Featured image credit: Sidetrack Adventures
Not too long ago, we shared a blog about the unlikely and unincorporated town of Amboy, California. Stationed near a dormant volcano, Amboy is a town that seems to exist in spite of its surrounding nothingness more than in service to any need. Sure, you can get gas there. And a cup of coffee. Maybe a souvenir if you’re so inclined. But Amboy is particularly a beacon for people seeking something a little harder to summarize in words. And as if to underscore that spirituality of the absurd, the gateway to Amboy is guarded by two statues often recognized as the Amboy lions. We don’t know where they came from. Or who left them. Or even why. But when traversing the Mojave, we’ll take all the good fortune we can find.
Where to Find the Amboy Lions
Heading westward into California along historic Route 66, you’ll pass the Amboy lions about four miles east of Amboy. But if you’re not specifically looking for the enigmatic statues, you’ll likely miss them. That’s because the twin sentinels are a solid 500 feet to the south of the roadside… and about a quarter mile apart from one another. Mojave haze allowing, the Amboy Crater creates a stunning and surreal sight, rising ominously from miles away in the distance. It’s the aforementioned dead volcano, having remained inactive for thousands of years, a seemingly primordial sleeping beauty in its massive bed of lava rock.
But if your eye should catch the Amboy lions, you’ll probably agree that they’re worth noticing. Standing about five feet tall on blocks of cinder (perhaps unconsciously keeping with the lava rock theming), these “lions” are expertly carved from solid marble, easily weighing thousands of pounds each. It begs the immediate question: who in their right mind dragged these out here?
Distinguishing the Male Statue from the Female Statue
While we’ve caved to the colloquial popularity of calling these statues “lions”, they’re more accurately Chinese foo dogs or Japanese komainu. It’s hard to tell exactly by a visual inspection and without knowing the gifter of these guardians, it’s tough to assess a definitive origin. But in the tradition of both foo dogs and komainu alike, one statue appears to be male, signified by, among other features, its ferocious open maw. Lore has it that this is to intimidate negative spirits. By contrast, the female statue keeps her jaws sealed, holding luck and good fortune within her.
In several Asian cultures, similar statues are placed to flank entryways, serving as protective sentinels. It’s tradition to place the male to the right and the female to the left. And the mysterious benefactor who left the statues seems to be familiar with this custom. Then again, they only had a 50 percent chance of being wrong, so who knows? You can also often distinguish male and female foo dogs by their accessories. The male of the Amboy lions rests his left paw possessively upon a bauble, indicating an area under his protection. Meanwhile, the female coddles a foo pup with her right paw indicating maternal guardianship and a sense of nurturing.
Spiritual Connotations of the Amboy Lions
But with this in mind, what are they meant to protect? The town of Amboy? Route 66 motorists? Then wouldn’t one be placed to the north of Route 66 as well? Could they be protecting the Amboy crater in the distance, holding back some ancient molten fury from bubbling up once again? Or are we simply assigning too much meaning to a half-baked mystery?
Aside from protection, Chinese mythology holds that foo dogs are physical embodiments of yin and yang; a philosophical belief that finds balance in the relation of opposing forces. The female represents Yin while the male represents Yang. But bringing a sense of balance to the arid inhospitality of the Mojave Desert may be a tall order, even for these colossal protectors.
Who Left the Amboy Lions?
Speculation is likely all we’ll ever have when it comes to the hows and whys behind the Amboy lions. If anyone knows who gave these guardians up to the Mojave, they’re not talking. And clues could be absolutely meaningless. For example, should we hypothesize the meaning of a surveyor’s marker embedded in the sand before the female statue? What about the real estate signage deteriorating in front of the male lion? Is it all just incidental? Or is there a message to decode in all of this?
If we had to take a stab in the dark, we’d guess that former CEO of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain Albert Okura (or someone closely tied to his acquisition of the nearby town of Amboy) was involved. Okura, a third-generation Japanese American, purchased Amboy as part of his Route 66 restoration project in 2005. It’s possible that the Amboy lions are actually Japanese komainu, installed to bring good fortune to the enterprise and drum up a little mystery to help generate tourism. But we’ll likely never know for sure, which makes it twice as fun.
We can say with some certainty that whoever deposited the Amboy lions in these spots did so conscientiously. It takes effort to move them, let alone leave them so far off the roadside. We can also confirm that they’ve been there since September 2013… possibly a bit earlier. And since that time, they’ve never left. Well, almost never.
The Missing Female Statue
In October 2018, fans of the Amboy lions were shocked and horrified to discover that the female statue was missing. Did the original mystery gifter return for her? Was she stolen? Can marble foo dogs get into arguments with one another? Again, we’ll likely never know what happened, but in January 2020, she was back where she belonged. It begs the even more ominous question; if somebody did go through the trouble of stealing her… what happened in that interim year to convince them that they needed to bring her back?
While it’s fun to imagine that the vengeful spirit of demonic guardian dogs terrorized a thief into remorse, it’s more beautiful to imagine that the perpetrator simply recognized the true value of what they had taken. Because the sheer absurdity and impenetrable mystery of the Amboy lions have endeared them to wayward travelers drifting from one end of the Mojave to the other.
The Amboy Lions Bring Out the Best in People
Don’t believe the charisma of the Mojave’s marble sentinels? Just scan through the visitor book tied to the base of each lion. You’ll find countless accounts, some whimsical and others moving, but all marked by a profound connection to these stone-faced defenders. Sometimes, these logs go missing, only to be replaced by brand-new logs with as many of the old entries pieced together as possible, preserved by those under the charm of the Amboy lions. Some travelers gift coins for good luck and fortune, even placing them in the male’s open jaws. Others leave poems, transcribed memories, and memorials for the travelers who have passed beyond this world.
Perhaps the strong sentiments tied to the Amboy lions are best exemplified by a May 2016 incident that left the female statue forever scarred. A Mojave explorer, unfamiliar with the statues and their fervent following, took aim at the female lion with a rifle and shot her, dislodging a considerable hunk of her marble flesh. The shooter was no doubt aghast when seeing the log books and offerings heaped upon the statue.
You might expect the shooter to shrug their shoulders and continue on with their adventure. After all, the Mojave sees more callous behavior on a daily basis. But something about the Amboy lions tends to elicit a less cynical response. The shooter scavenged a piece of driftwood from the surrounding desert and wrote out a heartfelt apology, explaining that they didn’t realize the import of the statue. Travelers made pilgrimages to the site, heaping the wounded protector with offerings.
The Mojave’s in Good Paws
So, if you’re missing direction in your life, Amboy could be a better destination than most. Or if you’re down on your luck, popping an offering at the feet (or in the mouth) of one of these enigmatic statues just might turn things around. Either way, the next time you’re traveling up Route 66 and feeling the good vibes, it might be worth it to send a silent thanks to the Amboy lions doing the heavy karmic lifting.
