>> NARRATOR: IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT BY HISTORIANS, PONDERED BY PHILOSOPHERS, CHERISHED BY THOSE WHOSE HEARTS IT HAS WON.

♪ IT HAS BEEN STOLEN BY STATES, INVADED BY FOREIGN NAVIES, TRAVERSED BY HOSTILE ARMIES, AND FOUGHT OVER BY WARRING NATIVES.

THE STORY OF THIS RIVER IS ALSO THE AMERICAN STORY.

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS IN THE APPALACHIAN WILDS, TO ITS RAPID DESCENT THROUGH STEEP, ROCKY GORGES TO THE DISCOVERY OF IMMENSE POWER COURSING THROUGH THE NATION'S CAPITAL AND ITS FLOW SOUTHWARD INTO CHESAPEAKE BAY.

THE POTOMAC RIVER IS THE NATION'S RIVER.

♪ EXPLORE THE POTOMAC, IT'S NATURAL AND MAN-MADE HISTORY, AND THE TALES THAT BRING IT ALIVE... ...ALL FROM AN AERIAL BIRD'S EYE VIEW.

>> ANNOUNCER: POTOMAC BY AIR: OUR NATION'S RIVER IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY...

THE MPT FOUNDATION NEW INITIATIVES FUND, ESTABLISHED BY IRENE AND EDWARD H. KAPLAN.

♪ THE POTOMAC RIVER IS BORN HERE.

A TENUOUS TRICKLE, IN A WILDERNESS OF HILLS, VALLEYS, HARDWOODS, AND WHITE-TAILS... ♪ IT SPRINGS TO LIFE AS TWO FRAGILE FINGERLINGS.

THE NORTH BRANCH AND THE SOUTH BRANCH CONVERGE TO BECOME THE POTOMAC "MAIN STEM."

♪ IN THE CLASSICAL SPIRIT OF "E PLURIBUS UNUM."

"OUT OF MANY, ONE."

THE POTOMAC DRAWS ITS VERY LIFE FROM TRIBUTARIES THAT FEED IT.

♪ WATERWAYS LIKE THE SAVAGE, THE LITTLE CACAPON, CONOCOCHEAGUE CREEK, THE NANJEMOY, OPEQUAN, GOOSE CREEK, AND THE PISCATAWAY 127 OF THEM.

THAT RUSH AND FALL DOWN MOUNTAIN RUNS.

BABBLE ALONG SHALLOW PIEDMONT STREAMBEDS.

AND ARE PUSHED AND PULLED BY TIDES AS COASTAL CREEKS.

EACH RICH IN HISTORY AND FOLKLORE.

THE POTOMAC STRETCHES 405 MILES IN LENGTH, DROPS MORE THAN 3,000 FEET IN ELEVATION, AND IS BORN FROM AN IMMENSE WATERSHED DRAINING MORE THAN 14,000 SQUARE MILES.

HOME TO MORE THAN FIVE MILLION PEOPLE... LUSH FOREST AND FERTILE FARMLAND.

HABITAT RICH WETLANDS, AND A DIZZYING ARRAY OF WILDLIFE BOTH TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE.

MAKING THE POTOMAC THE FOURTH LARGEST RIVER ON THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.

♪ THE RIVER'S SOURCE... SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS... IS FOREVER LINKED TO THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY.

SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GEORGE WASHINGTON SET OUT WITH A SURVEYING PARTY IN 1748 TO CHART THE EXPANSE OF WILDERNESS OWNED BY LORD THOMAS FAIRFAX, WHOSE LAND GRANT EXTENDED FAR TO THE WEST, TO WHAT THEY CALLED THE POTOMAC'S "FIRST FOUNTAIN."

A STONE, LAID IN THE NAME OF LORD FAIRFAX, MARKS THE POTOMAC HEADWATER.

♪ THE FLOW OF THE POTOMAC RIVER FROM ITS HEADSPRING.

AND THE COURSE OF WASHINGTON'S LIFE, WERE INSEPARABLE.

♪ IT WAS IN ITS HIGH MOUNTAIN PEAKS AND DEEP RIVER VALLEYS THAT HE BEGAN A CAREER AS A SURVEYOR, AND WHERE HIS POTOMAC RIVER DREAMS TOOK HOLD.

♪ AS AN OFFICER IN THE COLONIAL VIRGINIA MILITIA, HE SWORE AN OATH TO PROTECT IT.

HE CHAMPIONED A CANAL THAT WOULD ONE DAY TAME IT, AND MAKE IT A HIGHWAY FOR COMMERCE.

HE HAD THE NATION'S CAPITOL BUILT ON IT.

AND IT WAS HERE THAT HE DIED, ALONG THE POTOMAC RIVER AS HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE.

♪ WASHINGTON CALLED THE POTOMAC "ONE OF THE FINEST RIVERS IN THE WORLD."

AND IF HE FOLLOWED IT FROM THE FAIRFAX STONE, SOUTH, AND EAST; HE WOULD SEE IT SLUICING THROUGH OLD GROWTH FORESTS OF OAK, ASH, ELM, AND BEECH.

BEFORE COURSING DOWN THE TIME WORN MOUNTAINS, INTO FERTILE VALLEYS BELOW.

ALONG THE MOUNTAIN RANGE, AT KEYSER, WEST VIRGINIA, THE RIVER TURNS NORTHWARD TOWARD CUMBERLAND MARYLAND.

THE ROCK MONOLITH AT QUEENS POINT TOWERS MAJESTICALLY OVER THE KEYSER VALLEY.

WASHINGTON'S SURVEYING PARTY ENCOUNTERED THIS VERY VIEW... AND IN IT, WAS THOROUGHLY INSPIRED BY THE WEALTH OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT.

HE PROMOTED SETTLEMENT ALONG THE UPPER POTOMAC RIVER, AND PIONEERS ARRIVED IN DROVES, IN SEARCH OF WIDE OPEN SPACES.

CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND, PLAYED A DECISIVE ROLE IN ADVANCING WASHINGTON'S "GRAND IDEA" FOR THE NATION'S GROWTH.

PERFECTLY SITUATED, WHERE RAIL, ROAD, AND RIVER CONVERGE... MADE CUMBERLAND A KEY CROSSROADS.

IN ITS EARLY HISTORY, THE TOWN WELCOMED SCORES OF SETTLERS HEADED WEST.

MOTORIST WHO RUSH THROUGH HAVE LITTLE IDEA THAT A RUSTIC FORT ONCE STOOD ON THE HILL.

FORT CUMBERLAND SERVED AS A CRUCIAL OUTPOST DURING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, AND FOR A TIME WAS UNDER THE COMMAND OF COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON.

♪ INTERSTATE 68, THE MODERN HIGHWAY THAT HUGS THE RIVER'S CURVES, IS A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF THE CUMBERLAND ROAD, AMERICA'S FIRST NATIONAL HIGHWAY ♪ FROM THIS RIVERSIDE HUB, WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS, EXPLORERS, ADVENTURERS, AND MILITARY SCOUTS WANDERED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OUT INTO THE WILDS OF THE OHIO VALLEY.

♪ FOR NEARLY ITS ENTIRE LENGTH, THE POTOMAC RIVER IS A BORDER BETWEEN STATES.

HERE, MARYLAND IS ON THE LEFT, VIRGINIA IS ON THE RIGHT.

♪ VEILED BENEATH A CANOPY OF SYCAMORE, SILVER MAPLE, BOX ELDER, AND BIRCH IS ONE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S MOST AMBITIOUS SCHEMES: THE CANAL HE BELIEVED WOULD TRANSFORM THE POTOMAC INTO THE NATION'S PREMIER EAST-WEST ARTERY.

♪ THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL FOLLOWS THE RIVER FOR 184 AND A HALF MILES.

ALL OF IT ON THE MARYLAND SIDE.

♪ AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THE REVOLUTION OPENED TO THE NEW NATION EXPANSIVE POSSIBILITIES WESTWARD, WASHINGTON BECAME THE CHIEF ADVOCATE OF USING MAN-MADE WATERWAYS TO LINK THE TRADE HUNGRY EAST WITH THE OHIO RIVER, THE GREAT LAKES AND BEYOND.

IN 1785, HE FOUNDED THE POTOWMACK COMPANY TO IMPROVE THE RIVER'S NAVIGABILITY.

BEGUN IN 1828 NEARLY THREE DECADES AFTER WASHINGTON'S DEATH, THE GOAL OF THE C&O CANAL WAS TO PROVIDE AN UNBROKEN WATERWAY FROM GEORGETOWN TO CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND.

♪ ITS HEYDAY WAS THE 1870s AS A BUSY THOROUGHFARE CARRYING COAL FROM THE ALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS TO BOOMING CITIES IN THE EAST, UNTIL THE ROAR OF THE LOCOMOTIVE SOUNDED ITS DEMISE.

ALONG THE WAY, IT PASSES THROUGH 74 LOCKS.

♪ CROSSES 11 AQUEDUCTS.

♪ AND DROPS MORE THAN 600 FEET IN ELEVATION.

♪ AT PAW PAW, WEST VIRGINIA, THE CANAL MUST NAVIGATE THE PAW PAW BENDS.

A SERPENTINE, CLIFF LINED STRETCH, WITH FIVE TIGHT RADIUS CURVES.

♪ MORE THAN A HALF MILE LONG, A TUNNEL THREADS THE C&O THROUGH SORRELL RIDGE.

ONE OF THE GREATEST ENGINEERING FEATS OF ITS DAY, THE TUNNEL'S CONSTRUCTION NEARLY BANKRUPTED THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL COMPANY.

♪ TODAY, THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE C&O CANAL IS PRESERVED AS A NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK.

THE TOWPATH A DUSTY OLD MULE TRAIL IN TIMES PAST MAKES AN EXCELLENT HIKING AND BIKING TREK THROUGH POTOMAC HISTORY.

♪ THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BROUGHT LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE, A SELF-SUFFICIENT PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.

WITH THE GROWTH OF THE NEW NATION CAME THE DEMAND FOR POWER.

IN THE 1700s, COAL WAS DISCOVERED IN THE ALLEGHENY PLATEAU, AND THE NEARBY POTOMAC BECAME A CONVENIENT HIGHWAY.

THE STORY OF THE UPPER POTOMAC, THEREFORE, IS ALSO THE STORY OF HARNESSING POWER.

♪ THE LEGACY OF COAL MINING IN EARLY AMERICA... WITH HIGHLY ACIDIC RUNOFF SEEPING INTO FRESH RIVER WATER... REMAINS A CONTINUING PROBLEM, EVEN CENTURIES LATER.

♪ IN GARRET COUNTY, MARYLAND, AN ATTEMPT TO REMEDIATE THE PAST COMES INTO VIEW.

HERE, THE POTOMAC IS IMPOUNDED BY ONE OF THE LARGEST ROCK FILLED, ROLLED EARTH DAMS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI, FORMING JENNINGS RANDOLPH LAKE.

♪ THE LAKE IS AN ACID TRAP.

ITS DAY TO DAY OUTFLOWS DRAWN AT THIS INTAKE TOWER, TO TAP THE LEAST ACIDIC LAYERS, THEREBY IMPROVING DOWNSTREAM WATER QUALITY.

♪ NESTLED IN A NEARBY BEND IS A MODERN REMINDER THAT RIVERS FUEL THE ENGINES OF INDUSTRY.

THE POTOMAC CURVES AROUND THE PAPER AND PULP PLANT AT LUKE, MARYLAND... SHROUDED TODAY IN MORNING MIST.

THE MILL TRACES ITS ROOTS TO 1888, WHEN THE WEST VIRGINIA POWER COMPANY WAS FOUNDED BY WILLIAM LUKE.

♪ IT'S ON THE RIVER BECAUSE LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER ARE REQUIRED IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS.

♪ THE TOWN THAT SPRANG UP HERE, AND THE MILL THAT OPERATES HERE, REMAIN A MAJOR ECONOMIC FORCE IN THIS RURAL TREE LINED STRETCH OF THE RIVER.

♪ ISOLATED, DEEP IN THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS.

THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE POTOMAC IS KNOWN AS "THE SECOND SOURCE" OF THE RIVER.

EVENTUALLY, THE SOUTH BRANCH WILL JOIN FORCES WITH THE NORTH BRANCH TO FORM THE POTOMAC'S MAIN STEM.

BEFORE DOING SO, IT SLUICES THROUGH "THE TROUGH."

♪ THIS ANCIENT WOODED CANYON IS 6 MILES LONG AND 1,500 FEET DEEP.

IN 1756 IT WAS THE SITE OF THE "BATTLE OF THE TROUGH" DURING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

ON THE VALLEY'S STEEP SLOPES GROW OAK, HICKORY, AND VIRGINIA PINE.

HABITAT FAVORABLE TO BALD EAGLES.

♪ BEFORE THE POTOMAC'S SOUTH AND NORTH BRANCHES JOIN, ONE FINAL EYE CATCHING FLOURISH: A WIDE, GRACEFUL LOOP.

NATURE'S HORSESHOE.

AS IF A WISH FOR LUCK AS IT WINDS ITS WAY SOUTH.

♪ HERE ON THE SITE OF AN ABANDONED SHAWNEE NATIVE AMERICAN VILLAGE, OLDTOWN, MARYLAND SPRUNG UP WHERE THE TWO BRANCHES MERGE INTO ONE.

THE RIVER IS NOW ADOLESCENT, MATURING.

♪ IN COLONIAL TIMES, THE FERTILE VALLEYS OF THE UPPER POTOMAC EXERTED A MAGNETIC FORCE ON SETTLERS.

LURED BY OPPORTUNITY AND CHEAP LAND, IMMIGRANTS QUICKLY FANNED OUT AND BUILT LIVES BY THE RIVER.

♪ BERKELY SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA, WAS FIRST INCORPORATED IN THOSE DAYS AS THE TOWN OF "BATH."

SO, NAMED FOR THE WARM WATERS THAT PERCOLATE UP FROM THE GROUND HERE.

THE BUSINESS OF THE SPAS DREW THE IRE OF AN EARLY METHODIST MINISTER, WHO WAS APPALLED THAT THE TOWN DRAWING BATHERS FROM FAR AND WIDE HAD BECOME "A SEA OF SIN."

EVEN TODAY, TOURISTS FLOCK TO BERKELEY SPRINGS STATE PARK FOR A RECUPERATIVE SOAK.

GEORGE WASHINGTON OWNED PROPERTY HERE AND VISITED MANY TIMES.

THERE'S EVEN A CURIOUS LITTLE ATTRACTION KNOWN AS "WASHINGTON'S BATHTUB."

WHICH WOULD SEEM TO CONFIRM THAT WASHINGTON NOT ONLY SLEPT HERE, HE SOAKED HERE.

WASHINGTON LOVED TO HIKE THIS NEARBY OUTCROP FOR THE VIEW OF THE POTOMAC HE TREASURED ABOVE ALL OTHERS.

♪ STANDING HIGH ATOP THE PROMONTORY KNOWN AS "PROSPECT PEAK," REVEALS A STUNNING PANORAMA.

HERE, THE RIVER STRETCHES TO THE HORIZON.

MAKING IT IS EASY TO APPRECIATE THE OPTIMISM AMERICANS MUST HAVE FELT, HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, MIGRATING OUT ALONG THIS ROUTE.

♪ DATING BACK MILLIONS OF YEARS, THE POTOMAC IS AMONG THE MOST ANCIENT RIVERS ON EARTH.

SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL, IT HAS CUT A TWISTING, CURVING COURSE THROUGH THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS THAT RISE AROUND IT.

CHALLENGED BY THE GEOLOGIC IMPASSE OF THE MOUNTAINS, THE RIVER AIMLESSLY WINDS ITS WAY IN A SEARCH OF A BREACH.

♪ IT FINDS IT HERE, IN THE BOWS AND CROOKS OF TURKEY FOOT BEND, WHERE THE ANCIENT POTOMAC CLEAVES IN TWO THE NARROW RIDGE KNOWN AS SIDELING HILL.

♪ A FEW MILES UP THE RIDGE, A MODERN DAY MOUNTAIN PASS LAYS BARE THE REGION'S UNDERLYING GEOLOGICAL FORCES.

THIS HIGHWAY ROAD CUT, BLASTED THROUGH SIDELING HILL IN THE 1980s, ALLOWS THE EASY FLOW OF TRAFFIC ALONG INTERSTATE 68.

BUT IT ALSO REVEALS A GRAPHIC CROSS SECTION OF THE EARTH'S CRUST.

SIDELING HILL IS ONE OF THE BEST SYNCLINE EXPOSURES IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.

MORE THAN 800 FEET OF STRATA IN TIGHT FOLDS, AND LAYERS, ARE EXPOSED BY THIS GARGANTUAN MAN-MADE GASH.

HAVING TO DO WITH DYNAMITE... WHAT THE POTOMAC RIVER ACCOMPLISHED NATURALLY, THROUGH EONS OF UNRELENTING FORCE.

♪ FROM THE FIRST SHOTS THAT RANG OUT IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, TO THOSE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

FROM THE WAR OF 1812, THAT SAVED THE REPUBLIC, TO THE "UNFATHOMABLE SORROW" OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.

THE POTOMAC HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MILITARY RIVER, THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY A STRATEGIC AVENUE FOR WAR TIME OFFENSE AND DEFENSE.

♪ IT WAS IN THE BACKWOODS OF THE POTOMAC HIGHLANDS AND THE OHIO VALLEY THAT GEORGE WASHINGTON EMBARKED ON A CAREER AS A SOLDIER.

ONCE, DURING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, HE RODE INTO BATTLE AND HAD TWO HORSES SHOT OUT FROM UNDER HIM, HIS COAT PIERCED BY FOUR MUSKET BALLS.

SUCH HEROICS WON HIM THE COMMAND OF THE COLONIAL VIRGINIA REGIMENT WITH STRICT ORDERS TO PROTECT THE LONG, WILD FRONTIER.

TO SECURE THAT VAST STRETCH OF LAND, THE COLONISTS BUILT FORTIFICATIONS ALL ALONG THE POTOMAC RIVER.

NONE OF THESE CRUDE FORTS HAVE WITHSTOOD THE TESTS OF TIME...

BUT FOR ONE THAT WAS BUILT TO LAST.

FORT FREDERICK, A MASSIVE STONE BATTLEMENT ERECTED BY THE MARYLAND COLONY IN 1756, IS ONE OF THE LARGEST FORTIFICATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA BUILT BY ENGLISH COLONISTS.

♪ ITS IMPOSING RAMPARTS TESTIFY TO THE NEED TO DEFEND THE RIVER AND TO PROJECT AMERICAN STRENGTH.

WASHINGTON VISITED THE FORT WHILE IT WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION TO BE CERTAIN OF ITS STRATEGIC LOCATION.

DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, FORT FREDERICK SERVED AS A PRISON FOR BRITISH SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR, UNION TROOPS WERE STATIONED HERE TO GUARD THE NEARBY CANAL AND RAILROAD SUPPLY LINES.

CONFEDERATES AND YANKEES...

...ALONG THE POTOMAC, IT'S THE CIVIL WAR THAT OFFERS THE MOST HEARTRENDING STORIES OF LOSS, EVEN TO THIS DAY.

THE POTOMAC ITSELF WAS THE FRACTURE LINE.

THE BORDER BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH.

AND THE FLAMES OF WAR BLAZED ALL ALONG ITS BANKS, AS GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE'S ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA WAGED WAR AGAINST ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

♪ ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD... FARM, FIELD AND FENCEROW...

HAUNTED BY THE BLOODIEST SINGLE DAY IN AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY.

♪ IN HIS FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTH, IN 1862, CONFEDERATE GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE BOLDLY SWEEPS ACROSS THE POTOMAC TO A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER WITH UNION GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN OUTSIDE THE TOWN OF SHARPSBURG, MARYLAND.

♪ IN MOST PLACES, THERE'S NO EASY WAY TO CROSS THE POTOMAC.

BUT HERE AT PACK HORSE FORD, NEAR SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, AN OLD NATIVE AMERICAN RIVER CROSSING BECAME THE NATURAL ROUTE FOR BOTH INVASION AND RETREAT.

♪ THE ARMIES ENGAGE IN SAVAGE FIGHTING...

THE NORTH WOODS...

THE CORNFIELD... DUNKER CHURCH... ♪ AND MOST FIERCELY, BLOODY LANE...

THE SUNKEN FARM ROAD THAT BECAME A DEATH TRAP FOR BOTH THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.

WHERE UNION TROOPS SUCCESSFULLY PIERCE THE CONFEDERATE CENTER.

BURNSIDE BRIDGE...

THE BULLET STREWN STONE SPAN OVER ANTIETAM CREEK.

DESPERATELY HELD BY CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS BEFORE BEING OVERRUN BY UNION TROOPS.

♪ STANDING SENTINEL AT THE BASE OF THE BRIDGE: A STATELY TREE KNOWN AS THE "BURNSIDE SYCAMORE."

A LIVING WITNESS TO THAT TERRIBLE DAY, WHEN NEARLY 23,000 MEN WERE KILLED, WOUNDED, OR MISSING.

♪ ANTIETAM IS HALLOWED GROUND, CONSECRATED SO THAT GENERATIONS MAY VISIT... AND REMEMBER THE STRUGGLE THAT FORGED THE NATION.

♪ THOUGH NEITHER SIDE WON DECISIVE VICTORY, DOWNRIVER, AT WASHINGTON, DC, PRESIDENT LINCOLN SEIZED UPON THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM TO ANNOUNCE THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

♪ MANY TOWNS ON THE POTOMAC WERE SWEPT INTO THE NATIONAL CONVULSION.

AFTER ANTIETAM, THE CONFEDERATE RETREAT BACK INTO THE SOUTH NEAR SHEPHERDSTOWN OVERWHELMS IT WITH CASUALTIES.

♪ NEARLY EVERY HOUSE, CHURCH, ALLEY, AND STREET IS FILLED WITH THE WOUNDED AND DYING.

TRANSFORMING THE TOWN FOUNDED BY GERMAN IMMIGRANTS INTO A HOSPITAL.

♪ THE POTOMAC RIVER MAKES ONE FINAL BREAK THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, AT HARPER'S FERRY, WEST VIRGINIA.

A PLACE OF SHIFTING MILITARY FORTUNES.

IN THE 1790s GEORGE WASHINGTON MADE HARPERS FERRY THE SITE OF A NATIONAL ARMORY.

BY THE CIVIL WAR, IT HAD MANUFACTURED THOUSANDS OF MUSKETS, PISTOLS, AND BAYONETS.

HARPER'S FERRY IS ALSO WHERE ONE MAN IGNITED AN EARLY CIVIL WAR SPARK.

IT WAS 1859.

JOHN BROWN'S OBSESSION WAS TO END SLAVERY AND SAW THE FIREARMS AT THE FEDERAL ARSENAL AS THE KEY.

HE WOULD SEIZE THE ARMORY AND RALLY THE LOCAL SLAVES AROUND THE LIBERATED WEAPONS.

THE HOPED FOR SLAVE REBELLION NEVER MATERIALIZED.

JOHN BROWN'S ABOLITIONIST AMBITIONS WERE CRUSHED, AND TO THE GALLOWS HE WENT.

BUT CIVIL WAR WAS INEVITABLE.

BECAUSE OF THE WEAPONS CACHE, AND THE CANAL AND RAIL LINES THAT RAN THROUGH IT, HARPER'S FERRY CHANGED HANDS TWELVE TIMES DURING THE CONFLICT.

MOST NOTABLY IN 1862 IN THE BATTLE OF HARPERS FERRY, WHEN THE CONFEDERATES UNDER STONEWALL JACKSON CAPTURED NEARLY 13,000 UNION TROOPS... ♪ THE STUNNING VIEW OF THE POTOMAC AT HARPER'S FERRY INSPIRED ARTIST GEORGE BECK TO CAPTURE IT IN THIS MASTERPIECE OF LANDSCAPE PAINTING FROM THE 1790s.

GEORGE WASHINGTON LIKED THE WORK SO MUCH, HE BOUGHT IT.

THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS ESPECIALLY ENTRANCED.

STANDING ATOP THE THOUSAND FOOT CLIFFS OF MARYLAND HEIGHTS, HE WROTE: "THE PASSAGE OF THE PATOWMAC THROUGH THE BLUE RIDGE IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST STUPENDOUS SCENES IN NATURE.

ON YOUR RIGHT COMES UP THE SHENANDOAH, HAVING RANGED ALONG THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN A HUNDRED MILES TO SEEK A VENT.

ON YOUR LEFT APPROACHES THE PATOWMAC IN QUEST OF A PASSAGE ALSO.

IN THE MOMENT OF THEIR JUNCTION THEY RUSH TOGETHER AGAINST THE MOUNTAIN, RENDER IT ASUNDER AND PASS OFF TO SEA."

♪ THE GEOLOGIC FORCES ON DISPLAY AT HARPER'S FERRY... SHEER ROCK CLIFFS... BOULDER STREWN RIVERBED... WATER RUSHING THROUGH RAPIDS AND RIFFLES...

BOLDLY PROCLAIM THAT THE RIVER IS LEAVING THE MOUNTAINS BEHIND.

♪ IT IS SETTLING INTO THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU, THE REGION OF GENTLE ROLLING HILLS AND GRADUAL DOWNWARD SLOPE.

BUT THE APPARENT CALM BELIES A TURBULENT PAST, WHEN THIS, TOO, WAS THE CENTER OF CIVIL WAR BATTLE, SKIRMISH, AND RAID.

POINT OF ROCKS, MARYLAND, WAS SETTLED ON A VERY SHALLOW PART OF THE RIVER, EASY TO CROSS, AND THUS FOUGHT OVER MANY TIMES AS THE FORTUNES OF THE BLUE AND THE GRAY SEESAWED BACK AND FORTH.

ALSO CROSSING HERE, IN SECRET, FUGITIVE SLAVES BOUND FOR THE NORTH.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, THAT CLANDESTINE NETWORK OF ESCAPE ROUTES AND SAFE HOUSES THAT HELPED SLAVES TO THE NORTH AND FREEDOM, WAS HIGHLY ACTIVE ALONG THIS STRETCH OF RIVER.

♪ HERE, ANOTHER CRUCIAL POTOMAC TRIBUTARY MEETS THE RIVER.

THE MONOCACY RIVER DRAINS A MIGHTY WATERSHED FROM THE VERY NORTHERN REACHES OF MARYLAND, AND INTO PENNSYLVANIA.

MAKING THE POTOMAC BROAD AND STRONG.

PRESENT DAY, THE POWER STATION AT DICKERSON, MARYLAND HARNESSES THAT STRENGTH, DRAWING IN AS MUCH AS 400 MILLION GALLONS OF POTOMAC RIVER WATER EACH DAY TO COOL ITS TURBINES.

HARPERS FERRY... EDWARDS FERRY... WATKINS FERRY... NOLANDS FERRY...

THE MANY CONVEYANCES THAT ONCE PLIED THE POTOMAC ARE TODAY MERE MEMORIES.

SAVE ONE.

YOU CAN STILL CROSS THE POTOMAC THE OLD FASHIONED WAY, AT WHITE'S FERRY, THE ONLY SUCH FERRY SERVICE REMAINING ON THE ENTIRE RIVER.

APPROACHING THE NATION'S CAPITOL FROM THE NORTHWEST, THE RIVER IS ABOUT TO MAKE A STUNNING TRANSITION.

FROM FARM AND VINEYARD.

TO SUBURBS ON THE FRINGE OF THE METROPOLIS.

THEN, JAGGED BEDROCK JUTS OUT FROM THE RIVERBED, TIPPING MOTHER NATURE'S HAND.

THAT THE RIVER IS ABOUT TO TUMBLE HEADLONG OVER A FAMOUS GEOLOGIC BOUNDARY LINE.

♪ THE RIVER SURGES WITH IMMENSE POWER OVER THE GREAT FALLS OF THE POTOMAC, CUT BY THE RIVER 30,000 YEARS AGO.

THE DELUGE DESCENDS 76 FEET IN LESS THAN A MILE, MAKING GREAT FALLS THE STEEPEST FALL LINE RAPIDS OF ANY RIVER IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

THE ATLANTIC FALL LINE IS THE BREAK BETWEEN HARD BED ROCK AND SOFT COASTAL PLAIN THAT RUNS 900 MILES UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST.

WHERE RIVERS CROSS IT, RAGING RAPIDS ABOUND.

♪ IT'S A KAYAKER'S DREAM.

THE ATHLETES WHO SLICE THROUGH THE FOAM ARE EXPERIENCED OLYMPIANS, DRAWN TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST EXTREME ADRENALINE RUSH.

♪ BELOW GREAT FALLS, THE RIVER CONTINUES THROUGH MATHER GORGE.

♪ THIS RUGGED RIVER...

WHICH HAS BEEN CALLED "THE WILDEST URBAN RIVER IN THE WORLD," IS NOW LEAVING THE FALL ZONE.

AND WILL SOON ARRIVE AT THE MOST POWERFUL CITY ON THE PLANET.

LOOMING ON THE HORIZON.

AT THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, THE RIVER RUNS THROUGH THE FOREMOST CENTER OF POWER ON EARTH.

THE PLACE FROM WHICH THE COUNTRY IS GUIDED AND GOVERNED.

ALONG IT RISE MAJESTIC MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS, THE REMINDERS OF AMERICA'S PAST, ITS NOBLE IDEAS AND ASPIRATIONS.

IT WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON WHO MADE THE FINAL CHOICE TO LOCATE THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL HERE.

LEGISLATION CALLED FOR "A DISTRICT OF TERRITORY NOT EXCEEDING TEN SQUARE MILES" ON THE POTOMAC, BUT WHERE WOULD IT BE?

HE DECIDED ON AN OBSCURE PIECE OF SWAMPLAND JUST BELOW GREAT FALLS WITH HIS BELOVED POTOMAC SLICING THROUGH IT.

THE U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING WAS THE FIRST TO RISE.

♪ THE NATIONAL MALL, STRETCHING OUT FROM THE CAPITOL, NOW LINED WITH FAMOUS MUSEUMS, WAS BUILT ATOP A MARSHY OFFSHOOT OF THE POTOMAC.

TIBER CREEK, WHICH WAS CHANNELED IN THE 1870s, AND NOW RUNS BENEATH CONSTITUTION AVENUE.

♪ THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL WAS BUILT ON A MUDFLAT, THE RIVER FILLED IN FOR THE SAKE OF HISTORY.

♪ THE TOWERING STONE OBELISK, 555 FEET HIGH.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT WAS ONCE THE TALLEST STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD.

IT IS A DOMINANT AND FITTING TRIBUTE TO THE MAN WHO FOREVER UNITED THE RIVER WITH THE COUNTRY HE LOVED.

♪ WHEN THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL OPENED IN 1922, THE NATIONAL MALL WAS FURTHER FILLED IN, AND EXTENDED 2,500 FEET WESTWARD TOWARD THE POTOMAC.

1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, HOME OF THE PRESIDENTS, MIGHT BE THE SAFEST ADDRESS IN AMERICA...

BUT WHEN THE NATION WAS YOUNG, THE NEW FEDERAL CITY WAS ANYTHING BUT SECURE.

BEING ON THE RIVER, ANYONE COULD APPROACH IT BY WATER AND ATTEMPT TO BREACH IT.

DURING THE WAR OF 1812, THE BRITISH DEFEATED AMERICAN FORCES AT BLADENSBURG, THEN MARCHED INTO WASHINGTON AND BURNED THE CAPITOL, THE WHITE HOUSE, AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

A HALF CENTURY LATER, THE CAPITAL'S PRECARIOUS LOCATION ON THE CIVIL WAR'S NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE ALSO DEEPLY WORRIED PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

AS CLOSE IN BATTLES RAGED, LINCOLN FEARED THE REBELS WOULD MARCH RIGHT OVER CHAIN BRIDGE AND CAPTURE THE CITY.

♪ TODAY, WASHINGTON, DC IS MORE THAN MARBLE MONUMENTS; THE CITY IS ONE OF THE MOST COSMOPOLITAN PLACES IN THE WORLD.

IT PULSATES WITH AN ENERGY, AND A STYLE, ALL ITS OWN.

♪ THE GRACEFUL ARCHES OF THE POTOMAC RIVER BRIDGES, ARE VENERABLE LANDMARKS.

THERE ARE THE STATELY SPIRES OF HIGHER LEARNING... TOWERING CATHEDRALS OF FAITH... ♪ AND ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS... ...USED FOR CELEBRATIONS... AND THE SACRED REMEMBRANCES OF THE NATION.

♪ THE POTOMAC RIVER LENDS THE CITY ITS PRINCIPAL PHYSICAL FEATURE.

AND IS THE BACKDROP AGAINST WHICH WASHINGTON'S FLAIR FOR THE ATHLETIC....

THE ARTISTIC.... AND THE POLITICAL, PLAYS OUT.

♪ TOURISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD FLOCK TO WASHINGTON BY THE MILLIONS EACH YEAR.

THEY COME TO SEE THE HALLS OF JUSTICE.

AND THE REPOSITORIES OF OUR VAST CULTURAL AND SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENTS.

♪ THEY VISIT RENOWNED MUSEUMS THAT CELEBRATE THE VIBRANT EXPRESSIONS OF WHO WE ARE AS A DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE.

♪ AND THE SOLEMN SHRINES TO HEROIC SACRIFICE.

♪ SLAVERY WAS ONCE PREVALENT IN AND AROUND WASHINGTON, AND TODAY IT HAS A STRONG AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE.

AMONG THE MANY NOTABLE D.C.

RESIDENTS WAS FAMED ABOLITIONIST FREDERICK DOUGLAS, WHO ESCAPED SLAVERY, AND SPENT HIS LIFE FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE, AND EQUALITY.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

HONORS LEADERS OF CONSCIENCE... ...AND PROVIDES A GRAND STAGE FROM WHICH THE IMPORTANT VOICES OF THE PAST ECHO FORTH.

♪ ACROSS FROM THE FEDERAL CITY... AMERICA'S MOST HALLOWED GROUND ARLINGTON, THE UNITED STATES MILITARY CEMETERY THAT WAS ONCE THE ESTATE OF ROBERT E. LEE.

AND IS NOW THE RESTING PLACE OF HEROES.

ATOP A KNOLL STANDS THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS... THAT HAS BEEN PERPETUALLY GUARDED SINCE 1937.

♪ BENEATH THESE ACRES HAVE BEEN LAID VETERANS... FROM THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN... TO THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.

♪ IN 1963, A HORSE DRAWN CAISSON CARRIED THE SLAIN PRESIDENT KENNEDY OVER THE POTOMAC RIVER... TO HIS GRAVE ON THE OTHER SIDE... AT THE FOOT OF LEE'S ARLINGTON HOUSE.

ARLINGTON CEMETERY IS FLANKED... TO THE NORTH, BY THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS MEMORIAL... ...AND TO THE SOUTH, BY THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE MEMORIAL.

THREE SOARING SPIRES...

ABSENT A FOURTH... DEPICT THE "MISSING MAN" FORMATION OF FUNERAL FLYOVERS...

POSITIONED RIGHT IN THE PATH OF THE PLANE, THAT STRUCK THE PENTAGON ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.

♪ HEADING SOUTH FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, THE POTOMAC IS A MAJESTIC, SLOW MOVING TIDAL RIVER.

♪ BELOW THE ATLANTIC FALL LINE, THE RIVER'S FRESHWATER MIXES WITH CHESAPEAKE BAY SALTWATER AND BECOMES BRACKISH.

NOW, ITS NATURAL EBB AND FLOW IS CONTROLLED SOLELY BY ATLANTIC TIDES.

BLUE CRABS AND OYSTERS CAN BE CAUGHT HERE, AS WELL AS STRIPED BASS, LARGE AND SMALL MOUTH BASS, PIKE, WALLEYE, MUSKY, SHAD, AND CATFISH.

THE LOCAL TRIBUTARIES THAT FEED THE LOWER POTOMAC BASIN...

THE PISCATAWAY, MATTAWOMAN, AND NANJEMOY... RUN THROUGH WETLANDS... MEANDERING MARSH AND MUD FLATS, ABUNDANT IN WILDLIFE.

♪ HISTORICALLY, PLANTATIONS WERE PREVALENT THROUGHOUT THE LOWER POTOMAC USING SLAVE LABOR TO GROW FRUITS, VEGETABLES, GRAINS, TOBACCO...

THE POTOMAC THE HIGHWAY TO MOVE CROPS TO MARKET.

WHEN THE CIVIL WAR CAME, SOUTHERN MARYLAND HAD A DEEP DEVOTION TO THE CONFEDERATE CAUSE.

AFTER ASSASSINATING LINCOLN, JOHN WILKES BOOTH HAD PLENTY OF HELP ESCAPING ACROSS THE POTOMAC RIGHT THROUGH THIS REGION.

♪ A CURIOUS MONUMENT TO AMERICA'S MILITARY PAST SURVIVES LITERALLY IN THE RIVER AT MALLOWS BAY.

♪ HERE LIES THE GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF SUNKEN SHIPS IN NORTH AMERICA.

A GRAVEYARD OF HALF SUBMERGED STEAMSHIPS.

A WORLD WAR I GHOST FLEET.

♪ BUILT BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, AND INTENDED FOR USE IN WORLD WAR I.

BUT SHODDY CONSTRUCTION, AND THE WAR'S END, RENDERED THE FLEET NUMBERING MORE THAN 200 VESSELS USELESS.

♪ AND THEY WERE SCUTTLED, BURNED, AND LEFT TO ROT, HERE.

♪ THE POTOMAC RIVER HAS A PROUD LEGACY AS A BREEDING GROUND FOR FOUNDING FATHERS AND STATESMEN.

HERE, WITHIN A FEW MILES OF ONE OTHER WERE BORN AND LIVED PATRIOTS, REVOLUTIONARIES, AND LEADERS WHO LEFT INDELIBLE MARKS ON AMERICA.

♪ WHEN GEORGE WASHINGTON LEFT PUBLIC LIFE, HE RETIRED TO HIS BELOVED MOUNT VERNON.

ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE BUILDINGS ON ALL THE RIVER.

AFTER HANDING OVER THE REINS OF POWER, HE WROTE: "I AM BECOME A PRIVATE CITIZEN ON THE BANKS OF THE POTOMAC, AND UNDER THE SHADOW OF MY OWN VINE AND MY OWN FIG TREE, FREE FROM THE BUSTLE OF A CAMP AND THE BUSY SCENES OF PUBLIC LIFE."

HE LIVED AT MOUNT VERNON FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS.

AS A GENTLEMAN FARMER, HE RAISED CROPS, AND LIVESTOCK, AND RAN A LARGE DISTILLERY, AND GRIST MILL.

THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY DIED IN 1799.

AND HE RESTS IN PEACE HERE AT THE PLACE HE LOVED.

♪ DOWN THE POTOMAC, A STONE'S THROW FROM MOUNT VERNON, GUNSTON HALL: HOME OF FELLOW PATRIOT, GEORGE MASON... ...CHAMPION OF THE FIRST TEN AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION... ...WHO ALONG WITH JAMES MADISON IS CALLED "THE FATHER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS."

♪ GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS BORN ABOUT 40 MILES DOWNRIVER FROM MOUNT VERNON, AT HIS FATHER'S PLANTATION: POPES CREEK, IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BIRTHPLACE MONUMENT... IS THE 18TH CENTURY TOBACCO FARM THAT WASHINGTON KNEW AS A CHILD.

♪ BUILT ON HIGH BLUFFS OVERLOOKING THE POTOMAC: ONE OF THE GREAT HOUSES IN AMERICAN HISTORY STRATFORD HALL, HOME OF THE LEES OF VIRGINIA.

AT STRATFORD HALL LIVED FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE LEE FAMILY.

RICHARD HENRY AND FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, THE ONLY BROTHERS TO SIGN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

A GENERATION LATER, ROBERT E. LEE, THE FUTURE GENERAL OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY, WAS BORN HERE.

♪ THE MOUTH OF THE POTOMAC... WHERE THE RIVER FLOWS WIDE AND FLAT INTO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY... IS A CRADLE OF THE REPUBLIC.

♪ IN 1608, CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH LED A PARTY INTO THE POTOMAC IN SEARCH OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE THROUGH THE CONTINENT.

HE DISCOVERED THE LAND THICKLY POPULATED WITH NATIVE TRIBES: THE MATTAPONI, WICOMICO, PATAWOMECK, PISCATAWAY, PAMUNKEY.

NAMES THAT TODAY MARK THE LOCAL TOWNS AND TRIBUTARIES.

UP AND DOWN ITS SHORES, THE "FIRST AMERICANS" WERE ENGAGED IN BUSTLING TRADE.

♪ THE NAME ITSELF COMES FROM THE ALGONQUIN INDIANS.

AND IS THOUGHT TO MEAN "GREAT TRADING PLACE."

ALREADY, AT THE TIME OF FIRST EUROPEAN CONTACT, THE RIVER WAS A MARKETPLACE.

A PRE-COLONIAL CENTER OF PROSPERITY AND POWER.

♪ DOWNRIVER, ON ST CLEMENT'S ISLAND... A 40 FOOT STONE CROSS REMEMBERS MARYLAND'S FIRST SETTLERS.

ROMAN CATHOLICS BOUND FOR THE NEW WORLD AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE.

♪ NEARBY, THEY BUILT A MORE LASTING COMMUNITY HISTORIC ST. MARY'S CITY: ♪ FIRST CAPITOL AND THE FOURTH OLDEST PERMANENT ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.

HERE, THE MARYLAND COLONY STAKED AN ENDURING CLAIM ON POTOMAC SHORES.

♪ IN ITS LAST MILES, AT POINT LOOKOUT, MARYLAND, VISIONS OF BEAUTY CLASH WITH MEMORIES OF WAR.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR, POINT LOOKOUT GAINED INFAMY AS A NOTORIOUS PRISONER OF WAR CAMP.

BARRACKED ON THIS ISOLATED PENINSULA, CONFEDERATE CAPTIVES IN CROWDED, DESTITUTE CONDITIONS.

NEARLY 4,000 OF THEM PERISHED.

THE REMAINS OF MANY INTERRED HERE, AT THE POINT LOOKOUT CONFEDERATE CEMETERY, ON THE BANKS OF THE VERY RIVER THAT ONCE DIVIDED NORTH AND SOUTH.

♪ FROM THE ITS EARLIEST RISE OF ITS BRANCHES, IN COOL MOUNTAIN STREAMS, TO ITS VAST SILVERY CONCLUSION, THE POTOMAC RIVER HAS COURSED ITS WAY THROUGH UNFORGETTABLE LANDSCAPES AND HISTORY.

IT HAS WITNESSED RELENTLESS GEOLOGIC TRANSFORMATION, SETTLEMENT, INVASION, AND WARS.

THE RISE OF A NATION, AND THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ITS PEOPLE.

FROM COAL MINERS OF UPSTREAM WEST VIRGINIA.

TO THE URBAN RESIDENTS OF WASHINGTON, D.C. AND THE FISHERMEN OF THE TIDEWATER.

EVERY MILE SPEAKS OF THAT ENDURING LEGACY.

AND NOW, ELEVEN MILES WIDE AT ITS MOUTH.

ROLLING PAST POINT LOOKOUT TO JOIN THE GREAT EXPANSE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY.

THIS SPARKLING AMERICAN JEWEL THE POTOMAC RIVER IS FINISHED.

>> ANNOUNCER: POTOMAC BY AIR: OUR NATION'S RIVER WAS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY...

THE MPT FOUNDATION NEW INITIATIVES FUND, ESTABLISHED BY IRENE AND EDWARD H. KAPLAN.

♪