The Mystery of The Flag in The Lake

Original picture and print by Cathy Altenburg, Almanor Girl.

​​Flag Island, which is officially Goose Island, located in the western basin of Lake Almanor in front of Prattville. This rocky outcropping once rose from the meadow along the Feather River channel and only became an island as it was surrounded by the rising waters of Lake Almanor. When the present-day lake is full or near full it isn't even an island at all, but just a shallow spot marked by a ring of white buoys.  Sometime in the early 1990's, someone placed a galvanized pipe flagpole on the highest point of Goose Island and hung an American Flag on it. The flag would fly day in and day out throughout the year enduring all mother nature had to throw at it. Coming out of winter into spring each year the flag would be tattered and torn then, as if by magic, a new flag would replace the old one. This cycle carried on year after year until 2021, that spring the flag didn't get changed. 

June 24, 2021, marked the first changing of the flag by the Almanor Fishing Association.

​As the island and the flag had become the backdrop for the Almanor Fishing Association's annual Veteran's Fishing Day boat parade, volunteers from AFA assembled at the island the afternoon before the event and changed out the flag for the first time, a tradition that continues to this day. Who originally placed the flag and why remains a mystery. Many stories have surfaced about who and why the flag was placed, but always second and third hand accounts that didn't proof out. Over the years, the island has, most likely, had several "flag keepers", for instance, in 2013 the task was undertaken by seasonal guests of Wilson's Camp Prattville. Were you involved in placing or changing the flag on "Flag Island"? Contact Us