In 1969, Frank Van Zant began building beside a Nevada highway; 20 years later, his desert compound had more than 200 concrete sculptures

Drive along Interstate 80 in northern Nevada, and the road feels endless. Then a colorful, oddly shaped structure pops out of the desert. A Nevada Magazine feature says tens of thousands of cars pass Thunder Mountain Monument in Imlay each day, but few stop to look. World War II veteran and artist Frank Van Zant built the monument, beginning construction in 1969 when he moved to Imlay.

A highway stop that became a life's work

Van Zant was not a trained artist. Smithsonian magazine reports he'd never made art until he came to Nevada. He had worked as a forest ranger, sheriff, assistant Methodist pastor, and museum director. He taught himself to sculpt wet concrete, starting by coating his travel trailer in concrete and stone. In the end, it became a three-story building.


Sources differ slightly over the years of his moves. The Society of Architectural Historians says he arrived in Nevada in 1968, while Nevada Magazine says he began building in 1969. In any case, the story begins in the late 1960s. He went on to construct many stone and concrete buildings and more than 200 concrete sculptures. Most of the figures depict Native Americans and the injustices they endured. He also sculpted heroes such as Sarah Winnemucca and Standing Bear.

It is the details that make people pause. A car windshield is embedded in a wall as a window, and a plastic doll head is nailed to a tree. Old cars and a rusty typewriter are covered in concrete and rocks. Bottles, televisions, helmets, and even plastic grapes have found their way into the walls. It may look random, but every object has its own spot. The largest structure is painted in bright colors and has a semicircular form on top that looks like a handle. Asked about the handle-like loop, Van Zant said that in the end times Great Spirit would "grab this place by the handle."

Why he made it and why it feels modern

So what did he build this all for? Van Zant built Thunder Mountain as a shelter in the event of an apocalypse, according to Nevada Magazine. He also meant it to be a spiritual sanctuary and a hostel during the hippie era. A self-described Creek Indian, he adopted the name Rolling Mountain Thunder after an epiphany. He also wanted to honor the Native Americans who came before him and celebrate their closeness to the earth, adds the Society of Architectural Historians. He drew followers too, up to 40 at the height of the compound. It was a museum inside out, with the art and messages on the outside, and the family on the inside.

This is the part that might speak to younger readers. Van Zant made most of his stuff out of junk. He scavenged materials from a 60-mile area around the site, even stripping wood from fallen buildings in ghost towns. He told people he was building an Indian monument out of “the white man’s trash.” Today we would call it upcycling. To him, however, it was a message. This wasn’t made to go viral. It was built slowly, by one man, by hand, in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that's why it sticks with people.

A place never meant to last

Sites such as these are often fragile. Leslie Umberger, then curator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, spoke to Smithsonian. She said that these folk-art sites were rarely designed to outlive their creators. Hundreds have been destroyed before anyone knew their value. She added that they capture a time, a place, and a culture of a region that people don’t always see.

Thunder Mountain was no exception. Most of the compound apart from the main monument was destroyed by arson in 1983. Van Zant died in 1989. The site sat idle and was vandalized until it was designated a Nevada State Historic Site in 1992. That status brought recognition but not a budget: when Smithsonian covered it in 2010, Van Zant's son, Dan, was battling weather, animals, and vandals, and the state had reluctantly declined to take over the site for lack of resources.

Nevada Magazine reports that a restoration project led by Van Zant’s children continues, and the monument is open for self-guided tours during daylight hours. Things change, so check current details before you go. Be gentle with the place. The Smithsonian writer took photographs and noted the signs asking visitors not to vandalize. Frank Van Zant didn't set out to be a landmark. He pulled over on a highway and began to build. His concrete figures still stand in the desert decades later.