1923] 



WEST, GRAND CANYON CLIFF DWELLINGS 



81 



either of these which would have involved a rather arduous climb up 

 the sheer face of the cliff, but from what could be seen of them, by 

 means of field glasses, from the bridge itself, these are ruins compris- 

 ing probably from two to four rooms each, and of the usual type of 

 this region, in which an outer wall closes up a natural cavern weathered 

 out of the side of the cliff. 



If other evidences of former habitation in the vicinity of the mouth 

 of Bright Angel creek, were present originally, these have evidently 

 been destroyed by the white-man's occupation, as none were encoun- 

 tered by us and no mention of them was made by local residents at 

 Phantom Ranch. 



Fig. 49. — A small flat in the upper part of Bright Angel Canyon. Such flats 

 were used as field and pueblo sites by the aboriginal inhabitants. 



Shortly above Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel creek runs for some 

 miles through an extremely narrow box canyon, in some places so 

 narrow, in fact, that the only means of traversing that section is by 

 passing up directly through the stream itself, as shown in figure 48. 

 When Ribbon creek is reached, after a journey of about six miles up 

 Bright Angel creek, the canyon widens materially and for about three 

 miles it is flanked, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, 

 by small flats, such as that shown in figure 49, which were apparently 



