It was clear and blue o'er the Chena slough On that fateful day when the Kee Bird flew. The snow, hard-packed on old two-four right, Invited the crew to its destined flight. The throttles moved forward - full power OK. A metal clod became bird of prey. A beautiful sight in the northern sky, A silver-pink light for the caribou's eye.

Straight course for the Arctic, the flight line they started. Straight course for the ice-haze, lonely, uncharted. Auroras and halos, a mass of raw air, Who can imagine what things lie there? Tempting with secrets they had to lay forth, Snow sirens lured the Kee Bird far north. They reached the Coleville River at seventeen ten And bright stars wig-wagged positions then. The crew settled back for the long routine ride.

Directions begun could not be pressed; One compass spun, the other precessed. They wasted fuel by climbing high, Vainly seeking the open sky. The stars, if seen, could have set them right. But stars were hidden that stormy night. Ship and men were turned perforce, To D.R. for their only course.

Those hours of hope and fear and doubt, Gave pause for one to think about. A pint of fuel is a pint of blood, And seems to flow in a frantic flood. Through the intake pipe of the greedy Wright. While the men's emotions grew grim and tight. So, night changed to a lingering dawn- The weather edged and then was gone.

About them lay an icy waste, With ne'er a familiar sight to taste. A twilight world that seemed unreal, One to daunt the Arctic seal. The, when fuel was well-nigh spent, The Kee Bird made her final descent. With infinite care, like a timid doe, She lay her belly to the snow.

With a grinding, bending, snap, and pop, The long slide came to a hurried stop. Through the exits leaped the men, To counter what might happen then. But naught occurred to mar the calm In that Arctic grip, the Giant's palm. Oil dripped and quickly froze As the Kee Bird settled in repose.

The crew, we knew, was saved to fly Once again in the Arctic sky. But on her field of virgin white, Where the eagle came to light. There stands today a monument For all to see while northward bent. And, to those who fly up here, The Kee Bird's shade is ever near.

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