Walton has offered $1.5 million, including a $25,000 deposit, to “preserve and rehabilitate Salvation Mountain and Slab City to a safe space with a good reputation,” according to a letter of intent shared by the commission. Part of his plan, according to the letter, also entails ousting Salvation Mountain’s current management and taking over operations.   

Now, he and other Slab City representatives are in an arms race for the land that’s home to the famed monument and nearby community of squatters. 

Leonard Knight, creator of Salvation Mountain. (Paul Harris/Getty Images)
Leonard Knight, creator of Salvation Mountain. (Paul Harris/Getty Images)

First constructed in 1984 by desert visionary Leonard Knight, Salvation Mountain is a 50-foot-tall, 150-foot-wide folk art monument that’s just east of the Salton Sea. A gateway to Slab City, which has been famously dubbed “The Last Free Place on Earth,” it shot to fame when it was featured in the 2007 film “Into the Wild.” Slab City, too, has long been the subject of countless amateur documentaries, drawing dozens of “Babylonians” to the unincorporated desert town.  

Though there’s been interest in the past, this is the first time the state has received serious offers for the land, Pemberton said. For now, the commission is reviewing the applications and deciding which one best serves the state’s interest.  

Walton applied to purchase the property on June 22 of last year, according to Pemberton, while Salvation Mountain Inc. followed suit a few months later. In their letter of intent shared by the commission, Salvation Mountain representatives wrote that they plan to offer “a permanent homestead for those who have nowhere else to go, and to those who have resided on the land for decades, including three generations of local families, many veterans and low and no income Californians, who depend on affordable housing programs.” 

Pemberton said that Walton plans to create a retreat center for art, gardening and animal therapy, but the details are vague. One thing, though, is for certain: He isn’t worried about the $1.5 million price tag. “That’s easy money for me,” he said in a video call with SFGATE. “My family has a lot of wealth.”  

Little is known about Walton, but according to his Facebook page, he was a former pastor at North Coast Church, a Christian megachurch and Bible teaching program with multiple campuses, mostly in San Diego County. Slab City residents have said that there’s been endless speculation about Walton’s true source of income, but it appears he may actually have the funds to back up his offer: Last year, he indeed wrote a $25,000 cashier’s check for “Salvation Mountain & Slab City” and stated that purchasing it was a “process.” 

Even though Slab City residents are predominantly low-income, videos appear to show Walton cruising around on all-terrain vehicles and operating excavators — heavy-duty construction equipment that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars — at his own biblically based camp, New Eden. 

“Eden is a place of vitality,” he said from his homestead, taking a swig of tea. “The world is a place of death and destruction.” But longtime Slab City residents still aren’t sold on him or his utopian vision.  

“He’s Jim Jones,” Bill Ammon, Slab City Community Group president and Salvation Mountain Inc. board member, told SFGATE. “He wants to have his flock and rule over it.” 

According to Ammon, Leonard Knight wanted the monument to speak for itself and connect directly with the people around them. “He did not want organized religion getting involved,” he said. “He did not want the sermon being preached from the mountaintop.” Walton has denied each of these claims, stating that he no longer believes in organized religion, nor will he evict any Slab City residents if the purchase goes through. 

Even though Ammon says that his group’s funding is “threadbare,” representatives aren’t convinced that the state will simply hand over the property to Walton. “I don’t think they like him either,” he said. 

“I don’t think he’s got a chance in hell in getting it,” said Marty Maurer, a Slab City resident and SCCG treasurer.  

Bill “Builder Bill” Ammon, a Slab City resident for more than two decades; artist Peter Passalacqua spins around on a pole on the dance floor at his sprawling slab; Dot of House of Dots art gallery stands in her pool; Bob Johnson, left, and Matt Crow relax at Johnson’s Slab City Hostel. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Ariana Drehsler/Getty Images)
Bill “Builder Bill” Ammon, a Slab City resident for more than two decades; artist Peter Passalacqua spins around on a pole on the dance floor at his sprawling slab; Dot of House of Dots art gallery stands in her pool; Bob Johnson, left, and Matt Crow relax at Johnson’s Slab City Hostel. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Ariana Drehsler/Getty Images)

When SFGATE reached out to Salvation Mountain representatives for comment about Walton’s proposal, they wrote that they “do not support his efforts in any way” and asserted that the purchase was “never going to happen,” stating that they’re making a concerted effort to buy the land once and for all. They’ve reportedly been engaged with the state since 2015 to ensure that the monument remains preserved and owned by Salvation Mountain Inc.

When asked about the Jim Jones comparison, Walton brushed it off and said that he felt the opposite was true. He explained that he ran a soup kitchen in the area and stated that his mission centered around serving the community — not expanding his small operation. 

“I don’t talk or recruit or anything like that,” he continued. “We just serve food.” (As recently as June 11, however, he’s openly solicited volunteers and advertised New Eden on his Facebook page.) Walton said that both Salvation Mountain Inc. and the SCCG are “frauds” that have slandered him for years, but either way, he’s not concerned that this will derail his proposal. 

“God is in control, I just need to show up and serve,” he wrote. “It’s not about me.” 

The future of the monument still hangs in the balance, and for many Slab City residents who live nearby, this battle is likely just the beginning.   

“We’re poor people, but we’re serious human beings,” Ammon said. “We have a home here and we don’t want to lose it.”