Leonard Knight, the creator of Salvation Mountain, a famous roadside attraction near the Salton Sea died in his sleep Monday afternoon. Knight died in his sleep while receiving hospice care at El dorado Care Center in El Cajon. He was 82 years old. Knight moved from the site of his massive art installation just outside Niland in 2011, he was in hospice care since Thursday. Knight began work on the large installation, which serves as the makeshift gateway to Slab City, an off-the-grid encampment on the edge of the Salton Sea, in the mid 1980’s to spread his message that “God is love.” Biblical passages are riddled throughout the walls of the colorful three-story beacon of mud and straw in the desert. Friends are planning to scatter his ashes at the mountain.
