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| The Haunting of |
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| Smoke Trail Ranch and |
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| the Apache Fires house |
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| Sedona Legend Helen Frye |
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| Many would love to entertain the thought that this rugged and beautiful property with so much tragedy and history is haunted. Perhaps as an example would be the following stories.... |
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Many visitors to the ranch have reported a vintage twin engine plane circling the property on misty days. Its landing lights piercing the murky gloom, the plane seems to be searching for something or someone....trying to land but unsuccessful.
But all of the sudden, like it never happened at all the eerie phenomena is gone. Like a switch being turned off-- the throbbing sound of the droning engines-- the metallic glint of the shiny plane-- nothing but eerie silence amid the whispering red rock canyon winds.
What is the phenomena? An imprint in the fabric of time? Perhaps when Jack and Helen would indeed circle the ranch coming and going from the property? Or is it Jack and Helen Frye reliving the elation they felt when they first discovered the property in 1941? Or perhaps Jack is alone up there, looking for something or someone, finding no where to land just circling and circling in a time warp of sorts over the property he loved more than any other place in the world? We will never know but this type of phenomena is common all over planet. |
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Unfortunately Jack and Helen's ranch is not haunted in the way described above. Actually it is possible it is not haunted at all no matter how unappealing this may be. However, I refuse to state the property is not in any way haunted. Most properties with a history have their little quirks in this regard and Smoke Trail Ranch is not without its own energies. This is what I do know:
Where the water of Oak Creek flows through the property of Smoke Trail Ranch, there has been reported all through the years strange lights. These lights are reported to be flashes of "blue" light. The Hopi Indians, who Helen entertained many times on the ranch say the land is sacred and the lights are a sign of that. Many say it is a mirage of light that occurs when the sun sets. The light is said to flash across, from mountain to mountain. One sure thing was it would spook the cattle and horses that Helen and Jack kept here back in the 1940's. (This according to their ranch foreman.) Is there anything to it? I certainly have not witnessed it, but judging from the research I have done I feel there is something to the event and I intend to find out more! |
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On a side note-- Helen always considered the ranch property sacred. This is a sentiment shared by many others as well. The Hopi leaders who visited the property through the years, at Helen's request, felt Smoke Trail Ranch was very special. When Helen Frye and Jack Frye were first married it is said Helen was very ill. She believed that the healing waters of Oak Creek as they passed through the ranch, healed her in the early 1940‘s. Later at the end of her life, when she suffered from terminal cancer she again bathed in the waters, convalescing and sunbathing on the banks of the stream. She had a bell installed nearby so anyone on the ranch could ring it to let her know they were approaching, and interrupting her meditations. Unfortunately the cancer was more powerful than the healing powers of Oak Creek. Of course, Helen had smoked her entire life and this physical damage is hard to reverse.
It is thought by some that Helen’s last home, the Wings of the Wind is haunted. When I was in the home though I felt a real sense of peace and magnificence. Because it is owned by a private party strangers should resist knocking on the door. The different owners have been besieged by people through the years trespassing and wanting to see Helen's home. Helen did die in the home and her ashes are scattered on the property. |
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There has been talk by people that have worked for Red Rock State Park, that the Twin Cypress area is haunted. Of course, for nearly 40 years when the property was Helen and Jack's Smoke Trail Ranch this location was called “Long Meadow”. There is a restroom-shower house there now built by a cult group who owned the property briefly in the 1970’s and a covered picnic area. At night the area is said to have very uncomfortable vibrations. You know, like something lurks in the darkness. I must say though being quite adept at sensing such things, I have in the past stayed at that location day and night and never felt more at ease or comfortable.
What about one of the most famous landmarks in the Sedona area? The House of Apache Fires. I have personally tried to pick up on anything that may be emanating from that house with little success. Not to say that a psychic might not be able to pick up much more than I could. On many hours of quiet reflection I have had relatively no unusual experiences. However there was a time when I heard some unusual noises that couldn't be accounted for in my analytical mind. At another time I felt what I swore was someone approaching in the shadowed hallways but when I turned around no one was there. I was the only one in the house--gave me cold chills to be sure! Employees and volunteers of the park have also reported unusual incidents on former house tours. |
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| Many years ago when I was on one of the house tours the park ranger told me it was haunted. The area of the house more than once singled out as having unusual and uneasy energy is the kitchen area. I was told recently from a gentleman that knew Helen in the years before she died that the kitchen had a large range in it, I assume a wood cook stove and it was always set up for large gatherings. My impression was with ample accessories for entertaining. Helen did entertain there occasionally. Another person told me she would visit Helen there as a little girl, Helen would always be so kind and generous letting her play all over the house. She even said she was allowed to play on the swinging bed in the master bedroom. Helen would always make her a nice lunch of sandwiches and soup. So the kitchen was a happy place when Helen was alive. The uneasy energy may come from the these rooms being darker. Especially a dark room at the rear of the house on the southeast corner, behind the kitchen. This room with its high windows always gives me a different feeling. If I owned the house I would very quickly change this room and try to make it more cheerful. It is said that in times past, this room was used for storage of meats and groceries, before electricity, sort of like a pantry. The long living room area is also a little spooky.... |
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| Recently I discovered something unusual about Helen's upstairs studio. After scrutinizing photos for months, I pulled up the photo of Helen's studio fireplace, taken in the late 1940's. Suddenly I was completely taken aback. A cold chill ran through me from my head to my toes. What caused this frightening effect? In the photo as clear as can be was a "human face" staring out of the fireplace. In the many times, I and others have gazed at these photos, it appears none of us has ever noticed the anomaly. But there it is as clear as day what appears to be a face floating in the (right) area of the fireplace. The face appears to be turn-of-the-century or older looking man, middle-aged with a handlebar type mustache. I immediately asked a friend to look at the photo not telling him what to look for. No sooner had the friend looked at the photo than he said-- "there is a face of a ghost in the fireplace". Is it indeed a ghost or just some kind of reflection? I analyzed the photo assuming that it must be the pattern of the bricks behind the fire-screen. But upon enlarging the photo it appears the face is not in the fireplace, but floating on the fire-screen. Of course a person has to be skeptical and should be. The face could be some natural effect of light and darkness. However it appears to me that this might very well be an example of a very common phenomena. This being, a classic ghost picture. A innocent photo is taken but something shows up in the photo that was not there in the physical. |
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Who is the man? That is a question that likely can never be answered. Because the photo was taken in about 1947 or so, we know it is likely someone from before Jack and Helen owned the property. Perhaps an early settler that died on the property. Most likely he would have died on the grounds where the House of Apache Fires is built, in order to leave an imprint in the house. It could be the ghost of someone that was killed by Indians as much as 100 years earlier? Perhaps a tragic death, otherwise why would it imprint on the fabric of time? The house is built on a bluff. Could a man have been chased by killers ending up on the bluff with no where to go, in essence, trapped? Was he then tragically killed? Could this be the ghost of a man killed by one of the antique flint lock rifles that hung over the fireplace in 1947? The rifles belonged to Helen’s great grandparents. Sort of akin to the Winchester Mystery House saga? You know, spirits of people killed by guns? I invite you all to look at the picture yourself and make up your own minds. To view the ghost in the fireplace: click here. I admit the above is a lot of speculation, however that is what this page is all about, it was created for Halloween.
The main energy I have always picked up on in the Apache Fires house is incredible sadness. This feeling overwhelmed me so many times walking the floors of the home that I decided to build this Web Site. I felt that Jack and Helen's story needed to be told-- that they implored it be told! I wanted to give these two people an identity. People need to know that the House of Apache Fires was built by two real life people with dreams and heartaches, just like you and I. It is not just an empty unfinished mansion on a hill, a product of a failed marriage. It has a history; a story and an imprint of those that willed it into existence. Every house has a heart, every house radiates the energy of those who have owned it and lived in it. The House of Apache Fires has a HEART too. There are thousands of people out there that are thirsty to hear its story. In this regard this Web Site serves a very valid purpose. |
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2003-2008
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| Sedona Legend Helen Frye |
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