Perhaps the best known river on the planet, made famous by writers like Mark Twain, by the romance of the steamboat age and by the blues music spawned along its banks, Ol' Man River still hides many secrets.In two one hour programmes, this series journeys along the river from its mouth in the salt marshes of the Gulf Coast to its source deep in the northern forests near the Canadian border, searching out the creatures that call this river home. As magnificent as the wildlife and landscapes are now, they were even more amazing when the first Europeans and Americans came across this mighty river. This series recreates some of these first encounters, with dramatic re-enactments.