Long ago, near what is now Iowa City, lived a flourishing
Iowa tribe. The Chief of the Iowas was very proud of his two
beautiful daughters. He was secretly hoping for one of them
to marry the handsome hero White Plume, so called because he
always wore one in his black hair.

One day, the Chief smeared his daughters' faces with charcoal
and took them into the woods for them to fast and pray that
one of them might attract the White Plume. The girls were
most unhappy, crying until all the animals heard them and
came running to find out what was the matter. Each animal in
turn asked, "Am I the one you are looking for?"

"What do you do for a living?" they asked. "What animals do
you kill for your food?" In this way they learned the nature
of the animals. When the girls said, "No, you are not the
one," that animal ran away.

On another day, a man came wearing a white plume. He
announced, "Surely I am the one you are seeking. I hunt for
deer, elk, bear, turkey, and all the other good things you
like to eat."

Without hesitation, Older Sister decided to marry the man who
wore the white plume. Next morning, Younger Sister said, "You
have married the wrong man. Today the real White Plume will
come." Older Sister was very cross and declared emphatically
that she was certain she had married the true hero, White
Plume.

In the middle of that day, birds began to chatter and
sing, "White Plume is coming! White Plume is coming!" Even
the meadowlarks, whom the Iowas say are really persons in
disguise, were broadcasting loudly, "White Plume! White
Plume!" Finally White Plume arrived.

"I believe that I am the one you have been seeking," he said
to the two sisters. Older Sister did not believe him, but
Younger Sister welcomed him warmly.

That same day, the two men each claiming to be White Plume
went hunting. The real White Plume killed bear and deer, soon
returning with his game. The other hunter brought back only a
few rabbits.

Again and again the two men hunted, each returning with the
same kind of game as before.

In a few days, the Chief of the Iowas came to visit his
daughters. When he judged the results of the hunt, he was
convinced that the man who was the good provider was the real
hero, White Plume.

Older Sister began to have some doubts about her husband, and
asked, "Why do you not kill larger game for us?" Her husband
gave a poor excuse, "I do not think the larger game provide
such good meat."

Again the two men hunted together, arriving in a valley where
they saw a raccoon. The imposter tricked White Plume into
chasing the raccoon into a bog.

Now it happened that the imposter had the power to change
people, so he changed White Plume into a dog. Later, when the
imposter returned to his lodge with the dog following him, he
announced, "I found this dog in the woods. White Plume must
have hunted in a different direction."

That night the dog slept in the lodge of Younger Sister. She
fed him and made a comfortable place for him to sleep. Next
day she took the dog with her into the woods to look for
White Plume. The dog soon killed a sleeping bear and other
animals. Together the girl and the dog hunted many times,
always with success.

One day when they were alone in the woods, the dog said to
Younger Sister, "Take me to a hollow log and put me in it,
then help pull me out at the other end." This she did. From
the other end of the log she pulled out the real White Plume!

When the two of them returned to the lodge, the imposter said
to the real White Plume, "You must have been lost in the
woods."

White Plume's answer was casual but pleasant. Later he told
his wife, "Sometime, I will even the score."

In a few days, the two hunters started out for more game.
White Plume killed a buffalo. They built a campfire,
intending to camp there for the night. A sudden snowstorm
came upon them.

"Watch yourself," said the imposter. "This kind of a moon
will burn your clothes."

That evening they told many stories at the campfire, after
which they prepared their blankets for a good night's sleep.
Later in the night, White Plume called out to the imposter,
but hearing no response, he quietly exchanged his own
clothes, which he used for a pillow, with those of the
imposter. Much later in the night, the imposter awoke and
stole the clothes from under White Plume's head and tossed
them into the fire.

Next morning was bitter cold. White Plume grabbed for his
clothes but they were not under his pillow. "Brother, my
clothes are gone," he shouted, shivering with cold.

"Did I not tell you that this is the moon that burns your
clothes?" said the imposter. Then he reached for his own
clothes, only to discover that they were White Plume's
clothes! The imposter had burned his own clothes!

Soon they started for home, with White Plume in the lead
dragging the frozen buffalo. Somewhere along the way, the
imposter must have frozen to death.

White Plume returned to his wife and Older Sister. He
supplied them well with plenty of meat for the entire winter.
Then he told them and the Chief of the Iowas that he was
really an eagle. "When your supplies run low, I shall return.
When your Iowa hunters wish plenty of game, always they
should wear an eagle's white plume in their har," said White
Plume with this parting blessing. Instantly he became a
beautiful large eagle and flew far away.