0:00:02 > 0:00:08I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America,
0:00:08 > 0:00:09with a new travelling companion.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Published in 1879, my Appletons' General Guide will steer me
0:00:17 > 0:00:20to everything that's novel,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22beautiful,
0:00:22 > 0:00:23memorable,
0:00:23 > 0:00:24or curious
0:00:24 > 0:00:26in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27Amen.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33As I cross the continent, I'll discover America's gilded age,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37when powerful tycoons launched a railway boom that tied
0:00:37 > 0:00:43the nation together and carved out its future as a superpower.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I'm continuing my journey south.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19Indeed, I shall be crossing the Mason-Dixon Line, the boundary
0:01:19 > 0:01:22between Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, which,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26after Pennsylvania abolished slavery in 1781,
0:01:26 > 0:01:32also became the frontier between the slave states and the free states.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35This will be my opportunity to reflect on the divisions
0:01:35 > 0:01:39between north and south that untied the United Sates,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43and on the legacy that they've left to America today.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54On this journey I began in the cradle of independence,
0:01:54 > 0:01:55Philadelphia,
0:01:55 > 0:02:00and continued through the American Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I'm turning south to Baltimore, in Maryland,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07before taking in the nation's capital of Washington DC.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12I'll then continue to Richmond, Virginia, finishing in Jamestown,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16the first permanent English settlement in North America.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Starting in Wilmington, today I head to Newark on the historical
0:02:21 > 0:02:24boundary between the northern and southern states.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28After crossing into Maryland, I'll end in Havre de Grace,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32where the mighty Susquehanna River meets Chesapeake Bay.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'Along the way, I ride a giant of the railroads.'
0:02:37 > 0:02:38HOOTER BLOWS
0:02:38 > 0:02:42The drama of an American locomotive bears no comparison with
0:02:42 > 0:02:44anything in Europe.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'Discover the explosive origins of an American powerhouse.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:49POP!
0:02:49 > 0:02:50Whoa!
0:02:50 > 0:02:52What a magnificent noise.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56'And encounter the untamed landscape that would have greeted
0:02:56 > 0:02:58'the first settlers.'
0:02:58 > 0:03:02What you've seen is a touch of wildness, you know, the wildness
0:03:02 > 0:03:05this place used to have, the wildness that this place still has.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26I've crossed from the state of Pennsylvania into the state
0:03:26 > 0:03:30of Delaware, and my first stop is the city of Wilmington.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35On the site of an early Swedish colony,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39it came under British rule in 1664, and takes its name
0:03:39 > 0:03:43from the Earl of Wilmington, a favourite of King George II.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54My guidebook tells me
0:03:54 > 0:03:58that Wilmington is the chief city of the state of Delaware,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01"regularly laid out, with streets at right angles,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04"the principle ones being paved with stone.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08"The buildings are uniformly of brick."
0:04:08 > 0:04:10It's on the main railway line between Washington
0:04:10 > 0:04:15and New York City, but most of us just pass it by, and I've been
0:04:15 > 0:04:19surprised to discover that it is a major industrial city,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21on America's mighty East Coast.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Wilmington has long been an important
0:04:27 > 0:04:30port on the Delaware River.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33And when the railroads came here in 1837,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35it became a hub for East Coast trade.
0:04:37 > 0:04:38HOOTER BLARES
0:04:41 > 0:04:45During the 19th century, a number of private railroads were built.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I'm off to visit one that still runs today,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51the Wilmington & Western Railroad.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59When I swap my colourful jackets for my dirty overalls it's
0:04:59 > 0:05:03a pretty good sign that I'm going to ride on a heritage railway!
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Hello.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Hello, my name is Phoebe Snow.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15How do you do, you are the most beautiful vision in white.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Oh, thank you! - Tell me your story, Phoebe Snow.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23From 1900 to 1917, I rode the railroad,
0:05:23 > 0:05:28advertising clean burning anthracite coal, telling people that
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Phoebe says and Phoebe knows that soot and cinders spoil good clothes.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36So she keeps her dress bright and white
0:05:36 > 0:05:38by riding the road of anthracite.
0:05:38 > 0:05:39MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- Like that?- Love it!- There are many more where that one came from.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49The fictional character of Phoebe Snow was used to advertise
0:05:49 > 0:05:53the railroad's latest modern features, from clean burning coal
0:05:53 > 0:05:58to electric lighting, and dining cars to restrooms.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01That was an innovative period for the railroad.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06It was just growing and growing, tying this country together.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12It made us what we are and we come back to it today in hopes of
0:06:12 > 0:06:17reminding people of what it meant to our history and where we came from.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Phoebe, it's been so delightful to meet a good,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25- clean Delaware girl like you. - Indeed!
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Nice to meet you as well, sir.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30If you'll excuse me, I have to get about my business.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38- How are you? Hello.- Hi.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45- Hello, you must be Tommy. - Hello, good to meet you. Yes.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49- I'm Michael. Hello, Michael. - Hello, John.- John, good to see you.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51So, what a wonderful railway.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53How long does it been a heritage railway?
0:06:53 > 0:06:58- Since 1966. 2016 is our 50th season. - Congratulations.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Thank you very much.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06'Conductor to 114. You are clear to proceed west.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09114, clear to go west, here we go.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13If you'd like to do the honours, sir.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14Two long.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15HOOTER BLASTS
0:07:17 > 0:07:18HOOTER BLASTS
0:07:20 > 0:07:21And the bell.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22BELL RINGS
0:07:24 > 0:07:27I love that, don't you love American locomotives with
0:07:27 > 0:07:30their great big, long horns and their bells?
0:07:30 > 0:07:31Off we go!
0:07:31 > 0:07:33HOOTER BLASTS
0:08:00 > 0:08:04The drama of an American locomotive bears no comparison with
0:08:04 > 0:08:05anything in Europe.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08HOOTER BLASTS
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Tommy, what was this railway originally?
0:08:15 > 0:08:18It was originally built as the Wilmington & Western Railroad,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and the line opened in 1872.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23By the 1880s, it had failed
0:08:23 > 0:08:28and was purchased by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31When it was the Baltimore & Ohio, what was it doing,
0:08:31 > 0:08:32freight and passengers?
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Yes, this served the Red Clay Valley
0:08:35 > 0:08:39for freight, passengers and US Mail.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42And believe it or not, this little valley was just teeming with
0:08:42 > 0:08:47industry and farms and people and all kinds of mills.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52During the 1920s, demand for rail services on this branch line fell,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and in the 1950s, closure loomed.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58A group of volunteers began to lease the tracks at weekends,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02and now own and run a section of the railroad.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06- How long have you been associated with it?- Since 1981.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08- That's a good long time. - It's a long time.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Do you think the American public is as engaged with railways as,
0:09:13 > 0:09:14say, the British public?
0:09:14 > 0:09:18I think maybe the British public is a little more engaged.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21It's more of a train culture over there, where we have
0:09:21 > 0:09:23a bit of a car culture here.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31The line takes tourists on a 20-mile round trip,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35along and across the Red Clay Creek, giving them a taste of
0:09:35 > 0:09:36the heyday of the railroads
0:09:36 > 0:09:39before they were eclipsed by the automobile.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42And thousands come each year to experience it.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47Excuse me.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Ah.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Do you mind me asking why you've taken the train ride today?
0:09:53 > 0:09:56The reason I've taken the train today is because my husband's dream
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- to ride a train for the first time. - How have you found it today?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- How do I like this?- Yeah. - I love it. I'm excited.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06It's the first time I've ever been on a train.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10- How old are you, sir, may I ask, roughly?- 52. 52.
0:10:10 > 0:10:1252 years without being on a train.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16I always wanted to, but this is the first time. I love it.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Looks like my stop. Bye!
0:10:41 > 0:10:45The old mills of Red Clay Creek are long gone,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48and I'm keen to know more about America's 19th-century
0:10:48 > 0:10:52economic boom and the part that the railroads played in it.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Led by my guidebook,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57I'm heading to the countryside north of Wilmington city.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Appletons' tells me that,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08"Wilmington's manufactures embrace shipbuilding, cotton
0:11:08 > 0:11:13"and wool, flour mills, shoe and leather factories,
0:11:13 > 0:11:14"and powder mills."
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Here on the outskirts of the city,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19on the banks of the Brandywine River,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23it's time to discover the city's explosive past.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30In my hunt for this industrial heritage,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33I've come across a most unusual sight.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41I had not expected to find a chateau in the Delaware countryside.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45You may not be surprised to know that this belonged to a Frenchman,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49the magnificently named Eleuthere Irenee du Pont,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52who had been imprisoned during the French Revolution
0:11:52 > 0:11:57and arrived in the United States as a political refugee in 1799.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01He established a company which has gone down in history as DuPont,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05and made an enormous contribution to the United States,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07and in particular to its military.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Du Pont founded a gunpowder mill here in 1802, at a time
0:12:15 > 0:12:19when this burgeoning nation had a great need of explosives,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22first for construction and later for the battlefield.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Still based in Wilmington, DuPont today is one of the biggest
0:12:28 > 0:12:30chemical companies in the world.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33I'm meeting archivist Lucas Clawson to find out
0:12:33 > 0:12:35about its 19th-century beginnings.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38- Hello, Lucas.- Hello.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Lucas, I'm in ecstasy, a beautiful river valley
0:12:41 > 0:12:43and a railway line running through it.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47What was it that made Monsieur du Pont go into gunpowder?
0:12:47 > 0:12:50He had a lot of experience in gunpowder, actually.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54He learnt chemistry from Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier in France,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57who ran the French national black powder manufactory at Essone.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01What brought him out here to this quite remote spot?
0:13:01 > 0:13:02First of all, water power.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05You know, there's a lot of drop in the Brandywine River,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07so it's the perfect place to power your machinery with water.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And secondly, it's remote - in case there's an explosion,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12there's no worries about blowing anyone up.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21'At one time, this was one of the largest industrial sites
0:13:21 > 0:13:24'in the eastern United States.'
0:13:24 > 0:13:27So, you told me it was water power.
0:13:27 > 0:13:28How does it work?
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Well, the first thing you have to do is start the water.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35The apparatus here before us is called the sluice gate.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39What I'll have to do...is turn this handle...
0:13:40 > 0:13:45..which opens up the cover to a pipe...
0:13:47 > 0:13:51It takes a few seconds. There's a large pipe that goes underground.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Once it fills up with water you can hear the turbines start.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55You certainly can.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Shall we go and have a look at what you've caused to happen down there?
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Yes, absolutely.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08'Gunpowder was made from charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulphur,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11'which needed to be mixed together in water.'
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Lucas, that is the most unexpected and magnificent sight,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20these enormous rollers powered by water.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24- And they were grinding up the powder, were they?- Yes, exactly.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27What sort of precautions could they take to minimise
0:14:27 > 0:14:29the danger of accidents?
0:14:29 > 0:14:33The main thing to do was to not have people inside the buildings
0:14:33 > 0:14:35while these were operating.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Also, workers were supposed to have shoes that didn't have any
0:14:38 > 0:14:39type of metal in the soles.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And also, as you walk through the powder yards,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44there's a narrow-gauge metal railway,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47but as the tracks go in front of each building they turn to wood.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50That way there's no chance that the wheels on the cars will make a spark.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53So the United States has a Civil War,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and we're very near the dividing point of North and South.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Du Pont was with which side?
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Henry du Pont, who ran the factory at that period,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03was an adamant Unionist.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Whenever southern states seceded, he cut them off completely.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11So how important was his powder to the Union's success, do you think?
0:15:11 > 0:15:14The DuPont factory produced 40% of all powder used by all
0:15:14 > 0:15:16the United States Armed Forces.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18They produced over a million pounds of black powder a year
0:15:18 > 0:15:20from 1862 to the end of the war.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25And what made DuPont's gunpowder dominate the market was
0:15:25 > 0:15:26the high quality of the product.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31- Michael, I want to introduce you to Angelica.- Hello.- Hello.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34She will show you this historical piece of machinery called
0:15:34 > 0:15:35an eprouvette.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38That's the French word for a gunpowder tester.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40So what do you have to do?
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Well, I have loaded this chamber with about a gram of powder.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46I close the lid.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Once I light the fuse, we'll hopefully have a small
0:15:48 > 0:15:51explosion which will make the wheel turn.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55The wheel has numbers on it, so the further the wheel turns,
0:15:55 > 0:15:56the higher the number,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58the bigger the explosion, the better the powder.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01- Ooh. Do you mind if I light the fuse?- Please, go ahead.
0:16:07 > 0:16:08FUSE FIZZES
0:16:13 > 0:16:15POP!
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Whoa!
0:16:17 > 0:16:19What a magnificent noise!
0:16:19 > 0:16:21So, it sent it back a long way.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Yeah, we have some pretty good powder.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25It went almost all the way round.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Angelica, that was fantastic.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29I go out with a bang.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46It's the morning of a new day, and I'm leaving Wilmington
0:16:46 > 0:16:50to continue my journey towards the southern sates.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Delaware is bordered to its north by Pennsylvania
0:16:53 > 0:16:55and to its west by Maryland,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59and I'm travelling towards the point where all three states meet.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06I'm headed for Newark, Delaware, which Appletons' tells me
0:17:06 > 0:17:10is the seat of several excellent educational institutions.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13I'll be going to the University of Delaware.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17"And four miles beyond, the train crosses the celebrated
0:17:17 > 0:17:20"Mason and Dixon's Line, the boundary between the northern
0:17:20 > 0:17:24"and southern states as it enters Maryland."
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Now, I know something about that demarcation but nothing
0:17:27 > 0:17:32of its history, and it's time to draw a line under my ignorance.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Newark is relatively small, with a population of just 30,000,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45and students make up more than half of that number.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The University of Delaware is one of the oldest in the Unites States,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52and with the Mason-Dixon Line running by it,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57I want to find out what its students know of this historical boundary.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04May I ask you what you think is
0:18:04 > 0:18:06the significance of the Mason-Dixon Line?
0:18:08 > 0:18:11- Isn't is the divider between... - The North and the South.
0:18:11 > 0:18:12..North and the South.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Historically, it was the clear delineation between the North
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and the South, and since then cultures have kind of
0:18:20 > 0:18:23built a reputation off what is defined as the North and the South.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27- What are those cultural differences? - They're more conservative.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31A lot more conservative. And up north, they're a lot more liberal.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34The big thing that hits me is the music.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37North of the Mason-Dixon Line, it's a lot of hip-hop,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39a lot of rock and roll.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Once you go more south, it's blues, country.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Would you feel when you cross from Delaware or from Pennsylvania
0:18:47 > 0:18:49into Maryland that you've reached the South?
0:18:49 > 0:18:50I feel it wouldn't.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54When I think of the South, I think of more like Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Maybe Virginia, but definitely not Maryland.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00- When would you think you'd reached the South?- West Virginia.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Virginia.
0:19:02 > 0:19:08- Hm-mm. Not Delaware?- No.- Not Maryland?- No.- Parts of Maryland.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Cecil County, maybe.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13But mostly Virginia and West Virginia.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19The Mason-Dixon Line may today be outdated as a dividing line
0:19:19 > 0:19:21between two ways of life,
0:19:21 > 0:19:26but for nearly 100 years it was the boundary between the southern
0:19:26 > 0:19:29slave states and the non-slave states of the North.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Its origins, however, have nothing to do with ideology.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39I'm meeting geologist Sandy Schenck of the Delaware Geological Survey.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Sandy, why is it necessary to draw a line, and when?
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Well, in the 1760s, there was a dispute between Lord Calvert
0:19:50 > 0:19:55of the Maryland colony and William Penn of Pennsylvania
0:19:55 > 0:19:59over exactly where the boundary between those two colonies went.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01And so how was that to be settled?
0:20:01 > 0:20:04In England there were two astronomers that worked for the
0:20:04 > 0:20:09National Observatory and they were Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14And they were hired by the courts in England to come to the colonies
0:20:14 > 0:20:18and divide this peninsula in half.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21And then go west and divide Maryland
0:20:21 > 0:20:25and Pennsylvania at the northern boundary up here.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Mason and Dixon surveyed,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31and in 1768 settled the boundary between Maryland
0:20:31 > 0:20:34and Pennsylvania, leaving what later became
0:20:34 > 0:20:37the state of Delaware as part of Pennsylvania.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40It seems to me that when Pennsylvania abolishes
0:20:40 > 0:20:44slavery in 1781, the Mason-Dixon Line assumes a new significance.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45Would that be right?
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Probably at that time it did divide what people thought of the North
0:20:49 > 0:20:50and the South.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Even though Maryland was a slave state, it never joined
0:20:54 > 0:20:55the Confederacy
0:20:55 > 0:20:57but slaves, certainly,
0:20:57 > 0:21:02escaping from Confederate states, heading north for safety,
0:21:02 > 0:21:03would consider
0:21:03 > 0:21:06crossing the Mason-Dixon Line as a sign
0:21:06 > 0:21:09of being safe finally, they're in the North.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Less than 20 years after the land dispute,
0:21:14 > 0:21:19this became a line that would split the nation for almost 100 years.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20And for black Americans,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23life on either side would be dramatically different.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29I'm continuing my journey across the line
0:21:29 > 0:21:33and heading to the southern states, beginning in Maryland.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40The train is crossing the Susquehanna River,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44the greatest river of the eastern United States.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56At 444 miles,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59the Susquehanna is the longest river on the East Coast, running
0:21:59 > 0:22:03through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, before it
0:22:03 > 0:22:08pours into Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13I'm alighting at Aberdeen, and making my way to the pretty
0:22:13 > 0:22:16city of Havre de Grace, where the river meets the bay.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32Appletons' tells me that, "at Havre de Grace in Maryland,
0:22:32 > 0:22:38"the Susquehanna River is crossed on a lofty wooden bridge a mile long."
0:22:38 > 0:22:43Well, that has been replaced by a newer structure,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47but it's still the case that every train between New York City
0:22:47 > 0:22:52and Washington DC must cross the mighty Susquehanna at this point.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58When the railroads arrived in 1837,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01their tracks ended at each bank of the river
0:23:01 > 0:23:05and for 29 years a ferry service connected the two
0:23:05 > 0:23:09until the Susquehanna was finally spanned by a bridge.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13The landscape has been both asset and obstacle
0:23:13 > 0:23:17since the first British colonists arrived, more than 400 years ago.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22'I'm meeting Joel Dunn, from the Chesapeake Conservancy.'
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Well, here we are, on the very beautiful
0:23:24 > 0:23:29banks of the Susquehanna River. Who was responsible for exploring it?
0:23:29 > 0:23:33In modern-day history, it sort of started in 1608,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37when Captain John Smith came as part of a venture capital company
0:23:37 > 0:23:42from Britain to North America to explore the Chesapeake Bay.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Captain John Smith was one of the first English settlers,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51and played a pivotal role in the colonisation of America.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Working for the Virginia Company,
0:23:53 > 0:23:58he explored and charted this unknown territory, producing journals
0:23:58 > 0:24:03and maps that were to be relied upon by settlers for decades to come.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07But these so-called new lands were actually home
0:24:07 > 0:24:11to 75,000 Native Americans.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13This is the map he made when he came here.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Notice the exquisite detail of each river that he drew with
0:24:17 > 0:24:21a compass and a pen when he explored the Chesapeake Bay.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23We're right here, on the Susquehanna River.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27And this is one of the Susquehannock Indians that John Smith met
0:24:27 > 0:24:29when he first came here.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33What sort of a relationship did he have with the Native Americans?
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Smith had a mixed relationship depending on which tribe,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39but for the most part it was fairly peaceful.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42John Smith knew that he depended upon the Native Americans
0:24:42 > 0:24:44because they knew where the food was,
0:24:44 > 0:24:49they knew where the best places to live and find fresh water...
0:24:49 > 0:24:52John Smith depended upon their information to create
0:24:52 > 0:24:54much of this map.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57It wasn't simply about map making.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Like all early European settlers, their first job was to survive.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06The first permanent English settlement in North America,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09they were based at Jamestown, and they were starving.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11So Smith was out looking for food,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14looking for cultures to trade with, to learn information on how
0:25:14 > 0:25:19to survive here in North America, n the Chesapeake Bay.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Come you imagine coming to this river for the first time
0:25:22 > 0:25:26without any power and electricity, no Google Maps, no phones,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28not knowing what you'd encounter?
0:25:28 > 0:25:31He was a really extraordinary individual.
0:25:33 > 0:25:34Hey, Garret.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40'I'm taking to the water for a feel of what John Smith would have
0:25:40 > 0:25:45'experienced and to take a closer look at the wildlife of the region.'
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Garret, what sort of wildlife will we see on the Susquehanna?
0:26:01 > 0:26:05We'll see plenty of bald eagles, ducks, hawks of all kinds.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Lots of migratory birds come through here on their way from Canada
0:26:08 > 0:26:10down to parts of the southern US.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Look, there's deer swimming in the river.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33In a few moments we've seen bald eagles,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36we've seen great blue herons, we've seen ducks,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40and we've seen four young deer bathing in the river.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43This is just a paradise of nature.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50What you've seen is a touch of wildness, you know, the wildness
0:26:50 > 0:26:54this place used to have, the wildness that this place still has.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57We protect those special places for future generations
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and we celebrate the Chesapeake as a national treasure.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15This part of the United States bears the imprint of talented Englishmen.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon established a boundary that
0:27:19 > 0:27:21endures to this day.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25And many years before them, Captain John Smith explored
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Chesapeake Bay and the rivers of the region.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31A few years after he'd completed his work, the English
0:27:31 > 0:27:36colony of Virginia imported its first black slaves from Africa.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40That began a system that has haunted the United States
0:27:40 > 0:27:45throughout its existence and gave a significance to the line
0:27:45 > 0:27:50between North and South that Mason and Dixon could never have foreseen.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Next time, I discover the origin of America's railroads.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00They had known of this thing called a railroad in England,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04and they decided to basically - do the next best thing to invent it yourself,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06- is steal that. - We're cousins, after all!
0:28:08 > 0:28:11I find out about life on the wrong side of the tracks.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16I'd been to close to 200 funerals by the time I graduated high school.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19And I sink my claws into a local delicacy.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Can you give me any idea what's in that sauce?
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Absolutely not, that's a secret recipe!