Dinky Dave
03-04-2001, 01:50 PM
Several years ago I was fishing on the Minnesota river, north of Sleepy Eye, with my fishing buddy, Donkey Dan. As we traveled up stream I would notice Red Flags (approx. 6-9 inches long), tied in the bushes and trees along the river's bank, at random intervals.
I asked Donkey Dan what the significance of these flags were for. Initially he said they were put there by the Indians from the "Lower Sioux Indian Reservation" to warn fisherman that they were fishing on the reservation. Which Donkey Dan said was illegal to do. But he refused to go back down stream, saying, "They have to catch us, first!"
I was sweating bullets the rest of that day, fearing we would end up in some Tribal Court for tresspassing on Indian Land.
Upon returning home to Iowa, from that fishing trip, Donkey Dan recanted that story. He said he couldn't believe I would fall for such a line of Bull! He yucked it up, and still does to this day, whenever he tells the tale of, how I was so gullible to believe his story.
So if those flags weren't to warn fisherman they were on Reservation Land. Why would they have been placed in such odd and precarious places? Because some were located on branches that could only have been reached from the waters edge, due to the thick undergrowth amongst the trees on the banks?
Has anybody else, seen these types of flags on the Minn. river?
I asked Donkey Dan what the significance of these flags were for. Initially he said they were put there by the Indians from the "Lower Sioux Indian Reservation" to warn fisherman that they were fishing on the reservation. Which Donkey Dan said was illegal to do. But he refused to go back down stream, saying, "They have to catch us, first!"
I was sweating bullets the rest of that day, fearing we would end up in some Tribal Court for tresspassing on Indian Land.
Upon returning home to Iowa, from that fishing trip, Donkey Dan recanted that story. He said he couldn't believe I would fall for such a line of Bull! He yucked it up, and still does to this day, whenever he tells the tale of, how I was so gullible to believe his story.
So if those flags weren't to warn fisherman they were on Reservation Land. Why would they have been placed in such odd and precarious places? Because some were located on branches that could only have been reached from the waters edge, due to the thick undergrowth amongst the trees on the banks?
Has anybody else, seen these types of flags on the Minn. river?