Upon reaching the "marge [shore, edge][3] of Lake Lebarge", he finds a derelict steamer frozen in the ice and decides to make use of it.
He returns some time later and, upon opening the furnace door, is stunned to see Sam smiling contentedly and asking him to close it so the heat will not escape.
Robert Service based the poem on an experience of his roommate, Dr. Leonard S. E. Sugden, who had cremated a corpse in the firebox of the steamer Olive May.
There are strange things done in the midnight sun,by the men who moil for gold;The Arctic trails have their secret talesThat would make your blood run cold;The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,But the queerest they ever did seeWas that night on the marge of Lake LebargeI cremated Sam McGee.
On 17 August 1976, Canada Post issued "Robert W. Service, Sam McGee" as an 8¢ stamp designed by David Charles Bierk.
[16] In 2022, musician Seth Boyer adapted the poem into a bluegrass song for use in the video essay Fear of Cold by Jacob Geller.