Amazing Thunder Mountain Indian Monument : Imlay, NV
Thunder Mountain Monument - Imlay, Nevada
This place is bizarre, vibrant, and mysterious. You will probably be alone (take a friend). It is an awesome, amazing place.
It was built by Chief Rolling Thunder Mountain (aka Frank Van Zant) as a monument to the Native American People.
There is no music, just the sound of the wind, nothing added.
State Historic Site and Park
I-80 Between Reno and Elko. Take the Imlay exit (exit 145), turn east towards the mines, then turn left onto the frontage road, don't drive into trailer park, the frontage road turns to gravel and Thunder Mountain will be ahead on the left. !/4 mile from turn.
I pieced several raw clips, into this video using the youtube video editor (it was an experiment)
I created this video at
Thunder Mountain indian monument in Imlay, Nevada
4) Thunder Mountain - Imlay Nevada I-80
Go there and see this..Nevada State Historic Site and Park
I-80 Between Reno and Elko. Take the Imlay exit (exit 145), turn east towards the mines, then turn left onto the frontage road, don't drive into trailer park, the frontage road turns to gravel and Thunder Mountain will be ahead on the left. !/4 mile from turn.
Nevada State Historic Site and Park
Clip 14) Thunder Mountain - Imlay Nevada I-80
Go there and see this..Nevada State Historic Site and Park
I-80 Between Reno and Elko. Take the Imlay exit (exit 145), turn east towards the mines, then turn left onto the frontage road, don't drive into trailer park, the frontage road turns to gravel and Thunder Mountain will be ahead on the left. !/4 mile from turn.
11) Thunder Mountain - Imlay Nevada I-80
Go there and see this..Nevada State Historic Site and Park
I-80 Between Reno and Elko. Take the Imlay exit (exit 145), turn east towards the mines, then turn left onto the frontage road, don't drive into trailer park, the frontage road turns to gravel and Thunder Mountain will be ahead on the left. !/4 mile from turn.
10) Thunder Mountain - Imlay Nevada I-80
Go there and see this..Nevada State Historic Site and Park
I-80 Between Reno and Elko. Take the Imlay exit (exit 145), turn east towards the mines, then turn left onto the frontage road, don't drive into trailer park, the frontage road turns to gravel and Thunder Mountain will be ahead on the left. !/4 mile from turn.
Thunder Mountain Monument
Thunder Mountain Monument is located in Imlay, Nevada & is one of the most bizarre artworks in all the state. It was originally built as a tribute to American Indians by a Frank Van Zant in 1969. Van Zant was a World War 2 veteran & a member of the Creek Tribe. Van Zant lived there until 1989 when he commited suicide.
#frankvanzant #thundermountainmonument #parrotbebop2
Official website
Thunder Mountain Monument Wikipedia
Smithsonian Article
Atlas Obscura
Roadside America
Spacearchives.org
Yelp
Outdoor project
Travel Nevada
Trucking out of Imlay, Nevada
RETURN VISIT TO THUNDER MOUNTAIN MONUMENT PART 1 OF 2
Described as a museum, a monument to Native Americans and a pilgrim retreat. It's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure. In the case of Thunder Mountain Monument, it's one man's Legacy the late Frank Van Zant also known as Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder, created a place out of bottles, concrete, scrap iron, car hoods, typewriters, gas pumps and other found materials over a period of 30 years. THe property is now owned by his son, Daniel. Van Zant, born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was a member of the Muscogee or Creek Nation, a Native American tribe. A World War II veteran and free thinker, he started building his monument in 1969. There were a few different stories about the parks origin. One is that Van Zant had a dream or an epiphany. Another is that he was trying to build a place where he could escape from the Apocalypse. But the most probable story is that his 1946 Chevy pickup truck broke down on the spot near the one-time Railroad Station of Imlay, Nevada and he just never left. He made walls out of bottles and cement, ornamental statuary from concrete and chicken wire. The sculptures depict Native Americans and their protective Spirits, massacres and injustices against them. His windows were made from automobile windshields. Statues and arches sore up to 50 feet at top of the roof. Even cars became part of the monument. The place began to fall into disrepair during the 1970s and the site was partially destroyed by fire in 1983. In 1983, Van Zandt was named artist of the year in Nevada. After his wife left him and took custody of their three children, he went into a deep depression and in 1989 he shot himself, leaving Thunder Mountain deserted. Daniel Van Zandt inherited the property and is heavily involved in its preservation. In 1992, Thunder Mountain Monument was named a Nevada State Historic Site.
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40 Acres - Imlay NV
This 40 acre gem is located along the I-80 corridor between Imlay and Winnemucca in northern Pershing County. It's only 1/2 mile from the Humboldt River and perfect for outdoor recreation. Looking for an escape from the madness of city life? This is it!
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Thunder Mountain Indian Monument
Thunder Mountain Monument looks as if the contents of a landfill ended up in organized structures spread out over 5 acres, which is kind of what happened. It looks part sculpture garden, part kid’s fort and something you would expect to see at Burning Man a few miles down the road. This story begins 50 years ago when then named Frank Van Zant a former forest ranger, sheriff, Methodist pastor decided to pack up all his possessions leave Okmulgee, Oklahoma and head east to build a Indian Monument. You see Frank had always been interested in Native American history and artifacts and gradually that interest grew into an obsession. He believed himself to be 1/4 Creek Indian and changed his name to Chief Rolling Thunder Mountain. He arrived in Imlay, Nevada sometime around 1968 and began covering his trailer with concrete mixed with stones he brought down for the nearby mountains. It didn’t take long for him to attract followers and at one point up to 40 people lived at the site. Soon there were other rooms adjoining the old travel trailer, then a second story with a balcony and a tiny third floor room. Chief Thunder Mountain and his followers scavenged a 60-mile area around the monument looking for trash and objects along with wood from old falling down buildings for construction materials. He once stated that he was using the “White Man’s Trash” to build this monument. In the 1980’s fewer and fewer people were living at Thunder Mountain and a sadness descended on Chief Thunder Mountain. As he became increasingly poor he sold his prized artifact collection and then an act of arson in 1983 destroyed all the buildings except the main structure itself. In 1989 his wife and children moved away and at the end of that year he took his own life. His son Dan tried to maintain the place for years after his dads passing by visiting the place once a month but vandals and the harsh conditions of the desert have taken their toll. In 1992 the Nevada declared it a State Historic Site and it is now under the care of his grown children under the aegis of a State of Nevada Historic Restoration Project. The site is partially open to the public for self-guided tours and all they ask for is a donation to help preserve this very unique place in the Nevada desert.
Thunder Mountain Monument, NV
Thunder Mountain Monument aerial - Winnemucca, Nevada
Thunder Mountain Monument aerials near Winnemucca, Nevada. This is a very interesting architectural tribute to the native Indians of the area.... and their plight...
The Monument of Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder
Chief Thunder's artistry is the testament of a great American folk artist.The film captures the tragedy of his life, his painful isolation, the beauty of his work, and his creative process.
Return to Chief Rolling Thunder Mountain's amazing house
On I80 at Imlay, you pass an amazing, well, house? Sculpture? Museum? Well, all of those. It's the home of Chief Rolling Thunder Mountain.
As we head to the 2019 Narrow Gauge Convention a quick stop at Chief Rolling Thunder Mountains house. We were here a few years ago, but just to catch up. On our last stop we gave you the history, today just a revisit to see any changes, and just to enyoy the place.
From the web:
The Thunder Mountain Monument is a series of outsider art sculptures and architectural forms that were assembled by Frank Van Zant starting in 1969 upon his arrival in Imlay, Nevada; it is located on a shoulder of I-80.
A World War II veteran from Oklahoma, Frank Van Zant had served with the 7th Armoured Division, fought in several campaigns in Europe and been badly burned in a tank battle outside Leipzig. Born on an Indian Reservation in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, on November 11, 1921, he was the son of Sydney Grove Van Zant and grandson of Alexander Grove Van Zant and due to his upbringing he identified himself as Creek Indian, although his father became disenchanted with the sovereignty of the Creek Nation and became an individual he took the Native American name Rolling Mountain Thunder after experiencing an epiphany. He took on the twin but related tasks of both building shelters from the presumed coming apocalypse, and making a de facto spiritual haven for spiritual seekers of the hippie era. (There is no Thunder Mountain in the vicinity.)
The site covers five acres on the south side of a 1,000-foot stretch of Interstate 80. There were originally seven buildings, including a three-story hostel where many hippies stayed in the 1970s. Three stone and concrete buildings remain, and more than 200 concrete sculptures depicting Native Americans and their protective spirits, massacres, and injustices against them. Thunder Mountain Monument (or Park) is replete with found objects, such as car hoods, dolls' heads, typewriters, and gas pumps, many of which are incorporated into the buildings themselves; the third floor has one wall made up of antique bottles which form a stained glass window of a different sort; other floors have windows from antique windshields and bottles incorporated therein to provide a lighting source; one framework forms a large handle so the Great Spirit could take the building away after Thunder's death.
The site was partially destroyed by arson in 1983, the same year Van Zant was named Nevada's Artist of the Year; he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in 1989. The monument was neglected and subject to vandalism until it was declared a Nevada State Historic Site in 1992; it is now under the care of his grown children under the aegis of a State of Nevada Historic Site Restoration Project and is partially open to the public for self-guided tours. Van Zant has been the subject of two short documentaries.
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