MORRIS] THE CLIFF-RUINS OF JOHNSON CANYON 167 
appearance than does this building, when on rounding the bold 
promontory, at the fork of the canyons, it bursts upon the view, 
perched like the nest of a bird upon the precarious ledge. (Pl. 32.) 
Nordenskiéld shows this structure, to which he refers thus: “A 
figure of one of them is given here (fig. 40) as an example of an 
inaccessible, or at least almost inaccessible, cliff dwelling.” * 
So much was I impressed with the nestlike appearance of the 
ruin that I named it Eagle Nest House, and so refer to it in all my 
notes. I have found no mention of it except that made by Norden- 
skiéld, and I do not believe any name had been previously applied 
to it. 
A hard but not dangerous climb of 400 feet brings one to the 
base of the cliff below the ruin. Here the observer is impressed 
with the force of Nordenskiéld’s statement, for the ruin seems indeed 
inaccessible (pl. 33). The cliff overhangs above and below the 
shelf which supports it, and as the distance is too great to permit 
3 2’ 
1 
e 
= C7; 
A~ STORE 
- STEPS 
[]/ PASSAGEWay 
PILLAR. 
Fic. 1.—Ground plan of Eagle Nest House. 
WY 70 STORIES £OGE OF CLIFF 
PLAZA 
40 FT. 
the casting of a rope over one of the protruding beams, direct access 
is impossible. However, from the east end of the ledge a crevice 
continues along the cliff for some distance. Near its end the wall 
below drops back to perpendicular. Here two large poles had been 
leaned against the cliff and fastened to the stump of a cedar which 
had grown conveniently at the bottom. I climbed to the end of 
these, pushing a.pole ahead of me until only 3 feet of it overlapped 
the top of the first pair; after lashing this to them and binding 
another pole beside it I clambered up these and repeated the process. 
The top of the fourth pair of poles reached to the ledge. Even 
after they had been securely fastened at the top it was not until 
the next day that my workmen could be prevailed upon to attempt 
the ascent. 
The ruin contains 12 rooms and a kiva (fig. 1). At the east end 
the outside wall of the house widens into a stout pillar built from 
1Op. cit., p. 69. 
