Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Thunder Mountain Monument



Thunder Mountain is a unique place on Hwy 80 in Imlay Nevada.
Building began in the late 60s by Chief Thunder, Frank Van Zant, 
today five acres is owned and operated by his son Dan Van Zant.


There are many stories to explain why the Chief would take on such a project.
One account is that he had a dream, where a great big eagle swooped out 
of the sky and told him, "This is where I should build his nest."


 Another is that in the fall of 1968, Frank and his young bride's
1946 Chevy pickup truck broke down, he couldn't get it running again
and put up camp in the sagebrush. 


According to his son Dan, when his father was a boy he 
saw a bottle house somewhere around  Death Valley. 
 He fell in love with it and had always wonted to build one.
Now the monument is open to the public.


It's a fun place to stop, unload your ice chest, stretch  your legs, 
take photos.  If you like bottles, old rusty thing and
 cotton tail bunnies, you'll love it here.

For the full story go to 


3 comments:

Far Side of Fifty said...

Love it, and a wonderful photo opp too! :)

Crystal said...

That looks neat, I like stopping at places like this

Gail said...

I always wanted to do this or something similar.