the side of the mountain, "Jesus please come upon my body and into my heart." He prayed this multiple times and became a Christian then. In the early 80's he came back to build Salvation Mountain. So yes to spend 30 years of ones live building the mountain and living in one of his trucks there he must have had a profound conversion experience.

Gjac wrote:

pnichols wrote:
Does anyone know his background?

i.e. Where did he come from? What did he once do for a living? Did he ever have a family? If he once had a family where are they now and were they aware of where he was living, how he was living, and what he was doing?

It appears that he was a devout Christian and maybe once had a whole "other life" back there somewhere in the past.

I was there two years ago and thought it was a very interesting story. He was a not a christian or even religious but when he came to this place after the Korean war he prayed the prayer that you see in the picture by 96 Bounder multiple times he and said he felt the presence of God and came back years later to build the Mtn. He was not affiliated with any church in the area because he did not want any denomination to take over the site. He was in the hospital when I was there and a few young kids were helping to maintain and repaint the area. There were rooms that he created out of adobe, desert trees and other desert trash such as car doors and what looked paper machete covered with Acrylic paint. The whole story of the Lenard Knight is inside one of the rooms in the Mtn. It was well worth the trip from Quartzite.

Why do you say he was not a Christian?

Ray

It is a very interesting story, and truly a labor of love. Just him being able to get the paint needed for the project is almost a miracle in itself.

I have read that there is a group of people doing their best to preserve Knight's work.

pnichols wrote:
Does anyone know his background?

i.e. Where did he come from? What did he once do for a living? Did he ever have a family? If he once had a family where are they now and were they aware of where he was living, how he was living, and what he was doing?

It appears that he was a devout Christian and maybe once had a whole "other life" back there somewhere in the past.

I was there two years ago and thought it was a very interesting story. He was a not a christian or even religious but when he came to this place after the Korean war he prayed the prayer that you see in the picture by 96 Bounder multiple times he and said he felt the presence of God and came back years later to build the Mtn. He was not affiliated with any church in the area because he did not want any denomination to take over the site. He was in the hospital when I was there and a few young kids were helping to maintain and repaint the area. There were rooms that he created out of adobe, desert trees and other desert trash such as car doors and what looked paper machete covered with Acrylic paint. The whole story of the Lenard Knight is inside one of the rooms in the Mtn. It was well worth the trip from Quartzite.

pnichols wrote:
Does anyone know his background?

i.e. Where did he come from? What did he once do for a living? Did he ever have a family? If he once had a family where are they now and were they aware of where he was living, how he was living, and what he was doing?

It appears that he was a devout Christian and maybe once had a whole "other life" back there somewhere in the past.

It's all in the LA Times link from the OP

Does anyone know his background?

i.e. Where did he come from? What did he once do for a living? Did he ever have a family? If he once had a family where are they now and were they aware of where he was living, how he was living, and what he was doing?

It appears that he was a devout Christian and maybe once had a whole "other life" back there somewhere in the past.