“Mystery of the Indian Totem Pole” was the second Northern adventure in Wonder Woman #47 (May-June 1951). It too was written by Robert Kanigher (as Charles Moultan) and drawn by Harry G. Peter. Having finished with “The World Below the North Pole”, Wonder Woman goes not quite as far north to the northwest, but further back in time…
A newspaper article catches Diana Prince’s eye. It is about Wonder Woman. A totem pole depicting her in action has been found.
As Wonder Woman, she goes to the museum, where Nora Lester is under attack. As curator of the museum she stands by her opinion that the Wonder Woman totem pole is an original Ah-Wa-Ne pole. The carver lived 150 years ago. The men of the board, led by Dane Benton, want to fire her. They believe a woman can’t be responsible in the position.
Wonder Woman throws in her opinion: the pole is authentic. To prove it, she offers to take Miss Lester and Mr. Benton back in time to see if Ah-Wa-ne carved the pole. They jump into the invisible jet and fly off to Paula’s lab and the time machine.
The trio go back in time to the year 1775. Benton says it is all an illusion but a herd of bison come flying at them. A thunder storm has frightened them. Wonder Woman saves them from the panicking beasts.
The visitors see a young native woman in a canoe. She is about to fall down a high waterfall. Wonder Woman rescues her.
Now safe, the superhero learns that the girl was a sacrifice to insure the crops would grow that year. Since the girl is alive, the Algonquins have taken Nora and Dane to the Cave of the Mist as a new sacrifice.
The Algonquin maid leads Wonder Woman to the cave. The maid explains that the medicine men believe the spirits in the cave must be placated. Wonder Woman enters and finds the couple surrounded by geysers.
A geyser erupts under WW but she manages to pull the other two out. Everybody safe, she shows the medicine men how to use crop rotation to insure a good crop. They promise to stop using human sacrifice.
Looking for Ah-Wa-Ne, the trio come across a band of Obiways who plan to attack the Algonquin. Wonder Woman uses her lasso to sue for peace between the tribes.
Finally in the workshop of Ah-Wa-Ne, the visitors try to cross the area filled with totem poles. These fall down, blocking their path. Dane wonders what makes them fall? Is it magic? Wonder Woman, always on the side of Science, believes there are mechanical devices that make them work.
Once on the other side, they meet Ah-Wa-Ne. He congratulates them for defeating his totem pole trap. Anyone who can do that deserves to have a totem carved about them. He carves the pole that the museum will have 150 years later. The time travelers return to our time. To prove they are telling the truth, Wonder Woman tells the board to look at the bottom of the pole. There have appeared letters there where they weren’t before, initials WW DB and NL. Dane apologizes to Nora and the two are now an item…
Time travel stories always offer questions and paradoxes. This one is no exception. Having saved the Algonquin maiden, hundreds of people who hadn’t existed before might appear. The understanding of Algonquin culture would change, showing they gave up human sacrifice in 1775. And the sudden introduction of crop rotation…. If anything, the settlers would have learned about such things from the locals.
With “Mystery of the Indian Totem Pole”, Wonder Woman’s Northerns end here. Having dealt with gold miners, then Atlanteans and now those living in the Northwest of 1775, she can get back to fighting regular super-villains.
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