"The Cremation of Sam McGee" is among the most famous of Robert W. Service's poems. It was published in 1907 in The Songs of a Sourdough (The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses). It concerns the cremation of a prospector who freezes to death in the Yukon Territory of Canada, as told by the man who cremates him. The night prior to the death of the title character, who hails from the fictional town of "Plumtree, Tennessee", the narrator realizes that "A pal's last need is a thing to heed" and swears to McGee that he will not fail to cremate him. After McGee dies the following day, he winds up hauling the body clear to the "Marge of Lake Lebarge" before he finds a way to perform the promised cremation. Robert Service based the poem on an experience of his roommate, Dr. Sugden, who found a corpse in the cabin of the steamer Alice May.

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