The History: Wilbur and Orville left Kitty Hawk today. Wilbur wrote a cheery letter to Katharine from Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

"We have said "Good bye Kitty, Good bye Hawk, Good bye Kitty Hawk, we're gwine to leave you now." We reached here this afternoon, after a pleasant trip from Kitty Hawk of six hours. It took me forty-five hours going down there and Orville sixteen hours."

Before departing the brothers told Bill Tate he was welcome to salvage materials from the glider. This was easier than taking it apart themselves. Bill Tate did, including the French sateen fabric used to cover the wings. Addie Tate planned to use the fabric for dresses for their 3 and 4-year old daughters, Irene and Pauline.

Although Wilbur asked Octave Chanute for a varnish earlier in the year, the brothers did not treat the 1900 glider. Making dresses from varished fabric would have been nearly impossible. The 1899 glider had been treated with shellac.

The name "Kitty Hawk" is believe to come from the name of a dragonfly called a "mosquito hawk" or "skeeter hawk" commonly found in the area.

Quotation from the book Miracle At Kitty Hawk, The Letters Of Wilbur & Orville Wright by Fred C. Kelly.