In February 1963, internationally known preacher William Branham was living in Tucson when, he said, God told him to take a hike.
“One morning, the Lord woke me up and said, ‘Get up there in Sabino Canyon,’” Branham recalled in a 1965 sermon in Indiana. “I took a piece of paper and my Bible.”
Rev. William Branham pictured in Colorado.
“The wife said, ‘Where you going?’” Branham recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t know. I’ll tell you when I come back.’”
What happened next made Sabino Canyon a place of pilgrimage for those who consider Branham God’s prophet. Millions of people worldwide are part of the non-denominational religious sect that follows Branham, according to a rough estimate from an organization called Voice of God Recordings. The sect is known as The Message of the Hour, or more simply, The Message.
More than 1,200 of Branham’s sermons are recorded and available online, so many believers continue to listen to them, including his amazing tales from his 1963 treks to the canyon.
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Arne Petersen places his hand on a rock while he walks to the places where his prophet, Rev. William Branham, had revelations from God in 1963, in Sabino Canyon on October 17, 2023. Branham says he had revelations when a sword appeared in his hand (1963), he saw the odd-looking squirrel (1965), the white dove (1965), and he found the word “Eagle” written with white quartz in the rock (1965).
People show up in Tucson regularly to retrace Branham’s steps. Some post videos on YouTube commemorating their pilgrimages. One video explains, “Soon after Brother Branham’s arrival in Tucson, events began to unfold, the likes of which had no precedent. Local landmarks would take on special meanings and other, as yet unnoticed physical attributes would attest in remarkable ways to William Branham’s Ministry.”
At the time he said God told him to go up in the canyon, Branham was in a persistent state of anxiety, he explained in later sermons. He visited the canyon over a period of months that year and said he had a series of visions:
Leaning bare-chested against a rock, Branham heard God tell him to look at the rock and saw the word “white eagle” written into it – a vision confirmed by photograph later.
Arne Petersen stands in front of a spot of importance for his prophet William Branham while he hikes through Sabino Canyon.
He saw a squirrel-like creature — significant from earlier visions of Branham’s involving squirrels — impaled on a cholla cactus.
A white dove appeared near the trail, in fulfillment of an earlier vision of white doves.
Most important, though, was what happened on that first day God told him to go to the canyon.
“I knelt down to pray, and raised up my hands, and a sword struck my hand,” Branham said in a famous 1965 sermon. “I looked around. I thought ‘What’s that? I’m not beside myself. Here is that sword in my hand; bright, shiny, glistening in the sun.”
“I heard a voice, said, ‘That’s the king’s sword.’
“I said, ‘A king knights a man with a sword.’
“He, the voice, come back, said, ‘Not a king’s sword, but the king’s sword, the Word of the Lord.’”
Since then, the vision of Branham on a hilltop high in Sabino Canyon, holding a sword, has been an abiding symbol of his ministry, and has made the canyon an attractive destination for Message believers.
Arne Peterson, a member of Tucson Tabernacle, took two reporters and a photographer up to these sites in October 2023. Thunder rolled through the canyon as they reached the place known as Eagle Rock. More lightning flashed and rain poured down when they reached the site of the sword vision.
Arne Petersen talks about being a believer of life and the importance of looking toward the light and not the darkness while he hikes through Sabino Canyon, October 17, 2023.
For Peterson, though, the place isn’t so important as a place of Branham’s visions but rather as a place to connect with God, as Branham said he did while there.
“What this does, this lets me know that I’m not alone,” Peterson said, standing above the canyon on his way to Eagle Rock. “This is really happening not just to me and not even just to William Branham, but to anybody that wants friendship with their Father.”
“I feel like we’re here to experience our own heavenly father, our father who art in heaven.”
Clouds hang over the mountains at Sabino Canyon, 5700 N Sabino Canyon Road, in the morning on October 17, 2023. The canyon has several spiritually significant sights for followers of "The Message," or "The Message of the Hour."
Arne Petersen explains the different locations that William Branham had revelations while he hikes through Sabino Canyon on October 17, 2023. Branham says he had revelations when a sword appeared in his hand (1963), he saw the odd-looking squirrel (1965), the white dove (1965), and he found the word “Eagle” written with white quartz in the rock (1965).
Arne Petersen pulls up a quote from the King James Version of the Bible while he talks about the importance of looking for the light in life, the text reads: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”, Sabino Canyon on October 17, 2023.
Contact columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @timothysteller
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Tim Steller
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